Bootstrapping User Research

We’re about to bust two major myths for you, ready? #1 Yes, you should 100% be doing user research (pretty much constantly) and #2 it in fact does not need to cost your company an arm and a leg.

Let’s start with the basics. What is user research? Why is it important?

Boiled down, user research is essentially the process through which a company can understand their current (or future) users’ behaviors. This can be anything from usability testing on the company website, to observational research, to surveys, to interviews, to large-scale controlled research projects, etc. At the end of the day, we’re huge advocates for user-centered design and you can’t keep your product and services user-centered without...actually talking to your users. While you might be thinking that you’re an industry expert and know your users like the back of your hand, human behavior is often much more unpredictable than we think and company stakeholders are often so close to their products and services that they can unknowingly skew their predictions about their users’ behaviors to favor their current development cycles.

User research is important because it breaks this dangerous cycle and ensures that the user stays at the center of product at every stage of solution or company growth. In true EnticEdge fashion, we want to stress that user research can shape business strategy and decision making as well and is not only limited to product design. Uncovering key insights from your users can infiltrate every corner of your company and even cause some companies to pivot or refresh their existing models. Fundamentally, user research is one of the core keys to success with your target audiences because it promotes a better user experience which in turn positively affects your company’s bottom line (and reputation, and growth, and customer loyalty, and...you get the idea).

How to bootstrap user research

1. Start small

We know that taking on a project like usability testing sounds like a lot of additional effort for most entrepreneurs who are trying to take their latest product to market. However, it is completely possible to keep user research agile, and we actually recommend doing so for most small to mid-sized organizations. Contrary to popular belief, you actually don’t need to speak with thousands of people in order to make your research “statistically significant.” The beauty of user research is that it can be much more conversational and fluid rather than cut and dry. For the scientists among us who just cringed at that thought, Nielsen Norman Group actually proved the statistical significance of testing with smaller groups of people (5 people to be exact) over a series of smaller, iterative studies instead.

2. Use your network 

With that in mind, you actually don’t need an overwhelming amount of money to incentivize 5 people to participate in something like usability testing or user interviews. In fact, you probably already have a number of clients who would love to talk your ear off about their interaction with your product or service. Starting by leveraging your network to get deeper insights into your user experience is a great decision. Just remember to make your questions as unbiased and non-leading as possible so you get the most honest answers.

3. Go for quality over quantity

Again, we can’t stress enough that depth of information is important here and outweighs spreading your research to as many people as possible when it comes to low budget research. That is not to say that you shouldn’t cast a wide net when appropriate (targeted surveys can be a great resource for feedback!), but that you should try to get as much valuable insight from each user as possible rather than bits and pieces from every person that uses your product. Whether you’re observing a user complete a set of tasks or interviewing them, pay attention to what your users are saying and how they’re saying it, and try to have as candid and natural of a conversation as possible given the circumstances. At the end of the day, you can gain priceless insights from just a few users and you don’t want to miss out on that incredible new perspective.

Trust us, you absolutely can rein in the costs of user research if you’re willing to take a meaningful approach to gaining insights from your users and network–and you absolutely should take the plunge into the user research process. Not only will you have a better understanding of your users motivations and frustrations to inform product design decisions, but you’ll be able to view your solutions and your company from a new perspective without insider bias. Ultimately, there are few downsides to iterative user research as it will improve both your design and business strategies and it doesn’t have to be an expensive feat.

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Interested in learning more about user research for your company?