Zen Workplace Mental Health Day: The 5 Why's and other user research tactics to make your workplace less stressful

1. THE 5 WHYS & OT H E R U S E R R E S E A R C H TAC T I C S TO M A K E YO U R W O R K P L AC E L E S S S T R E S S F U L A M Y G R AC E W E L L S
2. UNCLEAR NEEDS = STRESS FOR ALL • We have to read between the lines and that is difficult, if not impossible, at times. • We don’t understand why a request is being made or why something failed. • For many of us, we think it’s better just to do it than to fight it. Remember! Stubborn and recurrent problems are often symptoms of deeper issues.
3. WHY ASK WHY? • “What” happened is usually a much easier question to answer than “Why” it happened. • Cut quickly through the outward symptoms to reveal underlying causes. • Determine the root cause of a problem more quickly. • Easy to learn and apply. • Problems are tackled more sustainably when addressed at the source. Go further than just assigning blame, and to ask why that happened. This often points to organizational issues or areas where processes need to be improved.
4. THE 1ST WHY S C R AT C H I N G T H E S U R FA C E
5. PROBLEM WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING This is as far as most get. Situation: The boss makes a request. You complete it. The boss doesn’t see it that way.
6. WHERE WE FAIL We don’t understand the issue or motivation behind the request. We spend time fixing the end result instead of the cause.
7. EXAMPLE: CLIENT WON’T PAY FOR JOB • Why won’t they pay? –Because the job was late.
8. THE 2ND WHY M A K I N G T H E M T H I N K
9. START THINKING Begin to explore reasons or symptoms for the surface problem. Forces examination and critical thinking.
10. EXAMPLE: CLIENT WON’T PAY FOR JOB • Why was the job late? –It took longer than we estimated.
11. THE 3RD WHY N A R R O W I N G I T D O W N
12. NARROW THE FOCUS Begin to hone in on where there may be a root cause or uncover true motivations. Warning!! This can be the point where feelings start to come out as well. Be aware and mediate as needed.
13. EXAMPLE: CLIENT WON’T PAY FOR JOB • Why was our estimate wrong? –We were out of the ink needed.
14. THE 4TH WHY A L M O S T T H E R E
15. NEARLY THERE A root cause of motivation is likely appearing. Teams are really thinking. Likely half irritated and half enthusiastic. You may be there. If it takes less than five whys to get an answer, that’s ok. Just make sure there aren’t more to ask.
16. EXAMPLE: CLIENT WON’T PAY FOR JOB • Why did we run out of ink? –It was used on a large, last-minute order.
17. THE 5TH WHY F I N D I N G T H E R O O T C A U S E
18. EXAMPLE: CLIENT WON’T PAY FOR JOB • Why did the last-minute order make us run out of ink? –We couldn’t get our ink order quickly from the supplier. Root Cause: We need to reexamine our suppliers so we can get supplies expedited when needed.
19. EUREKA! An actionable discovery has been made! Make changes and lessen the stress! Just know: sometimes you may need more than five whys. Use your judgement to find your answer.
20. LOSS OF THE CHALLENGER • Why did it happen? – Tank ignition • Why did it ignite? – Leaky seal • Why was the seal leaky? – O-ring failed • Why did it fail? – Design flaw • Why was there a flaw? – Management failure C A S E S T U DY
21. • Avoid confusing symptoms with causes • Avoid focusing on a single root cause • Avoid jumping to quick conclusions • Avoid bias caused by current knowledge • Be aware of politics
22. • The more complex things get, the more likely it is to lead you down a false trail. • Five Whys is a healthy place to start, but don’t interpret it as a fixed number. • If the coworker avoid the issues, the practices doesn’t yield good information.
23. WORKPLACE EXAMPLE S o u r c e : h t t p : / / g a m e s t o r m i n g . c o m / g a m e s - f o r - p r o b l e m - s o l v i n g / t h e - 5 - w h y s /
24. ONE LAST EXAMPLE Post this flyer to Facebook! • Why does this need to be on Facebook? – We need more people to see it. • Why do you need more views? – We haven’t sold enough tickets. • Why haven’t you sold more tickets? – We were late publicizing it. • Why were you late? – We didn’t get the graphic back in time. • Why didn’t you get it back in time? – We didn’t send our content in on time.
25. MORE RESEARCH
26. ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDIES S E E I N G I T T H R O U G H T H E I R E Y E S
27. DEEP DIVE • An ethnographic study is a qualitative method where researchers completely immerse themselves in the lives, culture, or situation they are studying. • Really useful when a systemic problem can’t be fixed with the 5 Whys or other methods because of complexity or politics. • Time-intensive!
28. DEEP DIVE Harvard Business Review has taken notice: “Corporate ethnography isn’t just for innovation anymore. It’s central to gaining a full understanding of your customers and the business itself. The ethnographic work at my company, Intel, and other firms now informs functions such as strategy and long-range planning.” - Ethnographic Research: A Key to Strategy https://hbr.org/2009/03/ethnographic-research-a-key-to-strategy
29. DEEP DIVE 1. Go to offices to observe and listen in a non- directed way 2. See people’s behavior on their terms, not ours 3. Enlightens about context
30. PARTICIPATORY DESIGN I M M E D I AT E B U Y- I N
31. ALL IN STRATEGY “As participatory design and all collaborative practices aim to respond better to needs of users, it could be considered as an approach more focused on processes and procedures of design and not the design (result) itself.” - Audrey Mothu https://medium.theuxblog.com/participatory-design-tools-and-methods-741543b1ff5b
32. ALL IN STRATEGY Participatory design can: • Provides tons of feedback • Better understanding of the project or problem • Develops new ideas • Workshop: brainstorm or get various point of views. –It encourages interactions and critiques between participants and gets people engaged on the whole design/decision process.
33. ALL IN STRATEGY • Run a participatory design session when you want to better understand how people think about – a given problem, – discipline, – technology, – or aspect of culture. Provides valuable insight into priorities and can motivate strategic decisions and directional alignment.
34. CARD SORTING S O R T A N D P R I O R I T I Z E
35. TOO MANY ITEMS ON YOUR LIST • Card sorting will help you understand your users' expectations and understanding of your topics. • Open vs. Closed: –Open: they define the categories –Closed: you provide the number of categories and terms
36. TOO MANY ITEMS ON YOUR LIST • Benefit: they have to decide or negotiate on priorities, not you • Decisions are made and known by all. • Results can be posted for visible reference and remembrance.
37. TOO MANY ITEMS ON YOUR LIST Do it! • Use notecards or post-its with one item on each card. • Provide plenty of space to spread out cards so there are not piles. • Provide at least three categories. Things are rarely black and white. • Ask them to think aloud.
38. DO RESEARCH NOW A N D M A K E YO U R S T R E S S O R S S M A L L E R
39. THANKS A M Y G R A C E W E L L S C O N T E N T S T R AT E G I S T & U X R E S E A R C H E R @ A M Y G R A C E W E L L S • A M Y G R A C E W E L L S @ G M A I L . C O M