Capturing and conveying the essence of user feedback is a pivotal aspect of our work at Centralis. It is not enough to run sessions – we must also translate what we learned from participants into a memorable deliverable, which will encourage clients to make impactful changes. By incorporating quotes and video clips from participants, we strive to create a richer narrative that not only informs but truly immerses our clients in the experiences of real users.  

For instance, this joyous video clip from our research on the Field Museum’s mobile app might be our favorite of all time: 

This clip is powerful because it humanizes the research data, provides context and nuance to our report, highlights a successful moment in a memorable way, and enhances our communication with clients. 

Highlighting the voices, words, and images of users offers four key benefits:

Humanizing Data 

User experience is a human-centered discipline, and at the heart of every data point lies a human story. Quotes and video clips inject a human element into our research reports, bridging the gap between participants and clients. By hearing the voices of actual users, our clients can connect on a deeper level, fostering empathy and understanding for the end-users of their products or services. 

Providing Context and Nuance 

While a written analysis provides valuable insights, it can fail to convey the context and nuances of user interactions. Participants’ words anchor our findings, offering a more holistic understanding of user sentiments. They can help clients truly understand the extent of a problem and its root cause. For clients who could not attend sessions, quotes and video clips in the final report may be the only way they hear directly from users. 

Highlighting Pain Points and Success Stories 

Incorporating participants' voices allows us to highlight pain points and success stories more vividly. A quote or a video clip can capture the frustration in a user's voice when navigating a cumbersome interface or the delight when they effortlessly achieve their goal. These real-world narratives are essential for convincing our clients to prioritize improvements and innovations. 

Enhancing Communication and Credibility 

By including quotes and video clips in our deliverables, we facilitate more effective communication between our research teams and our clients. These visual and auditory elements serve as powerful tools during presentations and workshops, allowing stakeholders to experience user feedback in a more engaging and memorable way. Hearing directly from users establishes a deeper degree of trust in our own expertise (“Don’t believe us? Watch this!”) and enhances the value of our work, contributing to the creation of more user-centered and successful products and services. 

Whether we’re conducting generative research or evaluative research, incorporating quotes and video clips into our final deliverables is of critical importance. We have found time and time again that clients are most likely to be convinced when hearing about a problem directly from users. And with the advent of technology to help with transcription and video clip creation, producing quotes and clips is much less laborious than it once was. To quote one of our clients, “It was an incredible process to learn about our product. It really reinforces the issues we need to address." Hearing from research participants leads to impactful change, which is good for everyone – both our clients and their end users.