What does good “scrappy” user research look like?
According to Varun Murugesan, Co-founder of Apple and Banana,
“You could throw anything at Jason Bourne and he would solve it... Would it be effective? [Yes—and] that's what I think about. I don't need all the fanciest tools or software.”Being good at scrappy user research is like being the Jason Bourne of research: being effective with what you have, even if you’re shot down by a tight research budget or limited in bandwidth.
Varun joins Erin and JH to discuss his tips for doing scrappy research, advice for finding and utilizing creative techniques in research, and the potential positive and negative effects of the AI explosion.
Highlights:
[00:01:38] The value of “scrappy” research in tough economic times
[00:05:50] Being “scrappy” is about speed
[00:08:51] Innovating with scarce resources during the pandemic
[00:17:33] Enhancing creativity through messiness
[00:21:40] Sources of inspo for creative research
[00:25:07] Re-evaluating your work and success
[00:31:03] Research during the AI explosion
[000:35:55] 7 years strong doing research, plus new opportunities for the future
Sources mentioned in the episode:
About Our Guest
Varun Murugesan is the Co-Founder of Apple and Banana, a UXR training and development company helping to build better products through fruitful research. He is also the author of Fruitful, an online UX research library and toolkit of resources for researchers and UX teams aimed at conducting user experience research that drives impact. He is also the Senior UK Researcher of SeatGeek, a mobile ticketing marketplace. Before these positions, Varun worked in UXR roles at Best Buy and Facebook. An entrepreneur, author, and researcher, Varun has spent his career immersed in psychology, technology, and design, and has been featured on a various media platforms sharing fruitful research and his personal UXR career journey.
A gift from Apple & Banana and Awkward Silences
Interested in trying Apple & Banana for your next research project? Use our code AWKWARD-FRUITS-35 to save 35% on Fruitful, an advanced UX research repository used by 100s of teams around the world.
#107 - Making Research Ops Visible with Benson Low of REA Group
#106 - Navigating gender, religion, and politics in UX research – with Zoë Glas
#105 - Tacos and Tide Pods: Big plans, a product relaunch, and healthy organizational tension
#104 - User Research Incentives with Nick Baum of Tremendous
#103 - Ethical Design and Respectful UX Research with Kat Zhou of Epidemic Sound
#102 - Tacos and Tide Pods: Authenticity, Exciting Milestones, and LinkedIn
#101 - Onboarding UX: How to Research and Design a Great First Impression with Pulkit Agrawal of Chameleon
#100 - UXR Productivity Hacks with Michele Ronsen of Curiosity Tank
#99 - Leading UX Research for Healthcare Apps with Wendy Johansson of MiSalud Health
#98 - Customer-Centricity in Practice with Ferdinand Goetzen of Reveall
#97 - Tacos and Tide Pods: House Cats, Research Repositories, and the Economy
#96 - Your UX Career Is a Product with Sarah Doody
#95 - UX Writing and Content Design with Yuval Keshtcher of UX Writing Hub
#94 - Tacos and Tide Pods: A New Series from Awkward Silences
#93 - Digital Ethnography and Real-World Context in UXR with Megan McLean of Spotify
#92 - What Librarians Can Teach UXRs about Insights Repositories with Nada Alnakeeb of DoorDash and Joanna Perez of Netflix
#91 - Design Psychology with Thomas Watkins of 3Leaf
#90 - The State of User Research 2022 with Roberta Dombrowski
#89 - UX Agencies: Setting Clients Up for Success with Karen VanHouten
#88 - Research Operations for Democratization at Scale with Garrett Tsukada
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Insight Story: Tech Trends Unpacked
Zero-Shot
Fast Forward by Tomorrow Unlocked: Tech past, tech future
The Unbelivable Truth - Series 1 - 26 including specials and pilot
A Prairie Home Companion: News from Lake Wobegon