Share a simple 1 pager user research synthesis with your senior leaders
Senior leaders in product companies often have limited time. Instead of presenting the entire process, it is more effective to focus directly on the key facts and findings, with the option to provide detailed documentation for later review.
Start with a TL;DR
Kick off your report with a killer TL;DR! Summing up a design research study in one line isn’t easy, but mastering this skill is totally worth it. If it’s punchy and catchy, you’ll spark curiosity and get the team hooked to dive deeper into your report.
Use text sparingly
When laying out the problem statement, user personas, or demographics, opt for sleek bullet points over lengthy paragraphs. I encourage design researchers to explore creative data visualization methods — think charts, graphs, and more — to make your findings pop and keep things engaging!
Section your summary into three parts —
1. What worked well
Start on with a positive note by highlighting the strengths of the design concept. Include visuals and mention the tasks that users understood well, aligned with your hypothesis. If there were no standout successes, it’s perfectly fine to skip this section.
2. What could have worked better
In this section, highlight where your participants were confused and could not proceed further in the study/task at hand. Skip the detailed reasoning behind those instances as they can be included in the detailed report.
3. What didn’t work at all
Highlight the red flags — these are key moments where participants became frustrated and nearly abandoned the task after struggling to understand the concept. These are usually of most interest for the leadership to avoid potential drop-offs.
Include quotes from study participants
Incorporating user quotes in a design user study is a highly effective method for capturing authentic insights and feedback. Quotes provide direct, unfiltered expressions of users’ thoughts, emotions, and pain points, adding a layer of human context that data alone cannot convey. They help to illustrate specific user experiences and challenges, making the findings more relatable and compelling to leaders.
“I need to attend to so many patients in a day, please don’t make my life harder with another app” — A staff nurse at a primary health clinic in India during pilot phase at Simple.org
Using Slack message to share research summary
Slack is an effective platform for sharing quick updates, particularly with teams working remotely. While it is acceptable to compose longer messages, it is important to ensure that the entire summary is sent as a single, cohesive message. This approach allows team members to process the information more efficiently and reduces the likelihood that key details will be overlooked amidst comments and discussions.
Include a recommendation at the end
Sprinkle in some design tweaks — whether it’s copy edits or suggestions for further studies based on your insights. It’s the cherry on top that adds a dash of completeness to your one-pager!
