Why do user research? Interview with user research experts

Being accessible means ensuring everyone can use your digital products and services without barriers. Making products and services accessible is a journey, and inclusive user research is an essential part of that journey which keeps users at the heart of your services and digital products.  

We asked two AbilityNet user research consultants to explain the benefits of inclusive user research in the UX, accessibility, customer insight, and product management work they do. Graphic of a person sat with back to the image at a table on a computer, performing a task

Meet the experts: Ashely Peacock (left) and Lucy Woodcock (right) profile images

  • Ashley Peacock, Senior Accessibility Consultant at AbilityNet (pictured left)
  • Lucy Woodcock, Accessibility Consultant and User Researcher at AbilityNet (pictured right) 

What is user research? 

Ashley: So at AbilityNet we specialise in inclusive user research and testing for websites, apps and services. It is an opportunity for organisations to understand people's different needs and preferences and therefore to build a tool, product or service that's going to be able to meet the needs of a broad range of people.  

Graphic of a person happily making notes on a white piece of paperOne of the methods we use is usability testing, it involves observing users navigate an online or in-person user journey.

The user explains their experience as they go which can identify barriers to them completing it whilst providing feedback.

As consultants, we have had to understand how to inquire and tailor questions to dig deeper into a person's experience so we can uncover the root cause of the barrier.

In this way, we can explain the rationale behind our recommendations to clients when we advise on how to remediate barriers and challenges so that everyone is able to use the tools and in the way that they want to, and to meet their goals in using the product. 

Lucy: User research and testing includes a variety of different ways of looking at and getting feedback on the usability of websites or mobile apps, and accessibility is an important part of usability.

We do this through watching participants, as Ashley mentioned, or it could also include us conducting focus group in which we discuss barriers that they might face or find out about their preferences for designs.

Why is user research important? 

Lucy: User research is important because if you design and develop a product that works for the maximum number of users possible, this is often a true marker of success. User research helps you identify that, without it you're greatly risking that your product won’t be used by people because nobody wants to struggle through a non-accessible product to achieve a journey. 

People want to use things that help them achieve a desired task, and that they enjoy using. A product can meet all the WCAG success criteria, but this does not ensure enjoyment in using the product, that all barriers are removed. Someone could find a product irritating or overwhelming, so in the end they're just not going to use it. So, your development and design efforts won't necessarily have achieved what they're set out to do.  

Ashley: I think user testing is worth investing in, especially in today's very competitive product landscape. If someone experiences even small annoyances with using your product, they can switch to a different provider that doesn't have many barriers. 

Fewer barriers give a much more pleasurable experience to users. User research can be particularly important with divergent people because the depth of feedback that you're able to collect will give you a whole fresh take. These insights could be new features, that differentiate you from competitors, or knowledge of how to improve the UX not only to remove barriers for disabled people but to improve the experience for everyone.

Why should user research include disabled participants? 

Lucy: There’s a saying in some disabled groups of ‘nothing about us without us’.  It highlights the importance of speaking to the actual people who will be impacted by something when making changes.  It is dangerous to base ideas on assumptions without getting real insights into the people you are designing for, even if you have good intentions, because you may end up designing or building the wrong thing, which would be a waste of energy and resources.  

Ashley: if you run research that is based on the needs of the public but decided to exclude 20% of the population. There would be all sorts of questions on the scientific validity of research findings. And then all sorts of questions on whether a product and service is fit for purpose when it’s only been designed for 80% of the population.  

Most researchers' concerns are cost, recruitment or a lack of confidence in running research with disabled groups. But with coaching, up-skilling and experience, conducting research with disabled people becomes business as usual.

 What is user research in product management and other organisational functions? 

Lucy: User research in product management is all about finding out what users need or expect from a product and then validating these ideas with users before continuing development.  It will involve spotting any pain points and deciding what features are good to develop and may enhance the product.

It is the same idea really in other organisational functions but could involve things such as understanding what motivates people for marketing, tailoring sales strategies based on findings from user research, or improving the experience of employees by using UR to improve HR policies and processes.

What are the user research methods you use? 

Ashley: Sometimes we have to be creative as typical research methods may not work for our audience. For example; a project I worked on needed to understand autistic and Neurodivergent experiences of rooms and whether these rooms created sensory overloads. There isn’t a scale for measuring sensory overloads, and communication during sensory overloads can be challenging. So we came up with a method based on phenomenological inquiry. We then validated the approach with partners at a University who have decades of experience of autistic research and knew it would work.  

Lucy: User research methods are really any techniques used to get insights into how people will use a product or services.  Typically these might include surveys, interviews, focus group discussion, diary studies, or user testing.  Which method is used very much depends on the goals and objectives of the project, or what you are hoping to find out.

Learn more about user research  

If you're interested in putting disabled individuals at the heart of your project through user research, explore AbilityNet’s User Research service.  

Enquire about our user research service

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