Fat Beehive - BuzzTalks 001 - Research Bias

As an organisation, we’ve always been forward-thinking when it comes to diversity and inclusion. From working with the likes of Code4000 and hiring ex-offenders to organising Black in Tech to encourage diversity in the tech sector, we’ve always been committed to proactively influencing change. However, at our maiden BuzzTalks event, we wanted to delve deeper into how unconscious bias can impact the services we provide, namely our user research.

As a new initiative for Fat Beehive clients, BuzzTalks aims to amplify our team’s expertise around popular and current topics and offers our charity partners the opportunity to network with others in the third sector. For the first edition, our UX and research team explored how bias within primary research can ultimately lead to assumptions that can be wide of the mark.

Throughout the evening, we explored why it’s crucial to not rely on empathy or assumptions to make decisions. To get to the heart of any issue, we need to consult those facing those issues and understand why. By trying to passively include everyone, we often find that it’s usually the same users who are excluded: people of colour, women, the trans community, people with physical disabilities, people with cognitive disabilities, neurodivergent people, children and young people. 

So how do we overcome research bias? 

1. We find out who the users are and ask questions about their experience to ensure we know how diverse the audience is
2. We stop making assumptions about who users are and focus on trying to actively include other audiences
3. We include users who we know less about in research
4. We slow decision-making to reconsider the motivations behind our choices
5. We champion diversity internally and partner with those who do the same

Following the talks, our staff and clients continued the conversation (over pizza and wine!) and probed how unconscious bias can play into other areas of organisations including recruitment and service provision. BuzzTalks runs once a quarter and is hosted at our London office on weeknight evenings. To find out more and future dates, contact matt.hayes@fatbeehive.com