The Fountain Institute is an independent online school that teaches advanced UX & product skills.
Generating User Insights Under Pressure
Generating User Insights Under Pressure
by Jeff Humble
Dear Reader,
It's the end of a research project, and the presentation is tomorrow.
You've heard that insights are important in research, but yours seem like trash. You look at your 1st insight:
π€¨π€¨π€¨ It's definitely a finding, but it doesn't feel like an "Aha!" moment. It feels more like an "Mmhmm" moment, lol.
What are the users complaining about? What changed about the UI? Are there functionality changes as well? I have so many questions...clearly, this insight isn't ready yet.
How to "Distill" UX Insights
Insights are like a fine scotch, and making scotch usually takes time.
When you're trying to force a 3-month research project into 3-5 final insights overnight, you really need to crank up the heat!
The magic in forming insights lies in what happens between collecting research data and polishing your insights.
It normally takes days, but you can speed it up by trying a few things:
- Cluster and re-sort your data.
- Start with a "shitty first draft" insight and iterate and iterate.
- Drop your research data into a Miro board and review it.
- Do some desk research using the Pomodoro method.
- Talk through the research with someone outside your org.
- Look for the "why" behind your findings.
- Write a quick version and ask Chat GPT to re-write it.
- Make a quick visual to represent the insight.
- Review the research goals.
- Do more desk research.
- Take a walk.
- Come back and keep editing.
PIck 3 from the list above and get started. Don't think about it. A blank page is worse than underwhelming insights.
A Template for Writing Insights
If you never want to start with a blank page again, check out the template I made called the Insight Card. It's very pink and very useful.
| Download the Insight Card |
In no time, you'll be forming insights that taste like a 10-year scotch on a cold autumn night. Enjoy!
If you want to improve your research skills, we have a course called Continuous UX Research: LIVE for mid-career designers who want to lead user research.
This course has helped designers become UX Leads, UX Researchers, and UX Strategists. Ask your manager for the budget before Sep. 30th.
COURSE: Defining UX Strategy |
Until next week! βοΈ
|
Jeff Humble |
The Fountain Institute
The Fountain Institute is an independent online school that teaches advanced UX & product skills.
The Centaur Strategy Dear Reader, Garry Kasparov's hands begin to sweat. Garry is the world's greatest chess player, but he has run out of moves. His opponent sits there, quietly waiting for Garry to hand him the victory. Garry realizes it's over...not only is he going to lose this game, chess has just changed forever. That's because Garry's opponent was an AI. Garry struggling, from Brittanica On May 11, 1997, the world's leading chess player got beat by IBM's Deep Blue chess program, and it...
Founder of... Dear Reader, With all the hype around the new role designer/builder, it's worth looking at what that role looks like when you cut out the middle man. By that I mean, you build for yourself rather than your employer. I saved this on my Tumblr back in 2014: Think about how much harder it was to become a designer/founder in 2014 vs. 2026. That's great news, but the bad news is that the title "designer" has never been more uncertain. I'm bullish on designers in the age of AI. I'm...
How the Fountain Institute Started and Where It's Going by Jeff Humble Dear Reader, In case you missed it, Hannah dropped a pretty big announcement in the last newsletter. I wanted to tell the story of how the Fountain Institute started, why weβve never had an βAbout Usβ page, and where I think weβre headed next. How it started The Fountain Institute started when two friends decided to grab a beer and work...then kept doing it for 7 years. There were many false starts along the way. Starting...