5 Ways to Inform Your Design When End-User Research Isn't in the Budget

Information Architects follow a rigorous user-centered-design methodology that, ideally, begins with upfront, end-user, behavioral research. It is our job to make a business case for this type of research by clearly illustrating its ability to achieve real business benefits. Sometimes, however, clients will not pay for this upfront research. Some projects begin with trust in the expertise of the IA and Design team.

As an Information Architect, I cannot rely on my own assumptions of what is the best taxonomy and content prioritization for clients' end-users. When upfront research is out-of-the-question, I must look for other ways to make more informed assumptions. Here are 5 ways to informally gather information about end-users:

1. Analyze the most popular keywords related to the topic of your design - Thanks to Google, businesses are eager to understand how to optimize their digital content to be findable by search engines. Because Google has a paid advertisement service that is based on top keyword searches related to various businesses, they offer a free keyword tool to help businesses identify the top keyword queries related to their business. Assume that these top queries represent the highest priority information sought, and facilitate access to relevant content through your design and taxonomy.

2. Look at competitor experiences - Your client's competitors may not have "best-of-breed" digital experiences in terms of how these experiences service customers, however, major trends in taxonomy and information design represent industry conventions and design patterns that customers will be used to. General adherance to common design patterns in a given industry will provide a foundation for best practices for that industry.

3. Develop provisional personas based on previously conducted research - Prior to beginning any project, an information architect must synthesize all existing knowledge about a client's end-user. Often, this knowledge comes from previously conducted market research. The best way to absorb this knowledge, is to develop provisional personas which take existing market research and extrapolate behaviors from the research findings. These behaviors need to be accommodated by the design and taxonomy of the experience.

4. Lurk on social networks, groups, and discussion forums related to the topic of your design - A good way to conduct research is to passively observe the conversations that take place on social networks and communities that are relevant to the topic of your Design. The most vocal participants in these conversations will be individuals that have strong opinions. Designing to meet their needs will ensure that they become vocal supporters of your client's tactics.

5. Plan for design validation as part of a "test-and-learn" plan - If upfront end-user research isn't being planned for, make a strong proposal to conduct usability or design validation testing early and often in the project lifecycle. Paper and low fidelity prototyping can be tested quickly and cheaply with small groups of target end-user segments. Once design moves into development, functional prototype testing should be considered.