Making Research A Team Sport
Recently, the Digital Media division at NPR has been using discovery sprints (a more robust strategy-focused sprint based on GV’s Design Sprint model) to dive into the big, strategic questions that will define our future roadmaps.
There’s a lot to love about the discovery sprint framework, but one of my favorite parts is that it has the potential to bring together truly cross-disciplinary teams to work toward a shared goal. It’s a great way to collaborate with folks outside of your typical product team, and it is excellent for highlighting different perspectives that you might not come across in your regular day-to-day work.
It’s one thing to bring a cross-discipline team together; it’s another to make sure that members, regardless of their skillsets, are empowered to contribute to any part of the sprint process. Research is often seen as something to be tackled by designers or researchers, but it can be an opportunity for full-team collaboration, with a few accommodations. During the discovery sprints in which I’ve participated, I’ve found that research can be more interesting for my team if I make an effort to get everyone to contribute to the work.
Wondering how you can make research more collaborative on your team? Here are some steps you can take to get everyone to take an active role in forming questions, gathering and analyzing data and sharing results.
Make it clear that research is a task for the entire team
When you’re setting up your team’s schedule (either for a discovery sprint or just to conduct research), be sure to allot time specifically for each research task: preparing for it, conducting it and debriefing after it. Don’t plan on other activities (collaborative or independent work) on days where you’ll all work on research.
Take time to educate and review
Do you have members on your team who are new to research? Be sure to explain the essentials in an approachable way. Try to give an overview of what research entails (forming questions, gathering and analyzing data, sharing results), as well as details about roles, tools, and questions that are relevant to your specific work.
Include the whole team in preparing for research
Get your teammates invested in the research ahead of time by including them in a range of tasks: generating/refining assumptions, writing research questions, identifying participants, crafting a script, scheduling, etc.
Assign rotating roles for everyone on the team
Make your research more participatory by letting members of your team try out different roles and responsibilities. If your research involves multiple sessions, teammates can rotate to different roles for each session. (Some suggested roles: primary moderator/interviewer, secondary moderator/interviewer, notetaker, observer)
Broadcast and record everything
Be sure to think about how your team can participate in or observe your research, no matter where they are. We use GoToMeeting so moderators/interviewers can interact with participants over video, while others can take notes or observe. And, you can record your sessions for future reference.
Try collaborative note-taking
Use different tools to make work easier for your notetakers. We’ve had good luck with Reframer, where teammates can take notes and add tags to key insights in real-time. Additionally, encourage observers to have a real-time conversation about what they’re seeing/hearing in a Slack thread.
Reflect on your research together
At the end of a session or the end of a research-heavy day, get the team together to discuss and documents insights. A collaborative approach to this part of the research process makes compiling findings easier, and it will keep your team on the same page as you move beyond research to the next step of your sprint.
How have you tried to make research more collaborative? What have you learned about getting your team more involved in the process? Let us know in the comments!
