Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights
The goal here is to make it clear to the participant (and to yourself) that they are the expert and you are the novice.
You should definitely talk about yourself if doing so gives the other person permission to share something.
Stories are where the richest insights lie, and your objective is to get to this point in every interview.
Falling back on naturalistic observation is disingenuous; it’s not easy for participants to pretend you aren’t there and just go on as they would normally.
Instead, leverage the constructed nature of your shared experience.
you are joined together in this uncommon interaction.
“What I want to learn today is...”
Listening is the most effective way you can build rapport. It’s how you demonstrate tangibly to your participants that what they have to say is important to you.
you can also demonstrate that you are listening by what you do say.
follow-up
“Earlier, you
told us that...” or “I want to go back to something else you said....”
signal your transitions: “Great. Now I’d like
learn to silently affirm with facial expressions and head-nods, and throw in the vocalization only occasionally.
Check your worldview at the door.
cultivate your own general, non-specific curiosity.
Embrace how other people see the world.
Focus on them and be very selective about talking about yourself.
There’s a significant amount of preparation involved before you begin asking the users anything.
You probably don’t know what you don’t know, which is why you are using interviews as your research method.
contextual research
make the objectives your initial priority.
first interviews
should be with the
stakeholders—these
consumers of the research findings
History with the organization
Current beliefs about the customer,
Organizational or other barriers to be mindful
Business objectives for the project and specific questions the research should answer
Concerns or uncertainty around the methodology
created a document that summarized the project as we understood it at the time, including the agreed-upon methodology and the complete set of five research goals.
facilitator guide
many organizations truly don’t have the time or budget required for full-blown research.
The prototypes served more as props to foster discussion about visions of the future than actual artifacts to be evaluated.
Finding participants is a crucial part of preparing for fieldwork,
“guerilla”
“intercept”).
The first step
is to identify
the key characteristics for your sample.
RECRUITING IS DATA
The field guide (sometimes
called an interview guide or more formally, a protocol) is a document that details what will happen in the interview
The general flow of most interview guides is: • Introduction and participant background • The main body • Projection/dream questions • Wrap up
I prefer to write most questions as I might ask them
rather than as abstracted topics
As I’m writing the field guide, I’m leading a mock interview in my head.
Remember, this is not a script. It reads very linearly, but it’s really just a tool to prepare to be flexible.
, two interviews a day is reasonable. The schedule is at least partly informed by participant availability, so you may end up with an early morning interview, several hours of free time,
Participant Releases and Non-Disclosure Agreements
• Consent: Being in the study is voluntary, and the participant can stop at any time. • Incentive: The amount
Model release: Images and video will be used without giving the participant any rights of approval. • Non-disclosure: The participant is obligated not to reveal anything about concepts he may see.
BE CREATIVE ABOUT INCENTIVES
You want a simple and direct way to demonstrate your enthusiasm and appreciation.
You should consider the interview itself as a platform and try to organically integrate a larger set of techniques.
By asking, “What is your process for updating your playlists?” we are actually learning the answers to the (unasked) “How do you feel about the process for updating playlists?” and “What are the key steps you can recall in the process for updating playlists?” That information is very important, but it may not be sufficient to really understand the user’s situation.
Participatory design,
There’s a difference between what you want to know and what you ask.
Interviewer Sidestep and turn the question back to them: “Is that important to you?” “What would you expect it to be?”
I urge clients to represent their ideas in lower, rather than higher, fidelity.
lower-fidelity prototypes are best for getting reactions earlier in the process
High fidelity is not an all-encompassing term.
“looks like” versus “works like.”
high fidelity along one dimension but not another.
• Storyboard: An illustration, typically across multiple panels, depicting a scenario.
• Physical mock-up: A representation of a physical product that can be touched, opened, and so on.
storyboards showing the different scenarios
Physical mock-ups
make the conversation about a future product tangible.
Wireframe: A simplified version of an on-screen interface. This could be printed, sketched on paper, or a combination.
• Casual card sort:
a way to prompt a discussion about a large set of items.
Images that resonate:
Laminated image cards are used to provoke individual reactions and uncover hidden associations.
use homework as a way to prime participants about a topic
more introspective about something they may not pay attention to otherwise.
self-documentation (sometimes called journaling or a diary study)
Not only do you have an extensive set of examples to discuss, but you also have a participant who has been thinking about a topic a lot more than she normally does.
beat sheet
From social psychology, we know that even the presence of others will influence behavior,
We aren’t the experts. The people we are interviewing are the experts. We want to gather their stories and opinions, and to hear what they have to say without influencing them.
Use open-ended questions.
Less good: “What are three things
you liked about using the bus?” Good: “Can you tell me about your experience using the bus?”
assign explicit roles
Once You Get On-Site Once you get on-site, you’ll find these different stages: . Crossing the threshold . Restating objectives . Kick-off question . Accept the awkwardness . The tipping point . Reflection and projection . The soft close
Before you arrive, figure out what you are going to say.
social graces matter.
“Before we get started.” Specifics will vary depending on the study, but in general, ethically and legally, the interview shouldn’t start until your participant has signed whatever forms you’ve planned for.
don’t project
Let the participant know what to expect by giving a thumbnail outline of the process:
Engage your participant: “Do you have any questions for us right now?”
Kick-Off Question
“Maybe introduce yourself and tell us about what your job is here?”
Accept the Awkwardness
Be patient and keep asking questions and keep accepting, acknowledging, and appreciating her responses.
The Tipping Point
the participant shifts from giving short answers to telling stories
Reflection and Projection
The Soft Close
After you ask a question, be
silent. This is tricky; you are speaking with someone you’ve never spoken to before.
One way a novice interviewer tries to counteract nervousness is by preemptively filling the silence.
novice interviewer is suggesting possible responses,
After she has given you an answer, continue to be silent. People speak in paragraphs, and they want your permission to go on to the next paragraph.
rest for another beat.
By simply not asking your next question, you can give your interviewee time to flesh out the answer they’ve already given you.
With some participants, it takes me most of the interview to align my pacing with theirs.
Skype effect.
Some people just have different natural rhythms. There’s no magic fix,
signal your lane changes.
acknowledges the most recent answer and points the way toward the next,
be vigilant.
Using silence as a mechanism to elicit participants to talk
three broad categories: setting-the-stage silence, effort silence, and failure silence.
indicate readiness for a shared experience.
Setting-the-stage silence is created partly because silence is considered a more deeply shared experience than talking—a version of that exists in many cultures—and partly showing mutual respect and mutual humility for the other’s expertise.
silence indicates making an effort to help the cause along.
The tones of silence to watch for are silence indicating resistance and silence indicating confusion.
silence has the possibility to enrich mutual comprehension.
successful Japanese silence is a roomy empty space that, created by both parties, helpfully exists to allow communication.
Are you asking the question in a way they can answer?
Questions that gather context and collect details:
• Ask about sequence.
• Ask about quantity.
• Ask for specific examples.
Ask about exceptions.
• Ask for the complete list.
This will require a series of follow-up questions—for example, “What else?”
Ask about relationships.
Ask about organizational structure.
Ask for clarification.
Ask about code words/native language.
Ask about emotional cues.
Ask why.
Probe delicately.
Probe without presuming.
• Explain to an outsider.
• Teach another.
Compare processes.
Compare to others.
Compare across time.
There’s a lot that can happen without verbalization—posture, gestures, breath sounds, eye gaze, facial reactions, and more.
collaborative use of silence
We work in a society that judges us primarily by our own contributions, rather than the way we allow others to make theirs. If the collaborative silence is not
shared value in a group, there can be a real challenge for those who default to listening, not speaking.
Managing the Ebb and Flow of the Interview
your job also includes managing this tree.
Wait patiently until these threads come up again
Jot quick notes on your field guide
so you don’t forget.
Prioritize
be opportunistic
Triage based on what makes the best follow-up, in order to demonstrate listening and further the rapport.
Embracing Your Participant’s Worldview
Use Their Language
Letting go of being right is something to pay attention to in most interviews;
Assume Your Participant Makes Sense
Don’t Presume They Accept Your Worldview
Don’t Enter Lecture Mode
If You Have to Fix Something, Wait Until the End
you simply can’t catch everything by taking notes.
you should be recording your interviews—something
some people find that taking notes helps them filter, synthesize, and ultimately better remember what is being discussed.
maintain eye contact while writing.
When taking notes, you should be descriptive, not interpretive.
If it’s crucial to capture your interpretations, be sure to separate them from your observations, using capitalization or some other visual cue,
Pick a space that is quiet and bright enough to see the color of your respondent’s eyes.
People tend to look best when light comes from the side and slightly in front of them (up to a ° angle).
When setting up your camera, place it in front of your respondent, with the moderator in between it and the light or window
avoid having your participants in front of a window;
When you make the deliberate choice to point and shoot, you are building the story of your participant.
Sketching can be an appropriate medium when you can’t take pictures.
Collect tangible examples from your fieldwork experience—buy an item from the company store, ask for a brochure, save your security pass, or keep the sample printout. These artifacts can go up on the wall in your analysis room,
allow time for debriefing after each interview.
The longer you wait
the less you will remember, and the more jumbled up the different interviews will become.
make sure that someone takes notes
use a debrief worksheet
As soon as possible after an interview, I write a rapid top-of-mind version of the session.
This chapter looks at some of the more common challenges that you will face in the field.
When the Participant Is Reticent
If you conclude that he is indeed uncomfortable, try to identify the cause and make a change
If you aren’t giving your participant enough verbal space to reflect and respond,
slow down and let him talk.
If all else fails, consider asking your participant outright to identify the source of his discomfort.
GETTING THE RIGHT PARTICIPANT AND THE RIGHT CONTEXT
From this interview, it emerged that we all had different ideas of what “sharing” meant.
When the Participant Won’t Stop Talking
Give them space to tell the story they’ve chosen to tell you and then redirect them back to your question.
Your last resort is to interrupt.
frame it appropriately—“Excuse
When You Feel Uncomfortable or Unsafe Unless you are going to a public
or familiar corporate location, don’t conduct interviews on your own.
Pay attention to the difference between unsafe and uncomfortable.
Phone interviews are a fairly common alternative to face-to-face interviews,
Ask participants
During a phone interview, a lack of facial cues makes it a bit harder to adjust your pace and rhythm to the participant. Experiment with giving your participant an extra beat of silence to ensure she feels permitted to speak,
If you use technologies like Skype
Not everyone is fully literate in video conferencing. Consider your audience. You might want to warm up the interview with a discussion of the communication context
When Your Interview Is in a Market Research Facility
It would be a mistake to consider these facilities as neutral third places.
Even if you don’t feel settled in this new environment yourself, you must welcome
them into your space.
When Your Interview Is Very Short
Get them thinking about your topics by emailing them some key questions to think about.
Depending on what you need to do when interviewing professionals, you need to be very specific in your interview request—duration, environment, role, and so on.
Interviewing Multiple Participants
If need be, you can break the interview into separate chunks for each participant individually and for the group together.
using eye contact and specific probes directed at individuals to encourage them to contribute.
spend the first part of the interview understanding the participant’s workflow, objectives, pain points, and so on.
If you aren’t interested in that amount of detail and just want reactions to your prototype, you’re better off doing usability testing, not interviews.
Don’t forget that interviewing is like any skill: the more you practice, the better you get.
Take advantage of brief everyday encounters (say, that loquacious taxi driver) and do a little bit of interviewing, asking questions and follow-up questions.
each interview is also a learning experience.
Seek out opportunities to be interviewed yourself.
Sign up for market research databases or volunteer for grad student studies.
watch someone’s technique. Teach someone else
Check out interviews in the media:
Watch and listen as an interviewer, not just an audience member.
Exchanging these stories is a way of sharing techniques and creates learning opportunities for both the tellers and listeners.
Take an improv class.
meditation can help you be present
It’s not only to learn about people, but also to take the information back to the organization in a way that it can be acted upon.
new products, features, services, designs, and strategies, but also new opportunities for teams to embrace
Working with research data is a combination of analysis,
and synthesis,
Topline is based on early impressions, not formal analysis of data. This is a chance to share stories and initial insights from the fieldwork; to discuss what
jumped out at us and list questions we still have.
I create topline reports in Microsoft Word. A Word document is more formalized than an email but less formal than a
PowerPoint presentation, and this is the balance I’m trying to strike. Ongoing dialogue is usually in email; the final presentation is in PowerPoint. This deliverable is right in the middle.
Each team member should go through his portion of the transcripts quickly, making short
marginal notes on patterns, key quotes, or whatever seems interesting
Discuss each interview briefly, and then create a sticky note that summarizes the key point of that interview.
As you are accumulating stickies, take a few moments to create groupings.
A precise articulation of that point of view, including the implications for business and design, becomes the Presentation of Findings, which is the main research deliverable.
You shouldn’t just be looking for opportunities to do user research yourself; you should be trying to get the company to embrace this overall approach.
The most impact for the least effort comes from your colleagues joining you in the field.
Make your process visible.
Articulate research findings in
ways that are most relevant to your stakeholders.
articulate specifically what the engineers should do,
User research starts to look like design, doesn’t it?
Look for as many possible audiences and venues to share your results.
profile posters, telling an engaging, visual story about an individual customer. The accumulated set of posters in the user research team’s workspace raised awareness of that team’s role.
plenty of face time with the teams that will use your research.
