Bias Versus Experience

When should you rely on your prior experience, and when do you suppress prior experience so as to not bias the research?

When we conduct research, design, and strategy services, we strive to understand the world from a specific perspective. A perspective that is not our own. Many of our clients assume this means they need to suppress their own experiences. As they participate in the research process they are hesitant to form hypotheses for fear of biasing the results. But that robs the project of valuable insights and experience.

Our approach is form hypotheses early and often, then use research to challenge and refine those hypotheses. In our daily recaps we review the output from the day. This is an opportunity to form and debate assumptions based on the research, then design ways to challenge these assumptions in the following days of research. We like to frame what we THINK is happening, then go prove ourselves wrong. While it is true that we are not our users, we are also not devoid of perspective.

We always strive to remove our biases from the research and design process. We use methods and tools that support a user-centric strategy. But this does not mean we do not leverage what we already now to direct our efforts, refine our approach, and speed our ability to uncover actionable insights.