Research The Researcher S01C08 feat Shaifali Gupta
Name and a brief intro about yourself…
Shaifali Gupta
A skilled, enthusiastic and versatile User Experience Designer & Creative Consultant.
Current place of work
Druva
Designation/role/title
Sr. UX Designer
What you up to? (any interesting work or project you want to talk about)
1. I recently designed a very complex- multi hierarchy Model Monitoring system.
2. Conducted in-person extensive user research in three top banks of Sweden.
How and Why did you get into User Research?
I have done my education (B.Des) in UX itself which led to User Research
But at SAS, I have got numerous opportunities to conduct User research with the customer; which has helped me grow in this field.
One book recommendation for those who want to get started in User Research (can also be a book which you often refer to)
I think the most important part of User Research is to read between the lines. Sometimes a user may or may not say what they intend, but as the UX Researcher, our job is to go deep and figure out what they mean. Therefore I have been reading quite a few books on behavioural science, few of them are
- 100 Things Every Designer needs to know about people
2. Happiness by design
3. Nudge
4. Predictably Irrational
What skills do you look for when hiring Researchers? (or what skills you think Researchers should have)
1. Empathy
2. The skill of asking questions
3. Able to have good conversations
4. Makes the user/anyone comfortable.
5. Someone who can convert insights into a tangible output
6. Curiosity
What value does User Research add to Product Design & Development? (if any examples where User Research created an impact, that would be great)
Mostly when the products are designed they are either domain-driven or tech-driven (I am talking about enterprise products).
So when you bring users into the picture you take the design at the next level.
You understand there is a huge gap between the requirement and user needs, which gets filled when you do user research.
How is User Research structured at your place of work? (is it that researchers are embedded into products or called for as and when the demand arises)
The product designer does their own research in collaboration with the product manager. There is a usability testing lab in the US, where your designs are tested in case you are located remotely.
How do you grow as a Researcher? (what should Researchers do to stay valuable)
Keep reading, stay updated and keep doing the research. A lot of times there are no opportunities in the job place, so instead talk about random apps and services to random people and try to understand what are they perceiving, things they like and don't like or how it can be improved.
What are the sources of info which you follow to stay updated in the field of User Research (can be people you follow on Medium/LinkedIn/Twitter, Websites, Publications, etc)
Nothing in particular but I read a lot on medium, linked and twitter.
Thanks, Shaifali for your insights. Shaifali is on LinkedIn.
