Video: Multipurpose Communication & UX Research Marketing (Videoconference)

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Multipurpose Communication & UX Research Marketing (Videoconference)

Thursday, September 12, 2019 • DesignOps Community

Molly Fargotstein

Associate Research Operations Manager, Mailchimp

Summary

Despite our clear value in informing product and advocating for our customers, UX Research (UXR) tends to have a lot to prove within most companies. Whether it’s our value, knowledge, or definition, there are information-holes about UXR that need to be filled. Not only that, but we have a lot to share with the rest of our company. We want to be sure that our insights are heard. With zero marketing experience, I (alongside our Centralized Research Team) took a stab at rebranding and marketing our UX Research (UXR) team with sincere intention. Collecting lessons and dodging roadblocks along the way, we tested and evolved different methods set out to evangelize UX Research insights, share findings between teams, define and demystify UX Research and prove value for UXR throughout the company. What does that even look like? Molly will tell you.

Key Insights

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Defining and branding UX research on the team's own terms helps control the narrative and increases cross-team collaboration.
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Creating one-page summaries of research projects greatly improves insight accessibility and prevents valuable findings from getting buried.
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Multipurpose communication requires tailoring message depth and style depending on the audience and the communication goal.
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Engaging mediums like quarterly newsletters, internal radio shows, and posters reinforce UX research visibility in company culture.
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Team swag and participatory incentives (like stickers) help empower researchers and raise internal awareness around research participation.
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Collaborative team dynamics, even during marketing efforts, enhance creativity and workload distribution across the UX research team.
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Measuring the success of UX research marketing efforts is challenging but critical to justify investment and improve strategies.
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Research operations marketing efforts have grown specialized enough to potentially require dedicated marketers within UX teams.
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Involving stakeholders in shadowing research sessions increases transparency and deepens understanding across departments.
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A research insights repository needs intentional organization and is an integral part of the overall UX research marketing strategy.

Notable Quotes

"UX research marketing is the strategy behind and implementation of intentional effective promotion and communication of who UX research is and what UX research does."

"If we don’t brand ourselves, others will, and others could be wrong."

"Valuable research becomes buried when insight decks flood Slack channels and get lost over time."

"We created one-pagers — lightweight, skimmable documents — to help people from all areas quickly understand research insights."

"Marketing what UX research does creates advocates and makes the company smarter by customer insights."

"Not all information can or should be communicated identically across teams; you have to consider audience and purpose."

"Collaborating with analysts or cross-functional team members can help a team of one promote research more effectively."

"We give out stickers for research participation, which people love and it sparks company-wide conversations about UX research."

"Success metrics for research marketing are still emerging, but insights traffic and engagement are early indicators."

"The definition of UX research is something we revisit and share regularly so it remains evergreen and aligned with our growth."

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