Keep Calm And Carry On doing UX Research

Don’t let Covid-19 stop you doing UX Research

There are two parts to this blog post. The first is for brands wondering if they can utilise UX research methods during their design process whilst the Covid-19 virus impacts continue. The second is for our colleagues in UX Agencies who are worried about how they can work during this crisis and offering some advice.

For brands

It would be reasonable to assume that if everyone is on lock down and unable, or unwilling to travel, that UX research would be impossible to carry out. Research is often thought of as an entirely face-to-face activity, meeting customers in person for in-depth discussion or interactive UX research sessions. But the truth is very different and has been transformed in the past couple of years as a result of a few key factors:

• Participants are far more familiar with video conferencing type technologies that they were just a few years ago
• The technologies we can use are far better and easier to use than they used to be (even a couple of years ago we could lose 30 minutes of a session just trying to get the participant online
• New technologies now allow us to research mobile devices remotely.
• Internet speeds are faster, so video and screen sharing are less prone to falling over mid-session

We run remote research for clients all over the world and in a variety of different markets. In the past couple of months this has included India, Germany, France and the UK. With the Covid-19 outbreak we are forced to use remote methodologies but some clients actually choose them or we suggest them. There are various reasons why:

• We are able to meet otherwise impossible to reach audiences
• We are able to represent a wider geography
• We can avoid facility costs
• We can be more flexible

A lot of our projects involve running the research in local language and the client wishing to listen to English. In these situations our simultaneous translator watches the session, listening to the native audio feed, and broadcasts the English audio on a separate channel for the client to login and listen to.

So, don’t let the Covid-19 virus stop you from evaluating your digital products. There are plenty of ways to continue doing what you have been doing and plenty of participants at home able to get involved in helping you.