12 UX Research Decks

Learning with Lee Anne

In contrast to the usual practice of having as little text as possible on a deck, research decks are very detailed. They need to be detailed because people will be looking back at the results and the reasons for the results in this deck in the future.

Research decks need to live beyond that final presentation. They need to be reliable sources of information for various stakeholders that can be understood without explanation from someone who was on the actual project. What happens when this research deck is still relevant in two years, but all the people on that project have left the company? Consequently, making detailed research decks is important for information to live on. The following are a few things I keep in mind as I create these research decks:

Information Design
Although it needs to be detailed, it doesn’t need to be boring or feel like a textbook. I use PowerPoint for these presentations and the beauty of it is being able to break down the information in a digestible way through multiple slides so that it doesn’t feel like you’re reading an essay. I definitely try to exercise my information design skills in these slides, finding the balance between concise and detailed information. Images or even shapes and icons help divide up big blocks of text.

Bring it to Life!
A staple with research report outs is clips! The findings become much more powerful and real when stakeholders are hearing from the participants themselves. I sprinkle in clips throughout the presentation, especially for really important findings. In addition, I try to include a highlight reel at the end that has all the positive things people have to say. This reel helps to bring the morale up for everyone in the room working on the product. It’s always nice to hear directly from the users and to remind everyone exactly why they continue to work on it.

Structure
Logistically, I typically like to go from general information to specific information and then back to general information. This is the general structure of my decks:

• Table of Contents
• Background Info/ Previous Research
• Research Goal
• Research Questions
• Research Stimuli
• Demographics
• Key Insights
• Deep Dive into Findings
• Summary
• Recommendations
• Next Steps

Overall, successful research decks are not only detailed, but they present information in a concise way that is still digestible and can stand alone without further explanation from someone. Keeping that in mind, feel free to get creative! Remember that the main objective is to emphasize the voice of the user.