Top Three Key Representations for Effective User Research

UX research representation is the stage that usually includes creating user personas, journey maps, service blueprints, and so forth. These documents are very essential for the research insight to be clear and understandable for everyone, including the stakeholders.

Whatever research methodology you have used in your UX research, the next step is always to transform your data into actionable insights. To do the user research analysis, you must first arrange all of the data that you have collected. Then you will begin to describe and classify your data, detecting common themes. Simultaneously, you are going to integrate your results, bringing in useful insights. Ultimately, you'll have to convert the findings into something practical that all-important stakeholders can share and understand.

In this article, we are going to talk about some of the most crucial user representation tools and highlight their importance in the process of user research. So let’s get started.

User Personas

User personas are widely employed by design teams all over the world and have been shown to be quite beneficial. User personas are fictional users whose aims and attributes are representative of the interests of a wider set of users. A persona is often provided in a one- to two-page document that covers patterns of behavior, objectives, abilities, attitudes, and general background, and also the context wherein the persona works. Designers generally develop user persona templates, which incorporate a few fictitious personal information to make the persona seem more lifelike.

User personas are a step up from the traditional user profile, providing a more detailed and specialized insight into a user. They're a lot more enjoyable, and they're usually more intriguing, easy to interact with, and distinctive than other research results.

Journey Maps

While talking about user research tools and methods another thing that should be considered is a Journey Map. Simply put, a journey map is a graphic representation of the measures taken by a customer to achieve an overall objective. Journey maps are diagrams that show linkages, customer feelings, pain areas, and activities in a logical order. However, the purpose of journey mapping is more than just creating a timeframe, a strong journey map fosters compassion and gives a pretty good understanding for enhancing the user experience.

It is a graphic that conveys the story of an end-user attempting to complete a certain action or objective as it relates to your business. Almost all journey maps seem unique, but the nice thing is that they all have the same five basic elements in common including:

• Actor. This is the central point in the adventure you're mapping.
• Scenario and Expectations. The scenario is what they are attempting to achieve, and the expectations are what they anticipate while they try to complete that activity.
• Phases. These are significant pieces of data that describe the high-level story of what the user is doing.
• Actions and Emotions. The customer's actions, their thinking, and the emotional aspect, meaning are they dissatisfied or delighted?
• Insights and Opportunities. These are the key points. What did journey mapping teach us? Were there any failings? Were there any monetary gains?

The Benefits of Journey Maps

As with any other qualitative user research method, this one also has its own essential benefits that should be taken into account. The first significant advantage is doing it with others is way more enjoyable. You develop that common language, knowledge, and mental representation of what the end-user has been doing.

When done correctly, the journey mapping results in the creation of the artifact which is considered to be the second advantage. With this artifact, you may persuade stakeholders, demonstrate other departments, and in many cases, those insights and possibilities create significant change.

Service Blueprints

A service blueprint is a graphic that depicts the links between various service elements, such as people, artifacts, and procedures, that are directly relevant to the key points in a certain customer experience. This is another essential method in the UX research methodology guidebook.

When creating their research strategy, UX researchers use hypothetical service blueprints in order to find weaknesses in their latest findings. This use of blueprinting decreases the chance of wasting extra time and effort in collecting already existing research. On top of that, these blueprints tell stakeholders all about the resources needed to conduct the research.

Once it is generated, a service blueprint can also be used in order to examine the whole service and find gaps, duplicates, or difficult areas. According to the potential they bring to the company, these vulnerabilities can then be identified for redesign and change. The artifact served as a common representation for the researchers, allowing them to convey future work, align objectives, and define optimal new service patterns.

The Benefits of Service Blueprints

The most commonly acknowledged advantage of using these ​​user analysis tools is the use of a common language and knowledge. Service blueprints assist departments in aligning around a single purpose, empowering team members, and educating stakeholders about the recent perspective.

Service blueprints make intangible elements visible and assist in the placement of products. So, if your aim is to identify service flaws, minimize inefficiencies, merge barriers, or everything in between, service blueprints give you an opportunity to visualize all of the invisible parts of the experiences.

Besides, because it connects cross-departmental activities, blueprinting is particularly helpful in organizing comprehensive solutions. Blueprinting requires companies to document what happens internally across the whole customer experience, revealing gaps and interconnections that departments alone might miss.

Frequently Asked Questions

What tools do user researchers use?

The three most essential tools that researchers commonly use in order to analyze their research include User personas, Journey Maps, and Service Blueprints. User personas are a step above the typical user profile in that they provide a more extensive and specialized insight into a user. Journey maps are diagrams that demonstrate links, client sentiments, pain points, and activities in a logical manner, while service blueprints highlight the connections between various service aspects.

What is user research analysis?

The user research analysis is an essential component of any research process since it is the action of understanding what was discovered in order to provide accurate suggestions in favor of customers. While conducting analysis, researchers often use the tools such as User personas, Service Blueprints, and journey maps.

 

Written by Keti Getiashvili

Based on an interview with Giorgi Sosebashvili