1

I'm a fairly new UXR. Recently, I created a presentation deck with recommendations after testing a website. Before presenting I ran the deck by a friend who told me my recommendations might be too specific. Here's one example:

Context: We have a page in the main navigation titled "Employers". This page is a where we want employers to learn more about our product and its use cases for them.

Issue: Users thought the "Employers" page would be a directory of all of the companies who are currently using our product.

Recommendation: Rename the "Employers" page to be more clear. e.g "For employers" or "For businesses". On this slide I also have 2 screen shots from other competitors who are using this wording.

Two questions. One, is out of line for a researcher to suggest actual design solutions (the screenshots)?. Two, would I just explain that "Employers" was unclear to users and to recommend something like "Make title more clear" instead of suggesting what the specific wording could be?

Let me know your thought and whether you have ran into similar situations. Thanks!

Improve this question
1
  • 1
    I too have move from a ux des position to a UXR. Asking myself the same questione, how much should I suggest? I am thinking that being a researcher is moving out from the solution space and into the "context" space, trusting others'ability. Occasionally in your case the solution can be pretty straight forward and you should suggest it
    – Giulio
    Jan 4 at 13:15

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
3

No, it's not out of line for researchers to suggest UX solutions. This is a fairly common practice in many organizations, and is often appreciated where non-designers are doing the design work.

Having said that - it's all going to depend on the organization. Is there a distinct separation between design and research (to, say, prevent less-mature designers from running their own experiments incorrectly and deriving incorrect results)? Or is it more collaborative, where designers can create their own test plans in a partnership with research because there's a high level of maturity and trust?

If your organization is blurry on the research/design line, or researchers are the designers, or handing results off to engineers/analysts to design, then you're pretty safe with adding recommendations.

If your org has decided that designers should exclusively own the solutions to design problems exposed in research, then you can leave your solutions out. But in my experience, most UX designers like hearing suggestions from other experienced UXers, and can decide whether to implement them, or not.

Improve this answer
1
  • Thanks so much for your response! That makes sense and I'll be keeping this information in mind as I continue my growth as a UXR.
    – Jivin Jawanda
    Jan 3 at 18:04
0

I think you as UXR in a project have good knowledge about users' pains and experiences. It's good for UX designers to hear your recommendations and then decide between different solutions.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.