It's not easy doing research, staying research-led and being insights-driven as a startup, with (almost) no resources. Here I share some tips on how we do this at Teston!

1. Staying research-led with
(almost) no resources
Kea Zhang
Head of Product/UX, Teston

2. A digital tool for
remote, unmoderated
user testing

3. We make user testing
easier, cheaper & faster
+
localised!

4. We make user testing
easier, cheaper & faster
+
localised!

5. Transparent
Human
Open
Innovative
Research led
Our values

6. But… we’re a startup

7. The usual
constraints
● No budget
● No time
● Too many things to do
● Hard to involve the whole team
in research

8. How can we do more research?
And improve what we’re already doing?

9. How can we do more research?
And improve what we’re already doing?

10. IMPACTFUL DISCOVERY
How we ensure that
we stay research led
1. Make discovery key to your process
2. Make the most of existing resources and opportunities

11. Quick show of hands...

12. Already running dev sprints?

13. Already running dev sprints?
Make room for discovery
sprints to run in parallel!

14. Dev sprint

15. Dev backlog
Dev sprint

16. Ideas backlog
Discovery sprint
Dev backlog
Dev sprint

17. Dev sprint Dev sprint Dev sprint

18. Dev sprint Dev sprint Dev sprint
Discovery
sprint
Discovery
sprint
Discovery
sprint
Discovery
sprint
Discovery
sprint
Discovery
sprint

19. Integrate the discovery sprints into your tools

20. ● Actually get research done!
a. Without it integrated into your process, it’s easy to forget/overlook
b. Schedule planning, reviews and retros for discovery
Why run discovery sprints?

21. ● Actually get research done!
a. Without it integrated into your process, it’s easy to forget/overlook
b. Schedule planning, reviews and retros for discovery
● Structured way of handling discovery work
a. Discovery projects need prioritisation too
Why run discovery sprints?

22. ● Actually get research done!
a. Without it integrated into your process, it’s easy to forget/overlook
b. Schedule planning, reviews and retros for discovery
● Structured way of handling discovery work
a. Discovery projects need prioritisation too
● Promotes transparency and collaboration
a. Clear overview of what each person is working on
b. Easy to see where a feature idea lies in the process
c. Easy for team members to join in on activities
Why run discovery sprints?

23. Cross-team standups

24. Cross-team standups
In Teston, UXers and user researchers take part in standups.

25. Cross-team standups
In Teston, UXers and user researchers take part in standups.
This allows...
- Frequent updates
- Easy problem sharing (about bugs, discovery findings, etc.)
- Better collaboration across discovery and development

26. Ideas backlog
Discovery sprint
Dev backlog
Dev sprint

27. Ideas backlog
Discovery sprint
Dev backlog
Dev sprint

28. Ideas backlog
Discovery sprint
Dev backlog
Dev sprint

29. A shared definition of progress
as not just being development,
but also discovery progress!

30. IMPACTFUL DISCOVERY
How we ensure that
we stay research led
1. Make discovery key to your process
2. Make the most of existing resources and opportunities

31. Quick show of hands...

32. Who are the
‘voices of the users’
at your company?
Related: See Paul Adams’ talk on what value UX actually brings to a company

33. Collaborating with customer support and sales
At Teston, we have weekly ‘feedback meetings’, where we:

34. Collaborating with customer support and sales
At Teston, we have weekly ‘feedback meetings’, where we:
● Review all incoming feedback
a. Intercom (customer support tool)
b. Emails
c. Meetings

35. Collaborating with customer support
At Teston, we have weekly ‘feedback meetings’, where we:
● Review all incoming feedback
a. Intercom
b. Emails
c. Meetings
● Categorise it

36. Collaborating with customer support
At Teston, we have weekly ‘feedback meetings’, where we:
● Review all incoming feedback
a. Intercom
b. Emails
c. Meetings
● Categorise it
● Use it for prioritising, e.g.
a. What copy we write
b. What we build, and when
c. What we need to research further

37. We use a massive spreadsheet

38. Ideas backlog
Discovery sprint
Dev backlog
Dev sprint

39. → OKRs

40. Look for research opportunities in
existing practices

41. Learn
● About the company
● Their teams, and the people who’d be using Teston
● What research looks like for them today
● What their research goals are for the future
Observe
● Reactions (words and body language!)
● Questions
Explore
● New feature ideas
Using sales/demo meetings

42. UX crash course!

43. Just do it

44. ● Take every opportunity to do an interview
● No need to be scientific about it!
a. Qual data is not about numbers
b. It’s about focusing on motivations, barriers, fears, and the ‘why’
Don’t wait for the golden opportunity

45. ● Take every opportunity to do an interview
● No need to be scientific about it!
a. Qual data is not about numbers
b. It’s about focusing on motivations, barriers, fears, and the ‘why’
Is this data valid for the rest of my audience?
Don’t wait for the golden opportunity

46. Look for similar findings and patterns across:
● That one interview
● Customer support questions
● Feedback in sales meetings
● Insights from user testing
Triangulate your data

47. Look for similar findings and patterns across:
● That one interview
● Customer support questions
● Feedback in sales meetings
● Insights from user testing
We’re not dealing with science.
We’re trying to minimise risk and validate insights and ideas.
Triangulate your data

48. Don’t let ‘perfect’
get in the way of ‘good enough’

49. IMPACTFUL DISCOVERY
How we ensure that
we stay research led
1. Make discovery key to your process
2. Make the most of existing resources and opportunities

50. Thanks for listening :)
What are your tips?