Users and purposes of study plans
Research plans serve several purposes. The first is providing a blueprint for the planned research activity. Plans help set a common language between all involved parties, and they are a tool for reassuring stakeholders that what was agreed upon during initial conversations is in fact what is going to happen.
When you suspect that people are too busy to read research plans, I suggest you schedule a meeting with a goal to make immediate stakeholders aware of the study plan and to gather their feedback. In some cases, you will need them to sign off on a plan to make sure that you are covered in case they change their minds (I must admit that I’ve never done this, but I am aware of such situations). In any case, use this opportunity to involve everyone in setting the plan for the study. Carefully listen to criticism and ideas different than yours to learn more about what stakeholders expect to get from the study.
Keep in mind that different stakeholders might be interested in different aspects of a research plan:
■ Product managers and software developers will mostly be interested in the goal, research questions, and schedule. In some cases, they will also be interested in participant criteria, but not always. These stakeholders are usually interested in goals and questions because these determine the content of the study and its focus. They will also be interested in the schedule to make sure that it meets their needs for making timely design, business, and development decisions. Participant criteria will interest them if they are targeting a very specific audience and they want to make sure that study participants are representing this audience as much as possible.
■ Designers are your closest allies. They will probably show interest in the entire plan because they are probably the stakeholders who are most affected by the results of the study. They are the ones who probably need to create something or make changes based on the results.
■ Salespeople will be interested in participant criteria because this will affect their level of involvement in the process of recruiting participants for the study.
■ Executives will probably be interested in the study goal and in the overall cost of the study, as they are likely sponsoring the study. Usually, their bandwidth does not allow them more than that.
■ Other UX researchers internal and external to your organization might be interested in your plan for two good reasons. First, they might be coleading a study with you. It is critical that all leaders be on the same page at the start of the study. For instance, a study with coleaders in different countries is vulnerable to chaos and lost time if the goal is not stated precisely and checked to see that the translation hasn’t changed the meaning. Second, other researchers might want to learn from you. Many plans that I read help me shape better plans for my own studies.
■ You! The plan is mostly for you. As soon as you put your thoughts in writing, something happens, and you find holes in them. These holes you find help you improve your plan. A written plan also helps you focus and better prepare for the study. The fact of the matter is that if you can’t boil your plan down to a single page, it means that you yourself probably don’t really understand it.
One thing you might ask yourself is when the best time is to share a plan with stakeholders. I’d say early and often. Share a plan when you have only draft goals and research questions. Share it when you have a final list of goals and questions. Share it again when you’ve selected a methodology. You see where I’m going with this. It’s a bad sign when your stakeholders are surprised by the content of a study plan.