Questions, creativity, & sharing user research insights

Creativity is inherent to all of us and we can nurture creative thinking by using different tools and approaches. One such approach is by using questions to facilitate creativity.

Questions can help us unlock our creativity in various ways because questions define the landscape where we search for our answers – like shining a torchlight in the corner of a dark room. And the way we frame our problem defines the solutions we find.

Questions for sharing results creatively

Here’s an example that Colette Kolenda from Spotify shared at the UXinsight festival last year.

Colette and her team use their data collection and analysis to determine compelling and creative ways to share their insights. They consider the following three questions:

When conducting the research, they ask, “What’s unique about the data we are collecting?” In a study, they used eye-tracking glasses to record videos from the participants’ point of view while they were listening to Spotify. They also recorded the soundtrack being listened to. To share this unique perspective of stepping into the participants’ world, they built a website with video clips from the study. Through the clips, the viewers could ‘see and hear’ what the users were seeing and listening to.
When analyzing data, they ask, “How can we expose others to the richness of the analysis?” For another study, they collected pictures, quotes, lots of video data, and graphs and charts with trends and behavioral data. To expose the abundant and rich evidence to their stakeholders and wider teams, they designed a museum.
Finally, when sharing findings, they ask, “How can stakeholders interact with our insights so that they can be memorable?”

In this way, we can use questions to guide and channel our creative thinking. What kind of questions do you use to channel your creativity?

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