Summary
Setting the right priorities and roadmaps can be challenging. Having a data-driven and evidence-based approach provides a robust way to prioritise value propositions and features that inform the roadmap to align stakeholders. UX research and product discovery methods that work in a complementary way are key. UX leaders can take the project-based, strategic approach to UX research to get key business and product insights. Product discovery lends itself to lean experimentation for refining products and the UX. Both are needed simultaneously for broad and focused research efforts. This session will explain how UX Research and Product Teams can collaborate to identify innovation opportunities and develop products and services customer and users need.
Key Insights
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Only 33% of businesses conduct research across the entire product lifecycle, limiting product and business insight.
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Transitioning from UX research to product management requires unlearning some detailed documentation habits and focusing more on stakeholder communication.
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Involving stakeholders directly in user interviews and synthesis changes assumptions and improves alignment on product direction.
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Clear role definitions in product trios are crucial, especially when team members are external or crossing traditional boundaries.
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Democratizing research by upskilling non-research team members like customer success managers helps scale research efforts and embeds a research culture.
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A high-level product roadmap structured as now, next, later balances transparency with necessary flexibility for stakeholders.
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Lean UX and continuous discovery accelerate feedback loops as the product matures.
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Using frameworks such as MoSCoW prioritization helps clarify feature priority for developers.
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Collaborative synthesis techniques like affinity mapping engage stakeholders and foster empathy for users.
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Managing stakeholder expectations requires balancing how much detail to share, shifting from exhaustive documentation to actionable summaries.
Notable Quotes
"Only 33% of businesses conduct research throughout the whole product lifecycle to inform product and business decisions."
"I found documentation-based reports too overwhelming in this environment, so I took stakeholders on the journey with me instead."
"When people heard from users directly, it had a big impact on business strategy and product direction."
"Having clear roles in the product trio was essential, especially with an external software developer involved."
"Upskilling customer success managers allowed us to do more research collaboratively and embed a research culture."
"People didn’t want lots of detail in the product roadmap; the now, next, later format put minds at rest."
"There was lots of language barriers around what user experience meant and why it mattered."
"Doing frequent reflection during research helps quickly turn insights into future research questions."
"Researchers can overcome reluctance by involving others gradually, shadowing, and collaboratively coaching."
"It’s not about perfect research; doing more, even a little, is better when time is limited."
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