{"id":392,"date":"2021-02-04T10:06:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-04T15:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/ux\/2021\/02\/04\/seven-things-to-consider-before-using-proxies-for-ux-research\/"},"modified":"2021-02-04T14:50:12","modified_gmt":"2021-02-04T19:50:12","slug":"seven-things-to-consider-before-using-proxies-for-ux-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/ux\/2021\/02\/04\/seven-things-to-consider-before-using-proxies-for-ux-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven things to consider before using proxies for UX research"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]For those UX designers in the financial services industry who need to conduct research to inform their product decisions, they are probably already familiar with the constraints around recruiting finance professionals as participants. Portfolio managers, traders and salespeople are often reluctant to give up an hour of their day to provide feedback on the tools they use. One may also run up against users who are reluctant to participate if the nature of what is being tested relates to highly sensitive market-moving information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Are there times when designers can get away with using their own firm’s employees (aka internal proxies) rather than using real clients? Below are some critical questions that one should ask before embarking on a UX research effort involving the use of proxies. Think of this as a quick \u201cto proxy or not to proxy\u201d checklist! If the answer is \u201cYes!\u201d to any of the below questions then one might want to consider proxies for their research effort.<\/span><\/p>\n

Can one be their own proxy and do the research without needing anyone else? <\/b>Are there research deliverables where others conducted research using tried and true usability inspection methods, like cognitive walkthroughs, to gain insight into a customer\u2019s thought processes? Perhaps there is a treasure trove of primary research within the company from which colleagues developed sufficiently robust and relevant personas? Tools like personas uncover our understanding of client motivations, skill sets, and behaviors. Leave no stone unturned before embarking on an effort.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Is buy-in from stakeholders necessary before talking to clients?<\/b> Maybe this is the first time working with a particular set of stakeholders. Or, perhaps it is a team who has not really engaged with UX research before (and may not understand the value)? They may want to see how it\u2019s done with a \u201csafer\u201d option before going out and meeting with clients. Viewing the research with proxies is an opportunity to demystify the process, establish a solid precedent and build trust with stakeholders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Is a study going to be dropped because it\u2019s not feasible to recruit? <\/b>It takes time to come up with a good target list of users. And then, in our experience, it often requires an outreach of 40 to 80 initial emails or chat messages with financial services clients to get a \u201cyes\u201d to participate in research. On the other hand, doing research with proxies usually takes less effort since they can be considered warm leads (especially if they are referrals from colleagues). In addition, there is typically less lead time required to book sessions with employees rather than clients. Instead of booking them a week in advance, sometimes only a day or two is required.<\/span><\/p>\n

Are good proxies easily accessible?<\/b> The best proxy is someone who can speak from first-hand experience, either because they do that job now or because they recently did that job as a client themselves. Second best would be people who have so much exposure to clients that they can speak knowledgeably about their needs and behaviors. Sales specialists and product managers can help identify these people who are often willing to help, as both are equally invested in helping the firm. Equity analysts on our <\/span>Bloomberg Intelligence<\/span><\/a> team (an independent research arm within Bloomberg) have similar backgrounds and skills as the equity analysts who work for our clients. For example, after initial outreach communications to 25 employees about a recent study we conducted, 11 were scheduled for research interviews the same week recruiting began!<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>While time is still spent on scheduling and outreach, getting to \u201cyes\u201d will be significantly easier with proxies. Less back and forth and outreach communications means more time to focus on study design.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text]

\n \"Two\n \n<\/figure>\n[vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

A mock usability study being conducted remotely between two Bloomberg employees.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Is help required to come up to speed in a new subject area? <\/b>Doing research with proxies can provide a preview into what a client study might look like. Firm employees may have deep knowledge of the target product or domain. Colleagues in sales and support roles can help one become immersed in the subject matter and become more familiar with client workflows.<\/span><\/p>\n

A past study we conducted involved understanding an unfamiliar customer type. In this case, our proxies were technical account managers, who know the customers well enough to channel their behavior. They spend much of their time supporting these clients and understand their setups. They know their pain points and have a good sense for what might prove challenging about the user experience for these clients. They are also aware of the competitive landscape and can provide a broad picture of how the product compares to others in the market. All the knowledge gained from these discovery sessions helped inform the research strategy when we ended up sitting down with the clients for research.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is what\u2019s being tested not necessarily a specific product but something that may go into many different products? <\/b>One might be tasked to redesign the look-and-feel of the firm\u2019s website. It might be challenging to garner interest in such a study. Proxies might be the answer. A recent study that was conducted involving web widgets (i.e., date pickers and multi-selectors) was a great candidate for using proxies. Since the \u201cproducts\u201d being tested were really the components themselves, we decided it would be best to use employees to weed out any obvious issues; it would have been a really hard sell to get clients to participate in such an effort without them wondering <\/span>\u201cwhat\u2019s in it for them?\u201d<\/span><\/i>. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Is research content too sensitive to discuss with customers, or, is the design not quite ready to be shown to real users? <\/b>Proxies might be the way to go! In a past study we conducted for Bloomberg\u2019s Enterprise Data team, which <\/span>produces pricing, reference and regulatory datasets, real-time market, event and news data for distribution across enterprises<\/span>, the product owners did not want to show clients the product before its official release, as they were concerned about potential leaks of the intellectual property. Proxies were an effective way to uncover issues before the product\u2019s launch. Support and technical salespeople were able to help us understand where clients might struggle with the user experience, in addition to what might delight them.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Proxies can be useful, but respect their limitations! <\/b>Since they are not actual users, they bring a lot of biases with them. One obvious one is their relationship to the company. According to <\/span>a 2016 Nielsen Norman Group article<\/span><\/a>, company employees are more likely to exhibit stronger views (positive or negative) because of their relationship and history with the organization. These opinions could skew study results.<\/span><\/p>\n

So the next time a research project is under consideration to be shelved because getting access to real end users poses a challenge, ask any of the aforementioned questions. If the answer is, yes, try using proxies; and congratulations, a future research project will have been saved!<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]We\u2019re hiring! Browse\u00a0<\/i>open job opportunities<\/i><\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are there times when designers can get away with using their own firm’s employees (aka internal proxies) rather than using real clients?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":204,"featured_media":394,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ux"],"yoast_head":"\nSeven things to consider before using proxies for UX research - Bloomberg UX<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/ux\/2021\/02\/04\/seven-things-to-consider-before-using-proxies-for-ux-research\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seven things to consider before using proxies for UX research - 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