The point of UX research is to affect positive change for customers, leading to growth for the business. But if stakeholders and decision makers don’t engage with your research findings, it doesn’t matter how unique your method or beautiful the report is. And no researcher wants their hard-won insights sitting on the shelf.
But there’s an easy, repeatable solution: the findings summary template.
Leadership and career coach Roberta Dombrowski created the findings summary explicitly to help stakeholders more actively consume research output. Here’s how she tells it:
The research team at UI values being able to apply insights quickly to inform business decisions. This template was made to help the UXR highlight the most important information for the rest of the organization.
I've seen insights at too many companies lost within giant decks or multi-page write ups.
The summary should offer all the context and findings a team might need to consume, assess, and take action against the research. In short, it focuses on shaping decisions.
Keep reading to learn:
- The parts of any useful findings summary
- How to use our free findings summary template
- Why it’s more valuable than most deliverables
Get a copy of the findings summary template.
What is a findings summary?
A findings summary organizes important information about a finished research project into a skimmable format. There are typically five sections to a findings summary (although these can flex to your use case):
- TL;DR (too long; didn’t read) or Executive Overview: A few sentences recapping the project goals, method, and findings. Keep this very short and precise
- Background + Approach: List the goals (including related company ones) and the methods used
- Key Learnings: The top two or three most relevant and timely findings, which could include quotes, photos, or video for emphasis.
- Next Steps: Break down by priority, team, and specific recommendation
- Appendix: Share links for readers who want to learn more about the project
What UX research challenge does a findings summary solve?
One of a researcher’s biggest concerns is that their research findings—from designing and recruiting to fielding and synthesizing—won’t be used by stakeholders. That instead of shaping a product, it sits on the metaphorical shelf (or more likely an insights library or repository).
No matter how jam-packed or well-designed your research deliverable is, if no one is reading it, these efforts aren’t paying off. The findings summary acknowledges that product development cycles are fast and helps colleagues act urgently based on user feedback.
📄 Writing UX Research Reports and Presentations
Why should I use a findings summary?
Research reveals that product stakeholders are frustrated by research results that lack clear connections to development workflows. Confused and overwhelmed by details they can’t understand, they often ignore research and move forward, missing potentially critical insights.
A findings summary helps combat that whelm. It forces researchers to think like their stakeholders, which is something known to help improve impact and organizational influence. This doesn’t mean the full report is scrapped, but it’s not the first touchpoint in the stakeholder <> research journey. Instead, the findings summary, well, summaries the more important aspects. It’s a bit like the President’s Daily Briefing, but for UX research.
In addition to helping stakeholders engage with research, the findings summary helps researchers build their business know-how and start thinking in the language of metrics, OKRs, and goals. This is an important skillset to develop and deploy, especially as budgets continue tightening and ROI is more closely assessed.
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How to use a findings summary
There are two approaches for building a findings summary: in-parallel or all-at-once.
With the in-parallel approach, the findings summary is built as the phases of a project progresses. It capitalizes on the recency of the work, ensuring accuracy. When a project is fielding, complete the Background + Approach section; after analysis, the Key Learnings; after synthesis, the Recommendations, and so on.
By contrast, in the all-at-once approach the findings summary is created after all other standard deliverables. Here, it might be easier to complete the summary because all component parts are finished (it could be as simple as copying and pasting).
Should I use an in-parallel or all-at-once approach?
You should opt for the approach that is most likely to lead to the most comprehensive findings summary in the least amount of time. After that, publish the findings summary as an “appetizer” or teaser to the fuller shareout. Ensure that it’s accessible by not only primary stakeholders, but secondary ones such as leadership. This both raises awareness about the research happening and encourages more people to engage with it, a habit that most organizations believe is important to success.
✨ Read our report on AI use in UX research.
More resources
- Swipe one of these free presentation and report examples
- The ultimate guide to showing the value of research
- Unsure which method to use? Try our selection tool