Stakeholders

Anyone who has an interest in a project's success.

Stakeholders are all of the people outside of your core product team that have a vested interest in your research. They can be clients, marketers, investors, executives …

In practice, exploratory research does not live in a vacuum and your results will be subject to stakeholder concerns, feasibility constraints and business imperatives. That’s why it’s important to define the stakeholder requirements before starting your research project.

Stakeholder Interviews

To make your research count you’ll need to understand what your stakeholders know about your research problem and what they need out of the solution. One way of building that shared understanding of the problem is (you guessed it!) research.

All you’ll need is a simple interview guide and at least 20 minutes from your stakeholders. When building an understanding of your stakeholders’ needs you’ll want to focus on four key areas: the history of the <feature, product, idea> , the organization, the current condition of the <feature, product, idea> and expectations from the research results.

History

Inquiring about the the history of the <feature, product, idea> will help you understand what an organization values, who their target users are and how decisions are made. It’s also an opportunity to request access to whatever research/data is already available.

Examples:

• "What was the drive for starting this project?"

• “What’s the story of how this <feature, product, idea> got to this point?”

• "Are you aware of any internal initiatives or projects that have attempted to solve this problem in the past?"

Organization

Learning about the organization's structure and goals will help you understand the context in which the product lives and the constraints that your research will need to account for. This also gives you the opportunity to identify which stakeholders will become champions for the <feature, product, idea> as the project progresses.

Examples:

• "Is there a key metric that's important to you or your team?"

• "What has changed or is changing in your industry?"

• "What do you think are the biggest problems for [organization] right now? Why?"

Current Condition

Forming an understanding of the current condition of the <feature, product, idea> will help you understand the market, current users and how the organization measures success.

Examples:

• “How do/will you measure performance and success of this product?”

• "Why do customers use the products/services provided by [organization] currently?"

Research Expectations

Understanding the expected outcome of your research will help you determine your stakeholders’ needs, the scope of your research, and how your research will fit into the organizations broader strategy.

Examples:

• If you had a magic wand, what kind of impact would you want this project to make at [organization]?

• “Imagine the most useful, actionable research results possible. What would they tell you? How would you use them?”

Having built an understanding of your stakeholders, you’ll be better equipped to determine the key research problems your stakeholders need you to address. From there you should be empowered to draft research questions that your stakeholders can get behind.

Co-creation

Co-creation is the act of jointly producing mutually valued outcomes. Adopting a co-creation approach with stakeholders in your research process will save you time and energy over the long run. Including them from day one signals that you value their input and expertise, which builds trust and increases buy-in for future research activities. As your project progresses, you'll have many opportunities to involve your team in the various phases of your research, from the creation of your research objectives to synthesis activities.

TWG Play

Research Alignment Workshop : Use this co-creation play when developing your initial research strategy to collaboratively design your research plan around shared goals.

Further Reading Questions to ask before starting user research The Art of Managing Stakeholders Through Product Discovery

Sources
Margolis, Michael. “Questions to Ask before Starting User Research – GV Library.” GV Library, GV Library, 18 Nov. 2011, library.gv.com/questions-to-ask-before-starting-user-research-4607c2633f6f.
Torres, Teresa, et al. “The Art of Managing Stakeholders Through Product Discovery.” Product Talk, 5 June 2018, www.producttalk.org/2018/06/managing-stakeholders/.