At EchoUser, we launched a professional development initiative to enhance our expertise. Deirdre Hirschtritt and I led sessions on Contextual Inquiry, focusing on industry applications, method adaptation, and stakeholder involvement. The hands-on activities and discussions helped our team refine their skills for upcoming generative projects.

With the start of the new year, we got together as a team to set new intentions for 2019. Thinking back on the projects of the previous year, we all recognized areas where we would like to continue to grow our UX practice, individually and as a team.

When conveying your findings, it’s helpful to understand your audience. Some will have little research background, some will only care about about the bottom line, some won’t hear a word you say because they’re daydreaming about the strawberry salad they’re going to have for lunch.

While we can spend all day talking about survey questions and usability scripts, a debrief is also a perfect opportunity to talk about interpersonal issues. How did the team members collaborate with one another? Was communication fluid or static? Did that effect the project efficiency or ability to meet the timeline? Did the team grow together or apart?

As a firm, we at EchoUser are experts in conducting User Experience Research (UXR) in global markets. We believe in immersive, on-the-ground research to understand different user groups. Through case studies, we've found the importance of localization, practice, and leveraging technology.

"Ignite Your Research Mojo" by Dilip Chetan helps improve research processes and ensure findings make an impact. Chetan emphasizes the importance of actionable steps and argues that companies often make decisions without evidence. The book is suitable for researchers, designers, product managers, and engineers, and provides tried-and-true tactics, answers, and comic relief in its 244 pages.

UX is about addressing user needs, not just minimalism. Minimalist design can be useful when user needs aren't complex, but it may hinder productivity when users require specific tools or information. Good UX design is informed by user research, understanding pain points, and user behavior.

Product-market fit is crucial for success. Four factors impacting it are: 1. User acquisition & engagement, 2. Retention & spending, 3. Net promoter score & emotional attachment, and 4. Brand appeal. Use UX methodologies like interviews, interaction design, journey mapping, and visual design to optimize these factors.

Discussing UX value, teams should: 1. Find a shared language to clarify terms, 2. Map the stakeholder landscape, 3. Define success metrics for client goals, 4. Tell relatable success stories, and 5. Work with clients who embrace UX. Adapt communication for each client's context.

After reflecting on the lessons we’ve learned throughout 2017, our research team has put together our resolutions for the new year. These resolutions are what we’d like to try more of and where we’d like to see the team go — from collaborating more radically with our designers to building lessons from the humanities into our work.

National Cat Day is coming! 🎉 At EchoUser, our designer Jie Tang turned 4 feline faves into cartoons: Oscar the Ocicat, Sidra the Siamese, Percy the Persian, & Shirley the British Shorthair. Fun, quirky & lovable, share these cat avatars with fellow kitty enthusiasts! 😺🐾💕

The Nintendo Switch excels in user experience due to its seamless design, perfect size, fast boot-up, and broad appeal. Its fun concept, social gaming features, and game design resonate with users. Future possibilities include Switch variants and further exploration of mobile gaming.