Lean UX

Chapter 6. Feedback and Research

Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.

—Zora Neale Hurston

It’s now time to put our MVP to the test. All of our work up to this point has been based on assumptions; now we must begin the validation process. We use lightweight, continuous, and collaborative research techniques to do this.

Research with users is at the heart of most approaches to UX. Too often, teams outsource research work to specialized research teams. And too often, research activities take place only on rare occasions—either at the beginning of a project or at the end. Lean UX solves the problems these tactics create by making research both continuous and collaborative. Let’s dig in to see how to do that.

In this chapter, we cover:

• Collaborative research techniques that allow you to build shared understanding with your team

• Continuous research techniques that allow you to build small, informal qualitative research studies into every iteration

• Which artifacts to test and what results you can expect from each of these tests

• How to incorporate the voice of the customer throughout the Lean UX cycle

• How to use A/B testing (described later in this chapter) in your research

• How to reconcile contradictory feedback from multiple sources

Continuous and Collaborative

Lean UX takes basic UX research techniques and overlays two important ideas. First, Lean UX research is continuous; this means that you build research activities into every sprint. Instead of a costly and ...