Oh man! You are hired to improve the product and said no to speaking to users to validate.
As a user researcher, you know that conducting user research is crucial for designing effective and user-friendly products. However, convincing managers who claim they don't have the money or time to invest in user research can be challenging. In this blog post, we'll discuss how to handle such situations and provide actionable tips to empower user researchers to overcome them.
The first step in handling managers who say "We don't have money or time to do user research" is understanding their perspective. Managers are often focused on short-term goals and want to see immediate results. They may not understand the long-term benefits of user research, such as reducing product development costs, improving customer satisfaction, and increasing revenue.
To overcome this challenge, user researchers need to educate their managers on the importance of user research. Here are 4 arguments that can be used to convince managers how user research can help:
1. identify user needs and pain points, which can guide product development and reduce the risk of developing products that don't meet user expectations.
2. improve the usability and user experience of products, which can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
3. reduce product development costs by identifying issues early in the development cycle, saving time and resources in the long run.
4. identify new market opportunities and potential revenue streams by understanding user behavior and preferences.
Once the managers understand the benefits of user research, the next step is to provide actionable tips for conducting user research efficiently and effectively. Here are some tips:
1. Start small:
If budget and time constraints are a concern, start with a small research project that can provide valuable insights. For example, conducting user interviews or surveys to understand user needs and preferences. Do your own recruiting using your own network or go on the streets or wherever your users can be found.
2. Use existing resources:
User researchers can leverage existing resources, such as customer support logs or analytics data, to gain insights into user behavior and pain points.
3. Involve stakeholders:
Involve stakeholders, such as product managers and designers, in the research process to ensure that the research findings are actionable and aligned with business goals.
4. Use cost-effective research methods:
User researchers can use cost-effective research methods, such as remote testing or guerrilla research, to reduce research costs and time. And use Jaide to fasten the analyses and spend fewer hours, while not losing important details.
5. Use a user-centered design approach:
By adopting a user-centered design approach, user researchers can ensure that the product is designed with user needs and preferences in mind, which can improve the product's usability and user experience.
Handling managers who say "We don't have money or time to do user research" requires understanding their perspective, educating them on the benefits of user research, and providing actionable tips for conducting user research efficiently and effectively. By following these tips, user researchers can empower themselves to overcome this challenge and design better products that meet user needs and expectations.
