We continue to take a virtual spin around the EchoUser offices, introducing the people who make our agency tick. Up today: Experience Director, Vel Prakhantree. Vel has worked in the tech industry in the Bay Area since 2001, specializing in untangling complex enterprise software design. Her straight-shooting style and success at aligning clients and team members toward common user experience goals has shaped EchoUser's strategy and personality since 2010. Let's learn more:

1. How did you get interested in user experience research?

I entered Butler University as a Business Major, with general aspirations for some kind of strategic or management path (from what discipline, I didn’t yet know). But it quickly felt rather empty. I missed the sciences, frankly, and, thanks to a pointedly engaging professor in my Psych 101 class, I became hooked on the whole process of systematically decoding the mysteries of the brain and behavior. Psychology is a relatively young science, with still so many unknowns — and that was the appeal. There were many puzzles yet to be solved, and it takes so much creativity to even think about how to approach finding answers.  I did consider going the shrink route, but during junior year, I was introduced to the field of human factors: the science of designing physical or digital systems to best support how humans think, learn, decide, and behave. That appealed to me as I’d always had a strong inclination toward technology, had dabbled in coding classes, etc., and so I’d be able to apply the theoretical facets of human behavior and cognition to real-world system design problems.

The connection and the draw for me to the field of user experience research is that puzzle- and problem-solving aspect — examining both the knowns and unknowns of any situation and creatively coming up with an approach to measure and improve any experience.

2. How do you explain what EchoUser does to a potential client?

Our business process consists of a multitude of steps, but design and research are the two main parts. When a client comes to us, they want to figure out how to make their service or product better, but they may not know what or how they should be doing it. Frequently, the problem is that they don’t necessarily understand their users’ needs, and that’s where our research comes into play. Through research, we help the client identify who their target users are, what their patterns of behavior are and what problems they need to solve for their users. The designer will then take this information to come up with a fantastic design catering to each unique client.

3. UX is starting to become more understood, but what continues to be the biggest misconception about it?

People think design and UX are simple — common sense, even! But there is a lot that goes into it. It’s not just about finding that star designer; it’s about finding someone who is going to specialize in knowing the problem. There is a famous Steve Jobs quote that says “You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them.”  While I understand where he was coming from, I think that’s really the biggest misconception — that you can’t, or shouldn’t, involve customers in experience design. Smart companies know that you do have to go to your users to listen and observe, tease out what they might say they want from what they really want and need, and then use that information in conjunction with great innovation. It’s about knowing the patterns of behavior and motivation of the users, which we need to understand from multiple angles and lenses before we attempt to design something for a client.

So, though design has now come into the public consciousness as a differentiator, the research behind great design is still somewhat invisible. Recognizing and investing in the right research strategy ultimately saves companies a lot of time and money once they’ve figured that out.

4. What new technologies do you see on the forefront?

Ubiquitous computing is really the direction where everything has been headed for some time now.

There are new technologies arising all the time – but the bigger question now is often figuring out the right use cases to utilize the technology.  We’re in a situation right now where we have the ability to make things smaller, more bendable and more agile, but haven’t uncovered why people need technology that does that. For wearables and context-driven tech to take-off, much more user research needs to be done to determine exactly why, how and where someone might use the technology.

5. How would you go about determining the right use of a new piece of tech?

There is no one size fits all. It really depends on the technology and, largely, on how “new” it really is. There’s a wide range of questions we might first ask our stakeholders, as well as potential users, such as:

• What type of people would be using the technology?

• Where and how would people possibly use the product or service?

• Why? What problems is it trying to solve?

• Is there a ready prototype of the design, or only a concept?

• What has already been tried, and did it succeed or fail, and why?

We would then likely do a field or lab exercise to test the stakeholder assumptions against the behavior and opinions of the target audience. The target users often give us insights we wouldn’t have predicted, including new potential use cases the technology could address.  Again, it’s all about getting behind the user’s motivations for using any particular product – uncovering the mood and context someone has to be in to interact with the technology. If you don’t align with the right mood or timing, you can easily miss creating the experience that people will ultimately be interested in.

6. How does EchoUser’s approach to usability research differ from others?

When our clients come to us with a problem, we don’t just go into a dark room and then emerge with an answer. We feel it’s extremely important to be transparent and educate them on the process along each step of the way. We try to make them feel comfortable and confident with everything we’re doing by being very open about the different exercises and research techniques we use, mapping the strategy to the expected outcome. Clarity brings confidence, meaning less stress all around — and, ultimately, a better thought-out product for our clients.

7. If you could redesign any experience, what would it be?

That’s a tough one. But, I would have to say education — everything from early education through the university level. There is a lot to be done to change the way we educate our youth. It’s an experience that’s deep in legacy and while much of it used to work, the needs — of students, teachers, and the employers who will be hiring people post-school — have changed, and the old system no longer fits. What it means “to be an educated person” doesn’t, and shouldn’t, mean the same thing as it did in 1885.