10 Tips For An Effective User Experience UX Debrief Meeting

How should one conduct an effective user experience (UX) debrief meeting such that all stakeholders in the team can benefit from and do better in the next round? Userfocus offers 10 practitioner tips for running an effective UX debrief meeting.

1. Don’t wing it. Prepare thoroughly. Have a plan.
2. Don’t think of the debrief as a wrap-up meeting — think of it as a springboard to the next step. And make sure UX is part of the next step.
3. Co-chair the meeting with a lead member of the project team.
4. Make sure the main decision-makers attend.
5. Don't give a PowerPoint presentation, and don’t rehash the report. If you have 60 minutes talk for 20 minutes, then discuss for 40 minutes.
6. Insist that attendees must read the report and prepare comments and questions.
7. Before you summarize the study findings, ask the team to share what they learned from the study, what surprised them and what usability issues they feel are most important or most serious.
8. Simplify your message. Focus on just the 5 most severe usability problems. Don’t overwhelm the team by trying to cover everything (they can check the report for those details).
9. Get consensus on the problems rather than argue over solutions.
10. Don’t expect or insist that everything must be fixed. Focus next steps on things that can realistically be changed within the budget and timeline.

» The UX debrief: A tale of two meetings | Userfocus