Using Miro for UX Research

Working in UX, it can be easy to get overwhelmed by the number of digital tools available, and to feel like you should be using them all to get the best results. Whilst we look to specialist software for methodologies such as diary studies or card sorts, there is one tool that we’ve come to rely on throughout our UX research process – Miro.

So, why do we find a digital whiteboard tool so effective?

Planning

Our research projects always begin with a kick-off meeting, where we discuss the objectives, research questions, recruitment, and timelines with the client. However, particularly when working with fast-paced teams, these can often shift due to new outputs or priorities. Using a Miro board to capture and manage the project information means we have a single source of truth that we can easily update and refer back to throughout the project.

Top tips

1. Use Miro Cards to capture project tasks, adding tags, deadline dates and statuses to track progress. Consider sorting them into a Gantt Chart for enhanced clarity.
2. Invite stakeholders to the board with ‘edit’ or ‘comment’ access, encouraging them to leave collaborative feedback or questions, reducing reliance on emails and meetings.
3. When creating your session protocol, copy the research questions alongside your detailed plan, so you can check them off as you address each objective.

Research

Varying activities during research supports engagement from participants. Direct interaction with prototypes and tasks is also important to uncover natural thinking and behaviours. With Miro, we love how we can set up a template for almost any activity, and easily share the board with participants either before or during a session. This might include activities such as card sorting, experience mapping, prioritisation tasks, heatmapping pain points, voting or participatory design.

Top tips

1. Quickly create content by searching for templates such as ice breaker activities in the Miroverse community, and using integrated apps such as Wireframes and Stickers.
2. Use the option to ‘Bring everyone to me’ to ensure both participants and observers are focusing on the relevant area of the board during sessions, whilst asking participants to ‘Hide collaborators’ cursors’ to reduce distraction.
3. Use the timer feature to time-box activities, so that participants can clearly see how long they have left, and you can keep sessions on track.

Note-taking

We always commit an experienced live note-taker to research sessions, allowing us to capture nuanced behaviours and accelerate project outputs. Whilst many UX researchers have relied on spreadsheets in the past, Miro boards are featuring more in our projects, particularly when feedback is related to visuals. For example, when participants explore prototypes naturally, moving between screens in no set order, the note-taker can mirror this flexibility using screenshots on the board as visual cues, and mapping feedback onto these directly. Where time allows, we also try to categorise findings on the go, thereby kick starting the analysis.

Top tips

1. Create a template that follows the session protocol, that note-takers can familiarise themselves with ahead of the sessions. Use distinct frames, headings, and colours for different activities and types of feedback.
2. Add tags with the participant number to post-its or cards, to ensure it is clear who said what when findings are consolidated during analysis.
3. Lock non-interactive content such as imagery, to prevent it from accidentally being moved by the note taker during sessions.

Analysis

If you’re a visual person, keeping analysis on a single whiteboard, with different colours, groupings and maps is a dream, as you can easily see the big and smaller pictures! It also offers greater transparency over how you have arrived at each finding, supporting both collaborative analysis and stakeholder buy-in. Don’t worry – even if you stick with a spreadsheet for note-taking, Miro allows you to paste and convert tables into post-its so they’re ready to sort.

Top tips

1. Checking tags and duplicating the board should be your first step before you get stuck into analysis and moving post-its around! This will allow you to refer back to individual verbatim and thought processes if required.
2. Overlay feedback from multiple participants, and consolidate findings that are consistent, remembering to keep traceability back to each participant.
3. To begin the process of affinity mapping, use the cluster feature to automatically group post-its and cards by colour, tag, or author.

Reporting

We tailor our deliverables to client preferences, meaning that whilst Miro works well for some, it doesn’t align with the needs of others. In our experience, it’s most effective to offer a timely summary of key insights or to run debriefs with interactive activities. Using frames, you can create and deliver engaging presentations with minimal effort, and colleagues can work on it at the same time too!

Top tips

1. Add sentiment to insights in order to encourage empathy, using integrated apps such as Blossom (video highlights) and Unsplash (visuals).
2. When creating deliverables outside of Miro, eliminate the time taken to duplicate findings by exporting content such as brainstorms or journey maps.
3. Create and save custom templates, making it easier to build and deliver consistent presentations that align with your branding.

We always strive to meet the needs of our clients by being genuine, innovative, and efficient throughout the UX research process, and select digital tools based on your needs as well as our own. We’ll be keeping a look out for new ways to reinforce our values, products and services, but always love to hear your feedback and ideas too!