{"id":8211,"date":"2023-05-22T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-22T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/?p=8211"},"modified":"2023-05-16T23:20:24","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T04:20:24","slug":"ux-research-toolbox-anatomy-of-a-compelling-narrative-for-your-ux-research-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juneux.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/ux-research-toolbox-anatomy-of-a-compelling-narrative-for-your-ux-research-reports\/","title":{"rendered":"UX Research Toolbox: Anatomy of a Compelling Narrative for Your UX Research Reports"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Projects and deadlines move fast, and often teams cannot wait for UX researchers to write lengthy, thoughtful research reports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This time crunch has forced UX researchers to think of new or more creative ways<\/a> to get findings quickly into the hands of those who need them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is there still value in creating a UX research report today\u2014even after the activation team already has the results? Absolutely! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s useful to document research findings in a well-written deliverable for at least 3 critical reasons\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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  1. Teams, leaders, and researchers change: <\/strong>Documenting the findings ensures the knowledge lives on and research studies aren\u2019t unnecessarily repeated, which wastes time and money.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Researcher Accountability: <\/strong>A written report holds the researcher accountable to their findings, ensuring the research is reliable, valid, and rigorous.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Documentation<\/strong>: Among fast-paced teams, memories will quickly fade about the details of each study conducted over the past year. Having everything documented and organized in one place\u2014sample sizes, dates, methods, findings, etc.\u2014makes it much easier to put together a \u201cyear in review\u201d and celebrate the team\u2019s work!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    UX Research Report Writing Tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Here are my best tips when assembling your next research report:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Develop a clear structure<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    A clear and logical structure will help stakeholders follow the research narrative and keep them engaged. Yes, even research reports should have impeccable usability! Omit all jargon. Use consistent and information-rich headings, subheadings, and bullet points. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Be sure to bring along those who aren\u2019t close to the research by starting with the big picture, and then zooming into the specifics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Tip: <\/strong>I learned early on in my research career that most executives want all key findings summarized onto a single page\u2014and at the top of the report. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Use storytelling techniques<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Storytelling hooks stakeholders and makes the findings significantly more memorable. Include user stories or anecdotes that illustrate key points and create an emotional connection to the data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For example, you might tell a journey-based story that brings stakeholders along the emotional highs and lows as a user completed each task on their journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    “Data doesn\u2019t speak for itself, it needs a storyteller.”<\/p>\nNancy Duarte (communication specialist)<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    Use visuals<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Skip the stock images, and instead create your own visualizations to convey ideas. These might include flow charts, simple journey maps or storyboards, Venn diagrams, decision trees, matrices, low-fidelity wireframes, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Use analogies and metaphors to illustrate key concepts or findings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Remember, insights don’t come from bar charts, pie charts, or trend reports. Insights are powered by humans who add context and draw meaningful connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Incorporate real user quotes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Include quotes from real users to add a human touch and reinforce the research findings. Use quotes that are representative or particularly eloquent or provocative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Additionally, I like to use Reduct to make research highlight reels. It\u2019s incredibly powerful to show multiple 5-second clips in a row of the same usability task failing over and over and over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Make recommendations actionable<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Ensure your recommendations are directly relevant to the findings, specific, actionable, and\u2014if possible\u2014take budget or technical limitations into consideration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Alternatively, you may consider including \u201cthought starters\u201d as a way to leave behind your point of view\u2014but without overt recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Include the full research plan<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Ensure that research teams who come after you have everything they need to know<\/a> about the research objectives, methodology, sampling method, incentives, known biases, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Avoid having the validity of your research findings called into question because another researcher is skeptical of the research design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For more tips crafting a stellar research report, I highly recommend Nancy Duarte\u2019s book \u201cDataStory: Explain data and inspire action through story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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