asking the right questions of your users - andrew muir wood
TRANSCRIPT
Asking the right questions of your usersGetting under the surface of customer needs and behaviour
Andrew Muir Wood@muirwd
Why should I listen to my customers?
How do I go about doing research?
How do I analyse this mountain of data?
Cool poster, how do I actually use it?
Image goes here
–Why should I listen to
my customers?
Asking the right questions
You are (probably) not your customer
Not all data is equal
De-risk business decisions
Idea Prototype Product Growth
Do enough people have this problem I’m trying to solve?
Which of these solutions should I go with? Is my product easy to
use?
Why are people churning?!
What features should I add next?
De-risk business decisions
Idea Prototype Product Growth
Do enough people have this problem I’m trying to solve?
Which of these solutions should I go with? Is my product easy to
use?
Why are people churning?!
What features should I add next?
Back to the beginning
= $$$
Image goes here
–How do I go about doing research?
Asking the right questions
Researching
Planning,Recruiting,
Researching,Analysing,
Taking action.
Planning: decide questions then method
Scary questions
Idea Prototype Product Growth
Do enough people have this problem I’m trying to solve?
Which of these solutions should I go with? Is my product easy to
use?
Why are people churning?!
What features should I add next?
Recruiting: build a pipeline of participants
Research methods: not just surveys and usability
Qualitative
Depth interviewsDiscovery daysDiary studies
Field workCo-creationCard sortingUser testing
Quantitative
NPSBenchmarking
EyetrackingUsability studies (unmoderated)
AnalyticsA/B testing
Online surveys
Nielsen Norman Group
A couple of examples
Your customers are lying to you!
CLUE: Don’t ask if she’d buy your product, ask about the problem
Current Solution: Can you describe the last time you solved X? How?
Frequency: How often do you do X?
Cost: How much did X cost/long did X take/stressful was X?
Context: What happened immediately before/after you last did X?
CHALLENGE: Find out if your mother would buy your product!
Social media listening: what people really think
A beginner’s guide
1. Make lists of target segments on Facebook or Twitter2. Monitor the lists in Tweetdeck/Hootsuite3. Listen for:
a. Engagement with your contentb. Mentions of you or your competitorsc. Trending hashtagsd. People who are particularly engaged
4. Score for sentiment and other traits5. Use this to decide on proposition, content and identify ambassadors
Social media listening
Image goes here
–How do I analyse this
mountain of data?
Asking the right questions
Experience maps: great source of context and structure for your product and brand
Steps to get a video online (back in the day)Harry Brignull
Questions that the user asks along the wayHarry Brignull
Moments of pleasure or pain at each stepHarry Brignull
Add as much detail as you like!
Traits analysis: easy way to identify personas
Position real people on a traits spectrum
Introvert Extrovert
Sedentary Active
Young Old
Look for meaningful clusters
Introvert Extrovert
Sedentary Active
Young Old
Make your personas close to real people
Analysis is quicker and more fun with friends
Image goes here
–Cool poster, how do I
actually use it?
Asking the right questions
Go back to the questions
Idea Prototype Product Growth
Do enough people have this problem I’m trying to solve?
Which of these solutions should I go with? Is my product easy to
use?
Why are people churning?!
What features should I add next?
Experience maps are great for idea generationHarry Brignull
Score benefits in a feature prioritisation matrix
Benefit Cost
Increase revenue
Customer value
Strategic value
Effort (days)
Operational cost Risk Score
Product area Weight 20 20 20 20 20 20 120 Rank Notes
App Widget 4 4 3 3 2 1 20 1
App Gizmo 3 3 2 2 2 2 8 2
Website Thingummy 4 3 4 4 4 1 8 2
Website Kittens 2 3 4 3 2 2 8 2
API More endpoints 3 3 3 2 3 2 8 2
API So many endpoints 3 4 5 5 2 4 4 6
Drone Lasers 2 2 2 3 1 1 4 6
Chatbot Scottish 2 2 2 4 1 3 -8 8
Align content strategy with user journey
Hooked on research? Here’s where you can find out more:
https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/user-research
http://itsourresear.ch/
http://momtestbook.com/
https://www.nngroup.com/topic/research-methods/
Further reading