If you don’t have a user researcher, you can use existing insights, data and feedback to capture some user needs. You can use this information to help you plan or prioritise from a user’s perspective.

Run a workshop to collect user needs

1. Chose a product

2. Collate together the insights that you have on this product, you may have:

• web stats or web logs

• search terms

• user comments and feedback

• complaints

• requests

1. Gather your team together, to participate in a workshop

2. Give everyone one source of information to look at

3. Ask them to note down issues, thoughts on post it notes

4. Ask them to put these on a wall

5. You’ll soon themes emerging – some larger than others

6. Note down them theme

Support planning or prioitisation

You can then use these themes to help with prioritisation. You could align these with your release or update plans, or with your product roadmap.

You may also have more technical information:

• demand plans

• release plans or patches

• incident logs (ServiceNow)

• incidents (P1s for example and resolution information)

• analysis of the incidents

If you run the same session with these, and align the two themes, you will have a plan that has been influenced by user needs.

You may still want to carry out in-depth user testing to look at particular blockers. Contact the head of role for research to discuss this.