Typical Day

My day varies depending on the stage of the research process and also special ad hoc requests. But I have prepared a simple illustration to show an overview of the usual tasks that comprise my typical day, summarized into 5 Main Activities in no particular order:

• Collaboration

• Preparation

• Talking to Real Users

• Analysis & Report Writing

• Learning

• Bonus: Research Archiving

"Collaboration"

This includes all the meetings and collaboration with internal and external teams:

• Design Research team meetings usually about project status and prioritization

• Collaboration with UX Designers & Architects about UXR needs and insights-based design recommendations

• Huddles with Project Teams and Business Unit Teams about their desired output and product enhancements. This also includes setting up meetings to present research plans, seek budget, and approvals.

• Debriefing with stakeholders after each user testing session also fall under this category.

• Sometimes, I also manage and work with 3rd party service providers in terms of recruitment and additional manpower during fieldwork.

• Other tasks:

• UX Workshops

• Report Presentation

• Collaboration about things to implement based on the insights

"Preparation"

This includes:

• Preparing the UX research roadmap for assigned business units.

• Creating the research plan based on the needs and desired output of project teams, and also based on my research proposals

• Pilot testing (e.g. of test script and test flow)

• Preparing the research materials (e.g. participant tokens and refreshments, test script or interview guide, tools to be used, recording materials)

• Recruitment of participants

"Talking to Real Users"

This refers to the actual fieldwork and setup varies depending on the research method, whether 1-on-1, group setting, moderated, unmoderated, remote or face-to-face.

"Analysis & Report Writing"

I usually try to block other tasks during this stage so I can focus on synthesizing the insights gathered during fieldwork.

"Learning"

• Attending UX trainings

• Reading UX articles and latest trends, new UX tools

• Reflecting on the past research sessions to brainstorm on how to improve processes, research setup and tools

• Reflecting on how to better make the insights digestable by other stakeholders

There are a lot of challenges like time and budget constraints, but I just try to have a mindset that accepts flexibility in completing UXR tasks.