All language subtitles for 05 - Start building a research plan project background, research goals, and research questions.en

Hi again. We now know

the seven elements
of a research plan.

Let's discuss a few of
them in more detail:

the project background,

research goals, and
research questions.

These elements shape the rest
of your research study,

so developing them
is really important.

Let's start by examining

the project background
of a research plan.

This element summarizes
the situation

leading to the needs
for this research.

It's a brief explanation
you can give to

anyone who asks why you're
doing this research.

Why is the project background

an important part of
your research plan?

Establishing a project
background gets

the team on the same page at
the beginning of the study.

Everyone on the team needs
to have a common grasp of

the history leading up to

the current situation.
Think of it this way:

Your team needs to
agree on why you're

doing the research before
you start the study.

A clear project background also

shows you understand why
you're doing this research

and promotes confidence in

the overall quality of your
analysis and insights.

The value of this might not be

apparent when you're
planning your study,

but it will be when you present
your research to people

who have the power to act
on your recommendations.

Now that you know why

the project background is

an important part
of a research plan,

you're ready to create your own.

Keep these three things in mind,

as you write the
project background:

Identify the signals that

indicated research was necessary.

Ask yourself why you're
doing this research and

if there's a problem
you're trying to solve.

Describe any previous
research that has been

conducted or solutions
that have been tried.

How have previous
attempts brought

us closer to solving the problem?

Lastly, list insights the
research will generate.

An insight is an observation
about people that helps

you understand the user

or their needs from
a new perspective.

A great insight inspires

clear action and uses
simple language.

In the project background,

include how the insights
will be used and

what decisions will be made
based on those insights.

There might be a
lot of information,

but keep the project background

concise so that everyone
on your team will read it.

Now, let's move on to
the second element of

a research plan: research goals.

This element might also be
called research objectives.

Research goals state

the specific ideas that
you want to learn from

the research or what you would

like the outcomes of
the research to be.

Research goals help
you understand what is

the bigger picture
of doing this research.

That's why identifying

your research goals
is so important.

Essentially, they drive
the entire study.

How do you develop
research goals?

Let's break it down.

The goals of your research will

differ from project to project.

It will fit into one of

three categories
depending on when

during the product lifecycle,

you run your research.

If you run research before
you start the design process,

your research goal should
help you understand

why or if you should
build the product.

As a reminder, research at

this time is called
foundational research.

The goals of the
research are to better

understand the user problem
you're trying to solve.

You want to make
sure that there's

a real need for the product.

For our dog walking app,

the goal of foundational
research would be to

understand if there is a
need for a dog walking app.

If you run research
during the design phase,

your goal should help you

understand how to
build the product.

Research at this time is
called design research,

and it will give you the
answers you need to move

forward through the design
process with confidence.

In our example, the goal of

design research would be to
learn how you should build

the dog walking app
and what features it

will need in order to
solve the user's problem.

Finally, if you run research on

a product after it
has been launched,

your research goals
help you understand

if the product
worked as expected.

This type of research is
called post-launch research,

and the goals reflect
whether you have

successfully completed
what you set out to do.

The post-launch research goal for

our dog walking app could be to

understand if the app we designed

attracts and retains
regular users.

Now you've got the hang
of the project background

and research goals.

Next, let's think about
the third element

of a research plan:
research questions.

To put it simply, your research
questions are the handful

of questions you plan to
answer during the study.

These should not be

the literal questions you plan

to asks study participants.

We'll go over these later when we

start creating our
interview script.

Instead, the research questions

should be the questions
you want your research to

answer and should align with
the goals of your research.

Why are research
questions important?

They guide your research.

Research questions provide focus

and structure for
your research study.

In addition, research
questions will be

the main topics you cover
in your presentation.

A few quick tips for
writing research questions.

A good research question
should be actionable.

You should be able to
identify a clear way

to attempt to answer
the question.

You should know when you've

found the answer
you're looking for.

Make sure your
research questions are

specific and not too broad.

You want to answer specific
questions and produce

meaningful data.

And make sure your research
questions aren't leading.

Questions should be neutrally
phrased so that they don't

sound like you're assuming

a particular answer
to your question.

For example, let's say your
research goal is to make

your dog walking app easier to

use in order to keep customers.

You might ask research
questions like,

on average, how many times a week

does a user hire a dog
walker through the app?

Or, what frustrated users

most about finding a dog
walker through the app?

One last thing to keep in mind
about research questions.

The way you write research

questions will determine whether

your research method should

be quantitative or qualitative.

You might remember
that we talked about

quantitative and
qualitative research

in an earlier video.

Quantitative research
focuses on data that can be

gathered by counting or
measuring -- think numbers.

Qualitative research focuses
on observations about

why and how things happen --
think written descriptions.

Let's revisit the example
from our dog walking app.

The first research
question -- On average,

how many times a week does

a user hire a dog walker through

the app? -- will give you
quantitative numerical data.

The second research question --

What frustrated users most
about finding a dog walker

through the app? -- will give
you qualitative information.

Both of these questions are

important to consider
for your design,

and they focus on different
parts of the user experience.

Do you feel you can write
a project background,

research goals, and research
questions? You can do it.

For our next adventure,

we'll describe how to measure

the success of your journey.

Ready to explore the world of
key performance indicators?