Tackling a project full of potential research activites can be daunting. Focusing on value-adding activites through understanding client objectives can help! Start with a great kick-off to understand your clients needs, focus your research activities and engage them in the design journey from day one.

1. Kick Ass Kick-offs
with Jacinta McMahon,
Head of UX Design,
Bourne Digital

2. Pieces of Paper Clients
Extra

3. New project
Woohoo, a new client or
project to dig into

4. Wrapping your head around what to do
❏ Have you read the proposal?
❏ Have you seen the initial client brief?
❏ What is the scope of this project?
❏ What are the planned deliverables?
Oh, and when do we get started?

5. Doing your homework for the kick-off meeting
Research
Know who’s coming.
Know who needs to
come. Liaise with key
client point of contact.
Review the client
brief/proposal.
Know the scope of this
piece of work.
Hypothesise a problem
statement.
Agenda
Craft or review the
Agenda.
Include questions in
the agenda to trigger
thought.
Know where you can
add value with
questions or direction.
Attendees
Invite the right people!
Have the decision
makers in the room.
Include cross-
functional members of
your team.
Share the agenda in
advance.

6. Sample Research activities from the proposal
Desktop Research
Heuristic Evaluations
Documentation Review
Competitive Analysis
Testing
Current-state usability
evaluation
Cognitive Walk-through
Workshops
Stakeholders
Customers
Employees
Contextual Research
Interviewing
Diary Studies
Ethnographic
observation
Content
Audit
Strategy
Journey Mapping
Stakeholders
Customers
Employees
Information Architecture
Best Practice
Card Sorting
Tree Testing
Red routes analysis
Deliverables
Personas
Customer Journey Maps
Test Report
New Site Map

7. How on earth do we get all that done?
We have four weeks in the Discovery phase
of our project… how do we learn as much as
possible to deliver value to our client?

8. How on earth do we get all that done?
Setting clear objectives
for the project
A flexible research plan
based on real project
objectives
Pragmatic application of
our research methods

9. How do we set clear objectives for the project?
A great Kick-off meeting, of course ;)

10. A meeting is a gathering of two or more
people convened for the purpose of
achieving a common goal through
interaction.
Management 3.0, “Better Meetings”

11. A good Kick-off Agenda
People
Again, make sure you
get you get the right
people in the room.
Having a meeting
without the key
decision makers is a
mistake that can lead
to wasted time and
effort.
Success
What does success
look like for this
project?
Gather participant’s
definition of success.
Probe to clarify what
these really mean.
Really understand
why.
Understand the key
results or outcomes
that we want to see as
a result of the project.
Actions
Gather a list of action
items.
What needs to be
actioned and by
whom
Dependencies
Information sought
Timings
What information,
documentation,
access is needed to
initiate discovery?

12. Other Kick-off tips
Active Listening
Don’t be afraid to probe and clarify
Why on participant’s success
metrics.
Listen, without discounting when
they are out of scope. Probe to bring
the goal back to earth.
Repeat back to the participant;
rephrase or paraphrase to get very
clear on the intent.
Rationalise some success factors
(asking why)
Summarising and Agreement
Know the scope & express the limits.
Summarise realistic Goals - this takes
some thinking, yes.
Be honest.
State where a goal might not have clear
metrics i.e. where a goals is for increased
conversion vs where a goal is for awards
and recognition differ.
Timelines should follow after the
meeting. Don’t rush to agree to timings.

13. You should ensure that attendees
remember to be there, remember what
happened and remember what their
tasks and responsibilities are.
Management 3.0, “Better Meetings”

15. After the meeting
Don’t forget to share your action
points and meeting minutes
with all those involved.
Time to get started devising
your new research plan. You will
be guided by your project
objectives!

16. Effective meetings don’t happen by
accident, they happen by design.
Catherine Mattiske, Making Meetings Work, 2010

17. Don’t forget
Be flexible with your approach. Not all
methods will bring value to the project
and support you with achieving your
client’s goals for the project.
Be forgiving with the application of
your research methods. Sometimes we
need to bend them to fit within our
project constraints. That’s okay!

18. Thanks!
Any questions?
You can find me at:
@jacintamcmahon on Twitter
Connect with me on Linkedin: jacintamcmahon