Introduction
In this guide, we’ll cover how UX researchers can conduct unmoderated generative research that unearths new ideas and insights.
What is generative research?
Generative research is a method that helps UX researchers identify unmet user needs and acts as a springboard for developing new ideas and conceptual designs. IDIs, focus groups, and observations are popular forms of generative research. However, the most powerful of these is observation. Observational methods like diary studies and mobile ethnography allow researchers to see how users interact with products in their natural environments. This is one of the main reasons why observational methods are more effective at generating ideas. Unlike IDIs and focus groups, observation allows researchers to capture what goes unsaid and gain a stronger understanding of the context in which product usage occurs. Participants aren’t always great at recalling or explaining their experiences, so being able to visualize them provides deeper and richer data. Another major benefit of observational research is that it can be remote and unmoderated with the help of technology. Not needing a moderator means more flexibility in deployment along with larger and more diverse samples.
When to use generative research
Here are a few examples of when a company should conduct unmoderated generative research:
- Need larger sample sizes: When a problem requires a larger audience, remote testing allows companies to recruit a greater number of participants. Since moderation isn’t needed, it’s also easier to achieve larger sample sizes with fewer resources.
- New products: Unmet needs are the seeds of innovation. With unmoderated generative research, companies can identify opportunities that wouldn’t have surfaced through traditional methods like IDIs and focus groups.
- Iterative design: Updating existing products is a time-intensive and costly affair, so companies must leverage a research method that gives them a true pulse of how well a product will do in the real world before a release.
- New market research: Businesses change and grow — and with that, they often find themselves scoping out new markets. Unmoderated research is easier to conduct remotely, which in turn facilitates the exploration of new markets.
- Limited budget: Traditional observational research methods were often only utilized by larger organizations due to the cost, time, and heavy resource requirements. Remote user research platforms make observational research less restrictive, opening up the method to mid-sized and small businesses.
- Tight deadlines: Unmoderated generative research is a faster way to collect insights when time is of the essence.
Conducting unmoderated generative research
Step 1: Define research objectives and goals
Prior to launching the research, it is important to define objectives, questions, and goals. Generative research can be incredibly insightful, but it can also produce a lot of information. The key to great generative research is making sure it’s focused. Through defined objectives, goals, and questions, you will have the outline to a plan that will deliver the insights you are seeking.
Step 2: Recruit participant
After laying the foundation of your generative study, you can begin recruiting participants that represent your target audience. Participants can be recruited through internal databases or outside panels. If you have a hard-to-reach audience, it may be best to use a qualitative recruitment company. They will be able to find your exact target market while giving you the peace of mind that you’ll have high-quality participants.
Step 3: Mobile Pre-Tasking
Before diving into the research, you should consider doing some pre-tasks. Pre-tasks allow researchers to get to know their participants and start building rapport before the study starts. Mobile pre-tasks involve assigning participants tasks that they complete through an app on their phone. This allows researchers to collect background data from participants to inform the design of the upcoming study. These tasks will also get respondents primed for the main study by making them more comfortable and familiar with the research method.
Pre-tasks can contain multiple choice questions, written statements, elicit video or audio responses, and much more. The added advantage is that this data will be logged and recorded giving you a wealth of information before the core research even begins.
Step 4: Launch your generative research study
Launching the study is relatively easy compared to IDIs and focus groups because you don’t need to do as much coordinating with the participants. And since it’s unmoderated, you have the flexibility of reviewing data whenever your schedule allows.
Since you will be observing participants going about their everyday lives you will be able to monitor natural behaviors and patterns of use. This gives UX teams an unfiltered look into how well designs align with real-world needs, and in turn what needs are not currently being met.
Two of the best observational methods are diary studies and mobile ethnography. Diary studies are an incredibly insightful generative method as they are longitudinal, spanning a few days to months, exposing researchers to patterns and trends. It’s useful for documenting and taking deep dives into a specific behavior, trigger, or experience.
Mobile ethnography is another unmoderated method that can be employed for generative purposes. It’s broader in scope than a diary study and allows researchers to understand what it’s like to live a day in the life of their users. The broader nature of mobile ethnography means researchers can cast a wider net to capture unmet needs.
Both diary studies and mobile ethnography leverage smartphones to collect data. Participants can be assigned a wide range of tasks that involve taking videos, and pictures, and submitting text responses. Many mobile ethnography and diary study tools also offer quantitative tasks like single-choice, multiple-choice, and scale-based questions to help round out the qualitative data.
Step 5: Analyze and synthesize findings
Researchers conducting unmoderated studies can start analyzing data right away. UX research tools that facilitate generative studies generally have dashboards that update in near real-time. They also tend to make use of AI and include reports that make identifying trends much easier. One of the most popular ways to identify themes is through coding. This involves reviewing each participant’s entry and coding it based on the content. Once you’ve coded all the entries you can run filters for the codes you’ve created to take a deeper dive into potential trends and unmet needs.
Conclusion
UX researchers that want to conduct generative research should utilize tools that allow them to do so remotely and unmoderated. The benefit is larger sample sizes and unique insight into unmet needs that wouldn’t surface through other methods.