INDEXResearch for the experience
behind the product
Research handover

Keep the reasoning
with the result.

A collection of slides is not the whole handover. The team needs to understand the study, the evidence and what to do with the material.

Keep the reasoning visible

From the observation to the conversation.

Observations
What the study records.
Themes
How the material is interpreted.
Open questions
What still needs to be understood.
Research preparation materials, a notebook and a recorder on a desk

The study,
in context.

A study summary explains the objectives, methods, participant criteria and activities. It also records the constraints so the team knows which conclusions the research supports.

The scope determines the format and level of supporting detail. Those expectations are agreed before the work begins.

Return to
the supporting material.

Themes and usability issues should be connected to observations. That connection lets the team examine an interpretation, understand an exception and distinguish a recurring pattern from a single account.

Access to recordings or identifiable material depends on consent and the agreed handling arrangements. A useful handover does not require distributing personal information without purpose.

Discuss the
product implications.

Recommendations need a relationship to the question and the evidence. We explain the reasoning and separate a proposed product response from something directly observed.

The team can then consider constraints, alternatives and the work a next iteration should examine.

Study summary
Objectives, approach, criteria, activities and limitations.
Synthesis
Themes or annotated issues with supporting observations.
Readout
A conversation about implications, questions and appropriate next work.

Keep the unanswered
questions visible.

Some questions remain open after a study. Recording them clearly is more useful than forcing every observation into a single tidy story.

Discuss a research project

A question worth
spending time with.

Prepare a research brief