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 5 MINUTES READ How 2 simple
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In the early days of UX, UX professionals were a rare and little shape your product
roadmap
known breed (if they were a bird, twitchers – that is particularly
enthusiastic bird watchers, would travel from miles around to
marvel at their strange and unusual plumage). Often as the sole UX ABOUT
representative on a project he or she had to be a one man (or These articles, resources
woman) band, a jack of all trades. Equally adept at whipping up and presentations are by
some UI designs, extracting requirements from those tricky users, Neil Turner – A UK based

conducting user testing sessions and ensuring that accessibility is of UX designer & researcher.
More about this blog
course not forgotten about. As the UX industry has grown, and as
the number of UX professionals has grown there is an increasing
level of specialisation within UX. Now it seems that someone is no FEEDS
longer just a UX professional, now someone is a UX designer, or a
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UX researcher, or a UX strategist, or an interaction designer or a Subscribe by email
mobile UX designer, or a… the list goes on. Roles and responsibilities
on a project are typically narrower and it’s often the case that there
are designated researchers to carry out the UX research (user
feedback, user testing and so on) and designated designers to carry
out the UX design (wireframes, prototypes, user journeys and so
on). Designers often have little involvement in research, and
researchers often have little involvement in design. After all, we
don’t won’t to step on anyone’s toes do we. Sure researchers and
designers might work in the same office, often in the same team
and maybe even in the same room, but they carry out distinctly
different jobs. This is a shame. It’s a shame because it creates more
of a gap and discourse between research and design. Not just in a
physical sense but more importantly in a knowledge, understanding
and empathetic sense.
 In the old days a UX professional often had to be a one-man-band
and jack of all trades

The benefits of designers

getting involved in
research, and researchers
getting involved in design
I believe that whilst there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with
having distinct UX design and research roles, there should be a lot of
cross over between the two roles. Designers should be getting down
and dirty with the research work, and researchers should be getting
down and dirty with the design work. Here’s why.

Great design is built on good research

Great UX design doesn’t just magically materialise (although some
clients seem to think that this is the case) it’s built on user insights
and understanding, and this comes from good research. It comes
from knowing users, and knowing what’s best for users. If those
creating the designs are not involved in any of the user research,
and those carrying out the research are not involved in the designs,
those user insights and understandings will not be fully utilised to
create really great user experience.
 Steve Jobs appreciated that good research is key to great design

It helps build empathy

User research helps to build understanding and empathy with users.
Listening to someone talk about the ‘users’ is just not the same as
directly meeting, and talking to users. Sure personas and user
profiles are great, but actually meeting users face-to-face (even if it’s
only virtually) is infinitely greater. Getting designers more involved in
research, and researchers more involved in design also helps to
build empathy and understanding between designers and
researchers. It helps to break down the view of ‘Them’ and ‘Us’. After
all, there’s nothing like walking a mile in someone else’s shoes to
better understand them and their work (although best check with
someone first before you go stealing their favourite footwear).

Research findings are not lost in translation

A researcher (or anyone else to that matter) trying to communicate
key research findings is a bit like your mate trying to explain to you
the storyline of a film he just saw in the cinema. Sure he or she
might be able to get across the gist of what happened, but a lot is
going to get lost in translation. It’s invariably much better, and much
more enlightening to simply watch the film yourself (unless of
course they said that it was really c**p).

It’s all too easy for research insights and findings to get lost in
translation

Research findings are less likely to be

undervalued
Unless a designer has been part of the research, it can be all too
easy for them to undervalue or even completely dismiss important
findings. Being told about user insights, or usability problems is just
not the same as seeing them with your own eyes, and certainly not
as persuasive.

Stuff is less likely to be thrown over the

fence
Believe it or, the ‘throw it over the fence’ mentality is still prevalent in
a lot of teams and a lot of organisations. A designer creates some
designs and throws them over the fence (metaphorically usually) for
the researcher to gather some user feedback. The researcher gets
some user feedback and then throws this back over the fence to the
designer. A game of design and research ping pong ensues, which
as fun as it might sound, is actually no fun at all, and is certainly not
the best way to create great user experiences.

The amount of stuff being thrown over the fence started to get out
of hand!

There is greater UX involvement and

consistency
It’s more likely that user research insights will turn into effective and
actionable design ideas and changes if someone is present and
involved for the entirety of that journey. If designers have been
involved in the research, and researchers are involved in the design,
there is going to be a greater degree of UX involvement and
consistency within a project, which can only be a good thing.

User feedback can be gathered more quickly

If a designer wants to get some user feedback and has to wait for a
researcher to become available to do so, there is the potential for a
significant lag within the old design and user feedback loop (you
know, the one you should have for user-centred design). If designers
can assist with gathering user feedback (or even directly gather it
themselves), then feedback from users can typically be gathered
more quickly.

Research is better focused

A good deal of UX research involves user testing designs, validating
designs and generally exploring stuff with users. As someone that
was involved in coming up with a design in the first place (at least
you would hope so), a designer is uniquely placed to identify and
refine the sorts of design questions and assumptions that most
urgently require feedback. For example, will users understand this
concept? Does the navigation work? Do hamburger icons make
users hungry?

Researchers and designers can build their

skill-set
I’ve spoken before about the importance of UX professionals having
a T-shaped skillset. Of having a breadth of knowledge and
experience, with depth in a few areas. For designers that depth will
be in design, for researchers it will be in research, but the important
thing is that both have the capability, and opportunity to work
across both. By encouraging designers to be involved in research,
and researchers to get involved in design it gives everyone the
opportunity to expand their skillset and hopefully stops designers
and researchers being pigeon holed as only being able to do design
and research work respectively.

Should there be separate

design and research roles?
So, given all that it perhaps begs the question – should there even
be separate design and research roles within UX? In this modern,
increasingly lean and agile driven project world (with its disdain for
specialists) should there be a ‘Deresearch’ role that combines the
two? (Note to the Oxford English dictionary – I used the word
‘Deresearch’ first). Well, the problem with combining the two roles is
that what makes for a great researcher, isn’t necessarily the same
set of skills and qualities that makes for a great designer. Also
finding someone with great design skills and great research skills, is
a bit like winning the lottery. Sure it could happen, but you’re
probably more likely to get run over by a bus than it happening in
reality.

Whilst I don’t necessarily advocate combining UX design and

research roles, I do think that it’s important that the two roles have a
lot of cross over. Ideally there should be a fuzzy line between UX
designers and researchers, rather than the large fence like structure
you see in some organisations. Designers should muck in with the
research, and researchers should muck in with the design. Hell, the
whole project team should muck in with the research and the design
because ultimately everyone is responsible for creating a great
experience for their users. Sure the lead designer should be steering
the design, and the lead researcher should be steering the research,
but the responsibilities and workload are shared across the two, and
hopefully also across the whole team.

See also
Designer and researcher: The new creative partnership
(Foolproof)

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