Guest speaker to graduate students at University of Washington to help understand how to better communicate and deliver user research findings.

1. COMMUNICATING DATA
Reporting User Research Findings
Puja Parakh
Sr. UX Designer @ Avvo

2. Hello!
I AM PUJA PARAKH
I am here because I like to give
presentations and I like UX.
You can find me at:
@pujaparakh
http://puja.rocks

3. “People react positively when
things are clear and
understandable.
- Dieter Rams, Industrial Designer @ Braun

4. Conveying findings so people
can understand, believe, and
know how to act on your
recommendations

5. Conveying user research
findings so people can
understand, believe, and
know how to act on your
recommendations can be
challenging.

6. So why provide
any deliverables
at all?

8. Your brain will hurt

9. Don’t lose that knowledge
when the researcher leaves

10. Ok...
So how to deliver
research data &
findings?

11. Consider two things...
Who’s the
audience?
How soon do they
need the reporting?

12. Ideally, you should tailor your
deliverables to the needs and
interests of your audience
But a common problem is that
you often have to serve a
variety of audiences.

13. Types of Research Deliverables

14. Types of Research Deliverables
● Quick findings
● Detailed reports
● Presentations
● Findings/recommendations matrix
● Other deliverables (scenario, workflow, etc)

15. Quick Findings
If time is a consideration, the absolute quickest format is an email
message or informal Word Doc with bullet points describing your
overall findings and proposed design changes

16. Quick Findings
Another option is to annotate the designs, pointing to the
problems and describing recommended changes.
3 out of 5 participants were unable to
find the phone number
All participants understood and
appreciated this beautiful headshot

17. Detailed Reports
This provides the freedom to describe recommendations
comprehensively and in as much detail as needed.

18. Presentations
Good for most audiences but you’ll walk the line between providing enough
explanatory info and overwhelming the audience with too much info

19. Findings & Recs Matrix
An additional deliverable that gathers all the recommendations together in a
table format with a brief summary of findings and issue severity rating
http://soun.io/works/werehearse/

20. Other deliverables
Other ways to visualize and bring life to your research, including customer
journey maps, task analysis diagrams, or personas.

21. No matter what delivery
method...
It needs to be effective

22. No matter what delivery
method...
It needs to be effective
So people can understand, believe, and know how to act on
your recommendations

23. Effective Writing
It’s important to clearly describe your findings and accurately convey your
recommendations. Your audience needs to know what you’re talking about
without getting bored by your providing too much information.

24. Screenshots, Diagrams, and Charts
It’s difficult to convey findings through text alone.
Visualizations are great for breaking up the text, making the report more
interesting and approachable.

25. Mockups and Examples
When it is appropriate, illustrate recommendations with examples.
Recommendation:
Try adding a headshot to
the page.

26. Photos
Great way of sharing the environment, docs, tools, signage, and other
aspects to provide context of the research.

27. Quotes
Quotes from the participant are much more impactful than just describing the
problem or general user opinions.

28. Audio & Video Clips
Even more effective than reading a quote is hearing/seeing participants
making comments themselves.
https://benmelbourne.files.wordpress.com

29. While we are at it...
Don’t forget the
obvious

30. Explain Your Methods
Always give a brief summary of the goals of your research and the methods
you used.
From previous HCDE student research

31. Always Show the Positive
Because our goal is to improve the UX, research tends to focus on the
negative and take the positive for granted.

32. Focus on Problem Statements
This is our power. Storytelling requires good details and important for
engaging and sharing.
Good Example
Participant clicked on ‘Lawyer
Directory’ link instead of ‘Talk to a
Lawyer’
Bad Example
Participant clicked on the wrong link

33. Guide Audience on What To Do Next
Some audiences become overwhelmed by seeing a long list of problems and
recommendations.
From previous HCDE student research

34. Let’s do this.

35. Quick Recap
Choose the right deliverable format based on your audience.
Ensure that your deliverables are well written.
Supplement with screenshots, diagrams, and other visualizations.
Use photos, audio and/or video clips to allow audience to experience directly.
Don’t forget to explain your methods, mention the positive aspects, and make
sure the audience knows what to do next with findings.

36. THANKS!
Any questions?
You can find me at:
@pujaparakh
http://puja.rocks
http://tinyurl.com/presentfindings