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Helping research travel beyond the researcher
UX designers began testing their own designs, and Product Managers began making time for research in the product development process. Shared standards, practical guidance, and ongoing support helped make that possible.
My role: Developed guidance, provided training and script reviews, and helped colleagues interpret findings.
Team: I worked with Ryan on the foundations; design and product colleagues brought the questions and put the methods into practice.
A small team, with more people able to learn
We were a small user experience team. As I moved into optimization leadership, I helped product designers investigate their own questions. They came to me for advice on which method to use, how to structure a study, what to ask, how to interpret the results, and what to change next. I really enjoyed that part of the work.
Help frame the question
We started with the audience, the problem, user and business goals, and how we would recognize success. Being clear about who an experience was for became especially important as we explored personalization.
Not everything needed an A/B test. Sometimes a few qualitative usability sessions—watching people try a design—could reveal the obstacle and help a colleague decide what to revise with much less effort.
I often shared Nielsen Norman Group’s UX Research Cheat Sheet and eventually built my own guide from it. The reference helped people consider their options; our conversations helped them choose.
Support the study in front of them
Weekly research office hours gave colleagues a place to bring work in progress. I reviewed scripts and supported surveys, card sorting to understand how people group information, and studies both with and without a facilitator.
I documented practices and provided hands-on support with UserTesting, Optimal Workshop, and Baymard, and later helped with the transition from UserTesting to UserZoom. I also worked with product management on the connection between early research and requests for live-site experiments.
Build independence, and keep the questions open
UX designers began testing their own designs more independently. Shared standards and ongoing guidance helped them use the tools and make sense of what they learned.
Research also became more visible to Product Managers. They began incorporating it as a step in the product development process and allowing additional time for it. The change extended beyond who could run a study: research was becoming part of how the work was planned.
I emphasized that research continued after launch. A successful experience could still evolve; the next question was where people needed more help and which improvement was worth investigating.
Recognize the tradeoff, and evolve
Having designers test their own work carries a risk of bias. At the time, our team was small enough that this was the most practical way to ensure designs actually got tested. Sharing research skills helped us work within that constraint.
As the team grew, my leaders established a dedicated UX research team. I had already laid much of the foundation for the tools and processes that team went on to use. Designer-led testing had met an immediate need, and that groundwork supported a more specialized research practice as the organization expanded.