I am reflecting on my journey into long-distance cycling (riding lots of Km straight through) and the similarities to growing as a UX Researcher.

It all started

In June 2008, I rode my 1st 600km, crossing Portugal North to South below the 30-hour barrier. 

In 2011 after years of daydreaming, I finally got to the start of Paris-Brest-Paris, a grueling 1200 km. Having a restless appetite for the unachievable, I completed PBP again in 2015 & 2019.

All in all, I think I bring this endurance mindset into my UX Research practice where I split my journey into manageable chunks to keep my balance and focus.

PBP2015 @ Brest Bridge. 600Km mark, time head back to Paris

Practice, unlearn and learn

If we, as UX Researchers, approach our practice with a long-distance cyclist mindset, every season we practice, we unlearn and learn to become better masters of our trade.

In the real world, transforming and inspiring organizations and companies into a human center design practice can be as daunting as riding 1200km and an ambitious long-term goal that we need to measure and monitor frequently.

Mindset

Instead of exercise and nutrition plans to improve our ability to ride further, UX Researchers have products, teams, stakeholders, and leadership that we need to leverage to enhance our performance. 

Long-distance cycling isn’t predictable as organizations aren’t. It requires us to be resilient and to persevere. We can plan, but we need to be lightning-fast adapting to new needs as our body is a sensitive ecosystem, like organizations.

Behavior change

Long-distance cycling is primarily about cultivating behaviors and actions that improve and transform ourselves into better endurance riders. To successfully ride extreme distances, we need to have a lot of internal drive like UX Researchers.

A UX Researcher has its main focus on the change we need to make on others. We also need to focus on transforming individually and adapt. It’s not only about the impact on external stakeholders but also about advancing towards the goals we aspire.

Speed

A speed mindset allows us to be more efficient and to set bold objectives. It gives me options and choices along the way and the ability to fail and adapt without triggering a big crisis, like not getting to the finish line.

Yes, speed puts pressure on us and, most times, we have plenty. On the other hand, it presents us with new opportunities to learn and foster creativity.

Riding at PBP 2019

Practice makes us comfortable with imperfection

UX Research projects are like practice runs. If we don’t practice, we don’t learn and improve.

Let’s not be fooled with perfection. We, UX Researchers tend to want everything just about perfect. 

Perfection is a moon shoot goal. If we want to get better, we need to be comfortable with failure. Not saying we should endorse a culture of failure, but let’s look at failures as opportunities to learn to grow and innovate as researchers. 

Getting to the finish

We can devote ourselves to an endurance challenge like UX Research, as long as we keep it balanced within ourselves and manage it intelligently.

It’s challenging to keep exploring every day and make the time and space to rest our body and soul while advancing our research practice so that we can be the best version of ourselves today every day.

RIDE ON!

Lately, I learned that

• Imperfections and setbacks are part of the journey. We need to accept them.

• There are never the perfect conditions to do UX Research.

• We are always going to sense that we are putting out your research findings too early.

• It's essential to take a step back and examine our practice with curiosity.

• New constraints suggest that we should look at what new opportunities have opened up.

• Products are never going to be perfect. Imperfections are where our opportunities are.