This is one of the most important UX discovery questions. UX discovery process should be a collaborative effort. The UX team, research and design teams, and stakeholders are all involved in the discovery process.
UX professionals should be involved in the UX discovery process because they have the knowledge and expertise to conduct user research, prototype solutions, and test different scenarios. They can also recommend strategies that align with user behavior and expectations.
The Research team is responsible for user research to understand their needs, motivations, goals, and behavior. They also define product requirements based on these insights.
The Design team is responsible for creating prototypes (MVPs) that solve specific problems identified during discovery. They create personas to represent real users within your target audience so that you can understand how they might use your product down the road.
The Stakeholders are part of the all UX discovery phase activities because they give feedback on how well you solve their problems or fulfill their needs with your product.
Depending on your project, you may need to work mostly with a UX researcher, UX designer, or even a user experience consultant.
UX Researcher: A person who performs research to understand how users interact with products and services. They look at how people actually use the product and what they like/dislike about it. The results of their research is used to improve a product’s usability.
UX Designer: A person who creates prototypes and designs interfaces for products that are easy to use but also meet the business goals of the company developing the product. They create mockups and wireframes that can be tested with users early on in the development process so that changes can be made before it goes into production.
User Experience Consultant: A person who works as an intermediary between UX researchers/designers and clients (usually businesses). They help translate findings from research into concrete recommendations based on best practices for design so that clients can make informed decisions about their product or service design strategy.