Article - Building your own UX lab? What you need to know

Building your own UX lab? Here’s what you need to know

If you frequently conduct UX research, there comes a time when it’s smart to build your own UX lab. But what does it involve? When is it worthwhile to invest in your own lab? Let’s take you through the basics.

Three reasons to build your own UX lab

1. You conduct research very often. A requirement for building your own UX lab is frequent research. It becomes interesting if you dive into the lab four or more times per month. If you only conduct research once a month, it’s better to use an external lab, like ours.

2. The nature of your product or service demands it. Sometimes companies want respondents to come to their location. For example, a bank might prefer interviews and testing at their office for confidentiality reasons. A private UX lab becomes interesting, even with a lower frequency.

3. You want to boost the research culture. You could wait until you’ve reached a certain frequency to build a lab, but having one can actually increase how often research happens and bring UX research to life in your organization. It’s essential to have enough researchers who know how to use the lab, and sufficient demand. If research is still in its infancy, a private UX lab won’t change much..

You could wait until you’ve reached a certain frequency to build a lab, but having one can actually increase how often research happens and bring UX research to life in your organization.

Your own lab requires your attention

You need two spaces

First, you need enough space. A UX lab requires at least two rooms: an interview room and an observation room.

The observation room can also be used for other purposes like brainstorming or meetings. Keep this in mind when designing the space. Moreover, the observation room isn’t just for observing—it will become a place where your team collaborates on new developments. It should be an inspiring environment where people want to be.

Your observation room is not just an observation room. It becomes the place where your team collaborates on new developments. It should be an inspiring environment where people enjoy being.

And then there’s the interview room itself. Make it cozy and comfortable so that respondents quickly feel at ease. It should be soundproof to allow uninterrupted conversations. It’s also smart to keep the observation room as hidden as possible so respondents don’t feel like they’re being watched.

Technical knowledge

Your research relies not only on the skills of your researchers or the research design. The technology you use plays just as important a role. A lot can go wrong technically—in the tools, hardware, or network. Prototypes can be heavy, and sound issues arise easily. Your lab needs to be set up so you can conduct 45-60 minutes of uninterrupted research. Careless handling of the tech can lead to stopping an interview early, which disrupts respondents and affects everything that follows.

The company culture must be right

Aside from the spaces and technical aspects, company culture plays a big role. Giving research such a central position lowers the threshold for everyone to jump in and engage with customers. Your team must be ready for this—our parent company Valsplat can help you with that.

Good maintenance

A lab isn’t done once it’s built—it needs ongoing maintenance. You’ll need to perform technical updates and train people to use the lab independently. That never stops.

Need help building your own UX lab? We can design, build, and even maintain your lab. If you want to read more about it, you can do so here.