Going remote with customer research: Lessons from Microsoft’s Customer-Driven team

By Michele McDanel (opens in new tab)

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What do you do when you’re a user research team that conducts in-person customer engagements and you’re faced with a global pandemic and work-from-home guidance?

Microsoft’s Customer-Driven team, which works with product groups to hold in-person customer events on the company’s Redmond, WA, campus was faced with that exact scenario. They were able to make the move to holding all events remotely so quickly that none of the dates had to be rescheduled. Here’s how they did it.

Looking through the lens of diversity

As the adage goes, having a team of people with diverse backgrounds and experiences is a strength (opens in new tab), and the proof is evident with Customer-Driven. A team member with a background in public health started tracking news about COVID-19 in December and began thinking about the implications for the group’s work. Her email outlining how remote experiences could translate for each of the team’s research formats was sent a day in advance of Microsoft’s initial work-from-home guidance. Because of that forward thinking and preparation, the team had a several week head start on planning.

Eye toward inclusion

Prior work that team member Steve Fountain had done finding ways to include users outside the Seattle area was also invaluable. Although the impetus behind exploring remote options was initially to involve a more diverse set of users and include international teams, this groundwork proved important to conducting programs remotely during the pandemic. The team had already evaluated online tools and experimented by having one group dial in remotely to a “Coffee with Customers” event.

“Just having the tools identified meant that we were able to use what worked best for each situation,” commented Denise Zhang, User Research Program Manager. “Once we planned to go remote, we worked with the program owners to finalize what their sessions would look like. Then we sent emails to participants so they would know what to expect.”

For example, in translating an event where people move from table to table, Customer-Driven decided to create seven separate Teams meetings. Participants start with a panel discussion, then are directed to smaller Teams sessions in 15-minute increments cycling through the series of virtual meetings, keeping the format close to the original format for familiarity.

Maintaining customer focus

For the Customer-Driven team, it wasn’t just about moving their research online. They also prioritized making users and people doing research feel as included and present as if they were attending in person.

“It’s important to manage expectations and have strong cohesion between team members,” noted Vora Savengseuksa, UX Research Project Manager. “We got the logistics underneath us as much as possible, helped get people comfortable with what was going to happen, and let them know of any potential issues.”

“Getting user feedback is what’s important and remained our top priority,” said Zhang. “In a scenario where people at many companies were just canceling meetings, we decided to be willing to explore other options.” Product teams quickly realized that they could just as easily show a customer their screen and get feedback in the same way they would in person. And even if things didn’t go flawlessly, they could still have a meaningful conversation with customers. Having a sense of normalcy in the conversations has been a source of comfort to both participants and researchers.

Feedback from the events held so far has been overwhelmingly positive. Product teams have been able to easily join a call, wait for participants, share information, and talk with them just like they would in person. Initial comments have participants touting the “high-quality intimate experience” and researchers praising the “great pivot given the circumstances.”

The only thing that’s missing is the ability to hand someone a cup of coffee and a donut. Maybe one day technology will enable that, too.

Has your team pivoted to remote events? What’s worked for you? Tweet us @MicrosoftRI (opens in new tab)!

Michele McDanel is a builder, an organizer, and a storyteller with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and an MBA. Michele is energized by solving problems and meeting business needs through communications and customer experience solutions that raise the bar. She enjoys building relationships and managing teams; and overall, just figuring out what the “special sauce” is that will be the competitive differentiator for a business and its solutions. Michele joined the Customer Insights Research team in 2019 to amplify the great UX research and data science work they do, and to showcase the thought leadership of the team across internal and external communications, events, and social media.