Stakeholder research is research that you do with (internal) stakeholders, rather than with users or customers. In other words, in stakeholder research, your stakeholders are the participants.
Many of the methods described in later chapters, such as surveys, can be adapted to stakeholder research. But the most common method for researching stakeholders—and the most important one, if you’re looking to really understand your stakeholders’ goals, motivations, and research needs—is stakeholder interviews.
Stakeholder interviews are semi-structured, in-depth interviews that are conducted at the outset of a research project to create consensus and align around research goals.
Stakeholder interviews are an important tool in the early stages of product development, when you’re trying to define your objectives and create a research plan.
But that’s not the only time they can be used. Especially when dealing with high-profile projects or research on a longer timeline, it can be a good idea to check in with your stakeholders at least once during each phase of the product cycle.
These check-ins can help keep everybody on the same page, make sure your research is on the right track, generate new ideas, and gather any additional information the project may need.
Successful UX design is dependent upon stakeholder involvement. There’s almost never a reason not to conduct this sort of interview—even when you work closely and regularly with the big decision makers, you’ll still need to sit down with them to understand their goals for any given project.
If your project has stakeholders who aren't on your immediate product development team, you’ll need to conduct stakeholder interviews with them as well. They’re simply the best way to gather valuable information about your project parameters.
Project briefs and requests for research often include ambiguity that can lead to misunderstandings. And it’s not uncommon for stakeholders to have project requirements in mind that they don't vocalize or put into initial scope documents, either because they incorrectly assume these things are obvious, or because they haven’t consciously thought of them (yet).
As with user interviews, stakeholder interviews help tease out all such unmentioned goals, suss out details, and illuminate nuances that might otherwise get lost in the shuffle.
What is the vision? What is the need? What are the parameters? What will get in the way of how other people might sell or market the product? What’s worked well in the past? What has not?
Talking to stakeholders will give you the initial lay of the land and can help you determine if user research is even necessary to answer the question at hand. Chances are good that they’ve already done some data-digging of their own and they may even be able to point you toward a knowledge base that can save time and money all around.
Future problem-solving becomes easier when there’s trust and communication built-in from the get-go.
Even if your stakeholders are bought into the idea of user research—indeed, they may well be the people driving the demand for more research internally—they might still be skeptical about you (if you’re new on the scene), the benefits of certain methods, the time and costs involved, or the relevance of any given project to their own needs.
Stakeholder interviews are an opportunity for you to establish or sustain relationships with key players, demonstrate an interest in their goals, clarify thinking, and help everyone feel like they’ve had input in the project.