Agile research methods involve various consumer insight tracking methods, including in-depth interviews, focus groups, online surveys, and more. User research is crucial to staying ahead of the competition in just about any industry. Still, it can be expensive and time-consuming, so UX teams need to stay organized with project templates. Project templates help research teams to set expectations and uncover what is required before they begin their study.
Project templates are the best way to create a successful consumer study because they allow teams to stay focused and organized with their eyes on the prize.
Keep reading for a project template for user research that works.
Agile Research Methods: A Guide To User Testing
Goals
The foundation of any compelling agile market research study should be concrete company goals. Before you do anything else, formulate a problem statement or the “what” you’re trying to answer with your project. Example goals include finding out why online sales of x are declining or discovering the marketing messages that are working best for our audience.
Objectives
Before you get too far into your research plan, you first want to focus on your user research objectives. In other words, you need to figure out why you are researching the first place. After your research is completed, what question(s) will you be able to answer? Example objectives include: How can we attract more customers? Should we develop a new product?
Method
Once your goals and objectives are fleshed out, deciding on a research method is much more straightforward. Qualitative agile research is a type of research approach that involves a more interpretive and natural approach to eliciting data. This method consists of collecting real human insights via in-depth interviews, focus groups, observations, and video. Quantitative research involves templated user surveys that can be beneficial when there are time, money, or geographical constraints.
Participants
Now that you have a clear understanding of your project’s objective and its scope, you need to decide who you want in your study. Customer personas will help you determine who you need to recruit for your user research to be successful. A persona is like a marketing baseball card with a breakdown of who your customer is, with characteristics and demographics that will allow you to narrow your pool of consumers.
Timing
Time is money, as they say, so it’s helpful to have a rough idea of how long your research will take to complete. Having a timeline helps you create a schedule for research sessions, debriefing, follow-up, and other deliverables. You should always give yourself a cushion, though, as research projects tend to take longer than expected.
User Research Project Templates
User research project templates are essential tools for executing a successful market research project. Having a template allows UX teams to remember project details, communicate with stakeholders, and stay on track throughout the user research plan.
Fuel Cycle makes user research more accessible than ever before. Ignition, our agile insights platform, is designed to help organizations deliver better products, optimize brand presence, and connect with customers and employees.
To kickstart your agile marketing plan, check out our Guide to Agile Research in 2021.
