How can you make your research age well?

How can you make your research age well?

What other say

"Customer insights are like bananas.
Yes. You read that right. Customer insights share the same issue with bananas. The only difference is that, with bananas, we know the issue - with customer insights, we tend to overlook it. And this is it:
They have a limited shelf-life.
They expire. Go bad. Become brown."

— An extract of a short story shared by Service Designer Niels Corsten

My two cents

Here are a few ideas I'll try to explore in the future when it comes to making sure my research reports age well:

  • Add the date of publication: Just having the date (visible) of when the report was made is already a piece of pretty good information for people who read it. It can help them think: "Oh, things have changed a lot since then! Maybe this isn't so accurate anymore".

  • Add a suggested expiration date: In your report, you could, like for yoghurts, add a date that says something like: "The learnings might be out of date in XX".

  • Add a reminder to review the research on the expiration date: the expiration date isn't good only for the reader, but it can also be pretty helpful for you. In fact, you could add a reminder in your calendar or to-do-list tool to review the report on that date. And if the insights are still relevant, change the expiration date. And if the data isn't relevant anymore, archive the report.

  • Review the research reports: From time to time, maybe once a year, have a spring cleaning of all the research that you have. Archive the stuff that isn't relevant anymore and keep the rest. This is a good complement for the research reports where you didn't have an expiration date.

Q&A: Research in Service Design

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  • How do I verify that there are enough people with this problem?
  • How to prioritize user research?
  • What are good structures for a prototype?
  • Does research in service design look like research in social sciences or market research?
  • How can I know if I have a good product/service market fit?

Mapping

  • How do you start a competition analysis for a new physical service?
  • What are tricks when creating digital maps with Google Maps for research?

Recruiting and compensation of research participants

  • How much should I pay research participants?
  • What are important elements to put in a screener?
  • Should feedback be free?
  • Should I use family and friends in my prototyping testing sessions?
  • How do you recruit users and testers?
  • What are the different ways to recruit research participants?

Research reports

  • How can you make your research age well?
  • How can I visualise complex ideas with simple forms?
  • What's a good structure for a research report?
  • What are examples of research reports?
  • What information should be included in a design report?
  • ▶️ What is a good structure for a slide that summarises a research report?
  • ▶️ What are different types of research insights?
  • Why do I make websites for some workshop reports?

Synthesizing research

  • ▶️ How to structure the synthesis or insights of user testings?
  • How to analyze interviews or research data?
  • What to do when I'm stuck in analysis paralysis?
  • How can I turn open questions into numbered data?
  • How do I choose the chart type to show my data?
  • ▶️ What do I do with all the research I've made?

Surveys for Service Design

  • How can I combine surveys and interviews?
  • Is a survey a good start for a research project when you don't know much about the group you want to serve?
  • How can I make street or door to door survey less akward?

Note taking during research

  • How do you take notes during user interviews?
  • Where can I find sample interviews to train my note-taking skills?
  • Should I collect more data?

Shadowing for Service Design

  • How can I speed up a shadowing session?
  • What can make or break a shadowing session?
  • What should I do after a shadowing session?