Luke Hay is one of our speakers at UX London 2024. Ahead of his workshop on day two and three — Bridging the gap between Research and Design — we had a chat with him.
Here’s what we asked, and what Luke told us:
Was there a particular driver for you getting into user research?
I’ve worked with websites for a long time (since the last century!) but never been much of a coder or a designer. I’ve always been interested in how and why people use websites, and other digital products, so user research seemed like a good fit.
Can you share how someone could get started with user research?
Things have moved on a bit since I started out. It was easier to get into back then, but these days the quality of the research being undertaken is higher. To get into user research I’d recommend reading books like Just Enough Research as well as keeping up-to-date with industry websites like the NNGroup. That said, it’s important to not take advice from any one source. The key thing is to actually undertake research with real users. Finding a way to learn on the job, whether that’s through an internship, or just taking on a small project for a friend, is a great way to get started. You might also want to find yourself a mentor. Plenty of experienced UXers are willing to give their time to help people get into the industry. Looking at schemes like WYK Digital or, closer to home for me, UX Brighton, is a good way to get set up with a mentor if you don’t know anyone.
What was the most interesting piece of research you have undertaken? Can you share what you learnt and how it changed the outcome of the project?
Recently I’ve been working with different universities. This has led to a range of projects from helping understand what prospective students look for in a university, to how to improve the learning experience for current students. At the younger end of the education scale I’ve run research with younger students who were considering getting into Engineering as a career. Helping to shape the design and content of these websites, based on the needs of their users, is very satisfying.
And what about the most challenging user research you’ve undertaken?
I’ve worked with a wide range of different user groups in the past. From dress makers to body builders, pensioners to kids and some very niche interest groups! Research gets challenging when participants don’t behave as you’d expect them to. Going into schools and talking to pupils there is always quite lively and unexpected. Possibly the most challenging user interview, to begin with anyway, was when the participant joined the call while in bed. Ultimately though, if this is a natural environment for them, then it’s a valid place to run the research.
Your workshop’s about Bridging the Gap Between Research and Design, what inspired you to create a workshop about that?
As researchers, we spend a lot of time and effort to understand users and their needs. We then share those findings with designers, who create solutions that meet those needs. For various reasons though, the finer details can fall through the gap between research taking place and the designs being released into the wild. The inspiration for the workshop is really about making sure that research efforts aren’t being wasted and that, as a result, designs are better meeting the needs of users.
What will be the main take away from your workshop?
People will take away tools and techniques to be able to ensure that the insights from research make it through to the final design. Whether you’re responsible for running the research, designing the product or a bit of both the workshop will help you overcome the current challenges along this process. Bridging the gap between research and design will help to ensure that we’re all delivering exceptional experiences for our users.
And finally, what are you currently listening to, reading or watching?
I’ve actually been doing a lot of research for my workshop. This has led to me reading articles, and listening to podcasts, on how researchers and designers can work better together. Outside of that I’m currently enjoying season four of the Clearleft Podcast.
