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How To Impress Stakeholders With A Well-Structured UX Research Plan Pitch

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In the contemporary world, user experience (UX) research has become essential for the success of businesses. As a UX researcher, you need to be able to make a well-structured and convincing pitch in order to get buy-in from your stakeholders.

People who are new to the field of research often ask how to create a ux research plan and to convince stakeholders about its importance and value.

While there is no single answer to this question, it is important to understand that the better the user experience of a certain mobile application or website, the more likely it is to benefit the business. Happy customers usually result in more conversions, lower support costs, and higher customer retention rates.

This article is about the tips to make a great UX research pitch that will impress your stakeholders and get them on board with your plan:

1. Start With The Why

Before you deep dive into your research plan pitch, it is important that you first explain to your stakeholders why you did what you did.

Simply saying, “I did this because it felt appropriate in the design here” will not cut it.

Instead you should back each of your decision with numbers. For instance, Uber makes use of this X feature because of which it had Y% increase in the number of users.

Explaining your design using reliable data simply shows that you have done your research and have put in the effort needed to make an informed decision. Although as a UX researcher you might be tempted to use a lot of technical jargon and terms in your pitch, try to use a simple language while explaining your reasoning.

Remember, there is no clear right or wrong when it comes to your design. The key is to explain your thought process behind it and why you think it will result in the best user experience. Once you have explained the “why”, the next step is to make your pitch is relatable to your stakeholders.

2. Get to Know Your Audience

You can’t just make a one-size-fits-all pitch for all your stakeholders. It is important that you tailor your pitch according to the needs and concerns of your audience. Try to understand their expectations, motivations, and objectives. Only then will you be able to make a pitch that truly resonates with them.

For instance, if the stakeholder is the Chief Marketing Officer, he or she might be more interested in how your research can help them improve their conversion rates and push out their content more effectively.

On the other hand, the Chief Financial Officer might be more interested in how your research can help them save costs or improve ROI.

If you do not know your audience beforehand, simply remember this general rule of thumb. The stakeholder is going to be a human and human beings dig stories as it allows them to relate.

Share with them stories that illustrate poor UX practices that had an adverse impact on the business that adopted them. You can then try to show how your design will not be doing the same mistakes and how exactly will the user experience be enhanced.

By opening up your pitch with a story that they can relate to, your stakeholders will understand that you have invested time and effort in your UX research and will be impressed.

3. Make Use of Wireframes

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Wireframes are an essential tool for UI/UX designers, helping them to communicate their ideas clearly and effectively to stakeholders. By breaking down the design into its key elements and laying them out in a simple and easy-to-understand way, wireframes make it much easier for everyone involved in the project to see what is being proposed and to give feedback.

Wireframes also help to ensure that the final product meets the needs of the users, as they help designers to think about the user experience at every stage of the design process.

When creating a wireframe, it is important to keep the design as simple as possible. When possible, use common elements in your wireframe to make it easier for stakeholders to understand. If you use standard web page layouts will make it much easier for everyone to see what is being proposed.

By taking the time to create wireframes, designers can avoid many of the common mistakes that can lead to a poor user experience, such as creating designs that are too complex or difficult to use.

While you are presenting your wireframe to stakeholders, take the time to explain your ideas and how you came up with them as it will help to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that there are no misunderstandings.

4. Engage Your Stakeholders

Your stakeholders will only be convinced if they see how your research plan can benefit them. Make sure to highlight the potential benefits of your research, such as improved product design, better user experience, or increased customer satisfaction.

To do that, you can make the pitch interactive. Getting their input and feedback will help you in finalizing your research plan. The last thing you want is to be halfway through a sprint only to realize that the data you have collected is not what the stakeholder was looking for in the first place.

In addition to that, if you have conducted usability testing before or interviewed different people, you can give insights into the thought process of users. This helps in boosting the confidence of your stakeholders as they know that the design decisions are not just based on assumptions but actual user feedback.

In fact, design thinking is all about empathizing with your users and understanding their needs.

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In addition to mastering the UX design process, if you can explain the reasoning behind different iterations of designs getting different responses from the pool of users in the test.

For such cases, having user personas already developed before can serve as a bonus and make your pitch strong.

A benefit of hearing feedback from your stakeholders is that you can understand what they want. Do they want more conversions? More engagement? More stories to help users understand the features? It is much better to know this going in, rather than make assumptions.

Your stakeholders might not be interested in all the nitty-gritty details of your research. Instead, they might be more interested in the high-level insights that you can provide.

5. Be Prepared To Answer Questions

After making your pitch, be prepared to answer any questions that your stakeholders may have. The potential questions can be about your research methodology, sample size, timeline or specific design suggestions. In addition, be prepared to address any concerns that they may have.

For instance, a common concern that they might have is about the validity of your research results. They might question whether the research findings can be generalized to the population at large.
In such cases, you need to be able to show them that you have considered this issue in your research design and that your findings are indeed reliable. If you are ready to address all their concerns, you might as well get the go ahead.
However, if there are any concerns which you had not already anticipated, you need to convince them of your problem-solving skills and your ability to overcome roadblocks. In other words, you just need to demonstrate that you are confident about your plan.

Wrapping Up The Key Points of An Outstanding UX Research Plan Pitch

When making your pitch, it is important to be clear and concise. Do not try to overwhelm your stakeholders with too much information. Just focus on the key points that you want to deliver. Remember that your presentation should be well-organized and easy to follow.

It is important to remember that your research plan pitch is not set in stone. If you are asked to make some changes to the design based on feedback, it is a good sign that the your pitch has been liked by the stakeholder for most part.

If you can follow these simple tips, then you should be able to create a well-structured and impressive UX research plan pitch that will help you win over the trust and confidence of your stakeholders.

At the end of the day, your research is all about a human-centered approach to problem-solving that revolves around the user and provides insights that can help improve their experience. Make sure that your pitch focuses on the user and not just the data.

Lastly, being up-to-date with the latest trends and developments in UX research will pay off well in the pitch.

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