Download - Interviewing Users: Spinning Data Into Gold
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Introduction
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Introduction 9:00 – 9:10
Best Practices Overview 9:10 – 10:00
Methods 10:00 – 10:30
Break 10:30 – 10:45
Interviewing 10:45 – 11:30
Interviewing Exercise 11:30 – 12:15
Today
Lunch!Observation Exercise 1:15 – 2:00
Synthesis 2:00 – 2:45
Break 2:45 – 3:00
Ideation 3:00 – 4:00
Share 4:00 – 4:30
Q&A + Wrap-up 4:30 – 5:00
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What to make or do
Refine & prototype
Launch
Iterate & improve
Use fieldwork throughout the development cycle
Take a fresh look at people Use existing ideas
as hypotheses
Explore new ideas
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Development
Synthesis
Ideation
Fieldwork
Synthesis & ideation process
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Cultural data from fieldwork
Case study: iPod accessories
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Click to edit Master title styleCase study: iPod accessories
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Research Project – Best Practices Overview
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Click to edit Master title styleWhat do I mean by “research?”
EthnographyEthnographic interviews Video ethnographyDepth-interviewsContextual researchHome visitsSite visitsExperience modelingDesign researchUser researchUser-centered designOne-on-onesCamera studies User safaris
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Click to edit Master title styleWhat do I mean by “research?”
EthnographyEthnographic interviews Video ethnographyDepth-interviewsContextual researchHome visitsSite visitsExperience modelingDesign researchUser researchUser-centered designOne-on-onesCamera studies User safaris
What-e
ver!
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Click to edit Master title styleBeyond our terminology, what are we doing?
Examine people in their own context• What are they doing?• What does it mean?
Infer (interpret/synthesize/etc.)• Find the connections• The researcher is the “apparatus”
Apply to business or design problems• Use products, services, packaging, design to tell the right story• More possible types of solutions than we started out with
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Click to edit Master title styleIdentifying the problem
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Click to edit Master title styleThe Business Question
What new products and services can you offer to help partners increase social network stickiness (and thus revenues)?
What entertainment activities should you support to tap into a growing middle-class in China?
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Click to edit Master title styleThe Research Question
What are the motivations, successes, and frustrations for current and prospective users of our partners’ social media sites?
How is family life changing in middle-class China? What are the critical digital and analog technologies that are being embraced?
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Click to edit Master title stylePain points: default research/business question?!
While we always uncover so-called pain points, the bigger opportunity may come from understanding why – how did we get here?
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Click to edit Master title styleIt may not really be that painful
Satisficing (coined by Herbert Simon in 1956) refers to our acceptance of good-enough solutions
These can drive engineers and designers crazy…but the real problem isn’t always what it appears to be
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Click to edit Master title styleFinding the right participants (aka recruiting)
Often an afterthought in project planning• But the right customers are crucial to get the right insights• This takes time to plan and to execute
Pointless interviews waste time and challenge the credibility of the work• Person doesn’t really want to talk to you• They don’t have the desired relationship with the product/brand
Epic FAILS will happen anyway
Identify• What type of people you want to find (criteria, screener)• How you will find those people
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Click to edit Master title styleRecruiting criteria: Relationship to category
What is their relationship to the product/service/brand/activity?
• Typical user• Non-user• Extreme user• Peripheral user• Expert user• Subject-matter expert• Wannabe user• Should-be user• Future user• Past user• Hater• Loyal to competitor
Triangulate through multiple perspectives
By creating contrast, you reveal key influencing factors that you wouldn’t otherwise see
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Click to edit Master title styleRecruiting criteria: Type of user
There may be more – or different – “users”
Think about the whole system: the chooser, the influencer, the user, and anyone who is impacted by those roles
Challenge assumptions about who the organization is implicitly/explicitly designing for
• Is that everyone?• Do they even exist?
Surface a broader sense – even prior to research – about who is affected by the product and who is being designed for
Is your “typical customer” real or aspirational?
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Click to edit Master title styleRecruiting criteria: Demographics
Gender
Age
Life stage/lifestyle• Married• Stage of family• Retirement• Not in the middle of a major life-change
(unless that’s of interest)
Dwelling• Suburban/urban/rural• Apartment/living alone/
roommates/single family home
Race• Reflect the population• Reflect the user base
Occupation• From outside the industries in question
Income• Can afford the product in question
Demographic factors are typically secondary when defining the sample
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Click to edit Master title styleThe screener
Screeners are very formal, linear documents• Typically used by market research
recruiting agencies
Screeners have two purposes…• Does the person fits your criteria?• Convince them to participate
…and three main sections• Introduction• Checking off criteria• Invitation to participate
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Click to edit Master title styleRecruiting criteria: The softer side
Whatever their relationship with the product/brand/service, you want the person to be engaged, have a point of view, care about the thing, and be articulate
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Click to edit Master title styleCreative recruiting
Outside of the traditional method of working with a recruiting agency, there are other approaches• Friends and family/Social networks• Snowball recruiting (participants find more participants)• Craigslist• Intercepts• Etc.
Pros and cons• Cheap but time-consuming• Quick but harder to control and manage• Likely to find “pure” participants but they might be too close to you
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Click to edit Master title styleIncentive
Enthusiastic thank-you rather than compensation• Recruiter will advise on best amount, depending on
what you are asking for• For a fee, they will handle sending a check, but I prefer
the immediate gratification of an envelope of cash• Include a thank-you note and even swag
In B2B settings, be creative about who and how to incent
• You may negotiate this on a per-site basis
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Click to edit Master title styleThe interview guide (or field guide)
A detailed plan of what will happen in the interview• Questions, timing, activities, tasks, logistics, etc.
Transforms questions-we-want-answers-to into questions-we-will-ask
Share with team to align on issues of concern• Especially with multiple teams in the field
Helps you previsualize the flow of the session• Include questions as well as other methods that you’ll use
Prepping an interview guide means that you may not need to use the interview guide
• This is counter-intuitive
• It does come in handy during freeze-up moments – scan it over to see what else you want to cover
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Click to edit Master title styleFour sections to the field guide
1. Introduction and Participant Background• Logistics, timing, objectives
2. The Main Body• Subsections for each area you plan to explore (e.g., configuration,
learning about new features, etc.)
3. Projection/Dream Questions• Be audacious and ask about predictions for the future or ideal
experiences
4. Wrap Up• Logistics, ask about anything they want to tell you that you didn’t ask
about
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Click to edit Master title styleMinimalist field guide
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Click to edit Master title styleDetailed field guide
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Click to edit Master title styleInclude other methods
Tasks “Can you draw me a map of your computer network?”
Participation “Can you show me how I should make a Whopper?”
Demonstration“Show us how you update your playlists.”
Ask for a demonstration of playlist updating
Role-playing
“I’ll be the customer and you be the receptionist, and you show me how they should respond.”
Role play the ideal interaction between customer and receptionist
Observations Look in server room, access key locker, and other secure locations
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Click to edit Master title styleDocumentation: photos
Plan to take lots of photos
They will reveal things you don’t remember noticing
Essential for storytelling
Make sure you have permission before you start snapping
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Click to edit Master title styleDocumentation: audio, video, notes
Essential to capture exactly what is said
Difficult (impossible) to maintain eye contact, manage interview, and write down everything
• Potentially a role for a second interviewer
Taking notes – not as the definitive record – can help you process, notice, think about follow-ups, etc.
• I strongly recommend privileging being in-the-moment (e.g., eye contact, listening) over trying to capture everything yourself
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Click to edit Master title styleA release is a good idea
It clarifies the rights of the interviewee and your organization • Consent – participation is voluntary• Incentive – what the participant gets but they are not an employee• Model release – how images and video will be used• Non-disclosure – in case you disclose anything in-progress
These are legal documents• Will your legal department help you prepare it?• Can you influence them to create consumer-friendly, light-weight versions• Give participants their own copy at the outset of the interview
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Methods
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Click to edit Master title styleAsk people how they would solve a problem
Participatory designDoesn’t mean we implement the requested solution literally
“I wish it had a handle”
Many ways to solve the underlying need (“I need to move it around”)
Designers work with this data to generate alternatives
Engage people in the non-literal through games and role-playing
Uncover underlying principles and explore areas of opportunity that don’t yet exist
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Click to edit Master title styleShow people a solution
Consider the difference between testing and exploring
Avoid “Do you like this?”
Don’t show your best guess at a solution; instead identify provocative examples to surface hidden desires and expectations
Make sure you are asking the right questions
What does this solution enable? What problems does it solve?
Especially for new products, needed before getting into specifics of your implementation
Image from Roberto and Worth1000.com
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Click to edit Master title styleUse a range of methods
Logging Before the interview, participant takes regular digital photos or fills out a booklet documenting their activities
Homework
Before the interview, participant saves up all their junk mail for two weeks to prompt our discussion
Workbook to capture beliefs, priorities, etc.
StimuliIn the interview, review wireframes, prototypes, simulations, storyboards
Exercises
What’s in your wallet? What’s in your fridge?
Sketch your idealized solution
Draw a map of where you listen to music; draw a map that associates emotional and subjective factors
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Click to edit Master title styleWorkbook: Instructions
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Click to edit Master title styleWorkbook: Question and answer
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Click to edit Master title styleWorkbook: Text stimuli
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Click to edit Master title styleWorkbook: Visual stimuli
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Click to edit Master title styleWorkbook: Responses
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Click to edit Master title styleMapping
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Click to edit Master title styleStoryboards
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Click to edit Master title styleMockups
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Click to edit Master title stylePrototypes
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Click to edit Master title styleCasual Card Sort
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Click to edit Master title styleMethods can be a playground
We choose, mash-up, or create methods based on the problem, project constraints, and a desire to experiment• Build up a library of approaches and artifacts
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Click to edit Master title styleBreak!
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Interviewing
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Click to edit Master title stylePrinciples inform tactics
I don't skate to where the puck is, I skate to where the puck is going to be – Wayne Gretzky
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Click to edit Master title styleFieldwork principles
Check your worldview at the door
Embrace how other people see the world
Build rapport
Listen
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Click to edit Master title styleCheck your worldview at the door
Before you start doing interviews, do a team-wide brain dump of all your assumptions and expectations• Get closely-held beliefs out of your heads• You needn’t go back to verify your assumptions;
goal is to make assumptions explicit
Make the interview about the interview• As a transitional ritual, agree explicitly that you are
going to Learn about Paul rather than Identify NextGen Opportunities for Roadmap
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Click to edit Master title styleEmbrace how other people see the world
Go to where your users are rather than asking them to come to you
Nip distractions in the bud• Eat!• Leave plenty of time so you aren’t rushed when you arrive• Find a bathroom beforehand
Be ready to ask questions you (think you) know the answers to• Think about: “When are your taxes due?”• What do you know? What are you afraid they’ll say? What might you
learn?
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Click to edit Master title styleBuild rapport
Be selective about social graces• Just enough small talk• Accept what you’re offered
Be selective about talking about yourself• Reveal personal information to give them permission to share• Otherwise, think “OMG! Me too!” without saying it
Work towards the tipping point• From question-answer to question-story• You won’t know when it’s coming; be patient
Acknowledge the interview as something…unusual• “What I want to learn today…” over friendly chat
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Click to edit Master title styleListen
You can demonstrate that you are listening by asking questions!
• Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up• “Earlier, you told us that…”• “I want to go back to something else you said…”
Signal your transitions: “Great, now I’d like to move onto a totally different topic”
This level of listening is not how we normally talk to each other
• Remember that you are interviewing, not having a conversation• This is really hard
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Click to edit Master title styleListening body language
Yes! Not so much.
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Click to edit Master title styleSilence defeats awkwardness
After you ask your question, be silent
• Don’t put the answers in the question
After they’ve answered you, be silent
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Click to edit Master title styleUse natural language
Talk like your subject talks!
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Click to edit Master title styleDon’t make questions pass/fail (1/2)
(cont’d)
Client: So the concept of transferring, burning, and syncing, can you talk a little about those three concepts? So transfer, burn, and sync. Just do you understand the difference?
Interviewee: Transfer, burn, sync. Burn is when I’m actually putting it onto some kind of disc.
Okay…
Transferring is I guess when I transfer the files from one place to the other.
Mm-hmm…
Whether it’s to a device or to a different drive or whatever or into the program I guess. And syncing, well, I know the phone always comes up and says it’s syncing, when it’s syncing up to the files or syncing up to the computer or stuff like that. That’s the only time I think I’ve ever really heard that.
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Click to edit Master title styleDon’t make questions pass/fail (2/2)
Client: So the only other question I have left in this area is: Would you expect to manually decide what music goes on your devices or would you rather that the machine does it for you?
Interviewee: Decide what I want on my…?
Let’s say your library is here on this machine, and you have a device, would you want it to put as much as it could put on from the library from the device when it’s connected to your computer?
If I could hold it… if the device itself could actually hold all the files, I would love that, if it automatically…
Just knew.
No, no, don’t worry about it!
Just knew that it wasn’t on there, the same thing when…what do you call it - when I have to go into the program and actually have it… downl…uhh, now I’m confused in what I should call it.
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Click to edit Master title styleDon’t presume they accept your world view
Client: So, really interesting the sort of things that you as old Derek used to value, such as efficiency of time, and some of those things have now influenced the new Derek.
Derek: Right.
Steve: Maybe that sort of begs a larger question…We’ve offered you this idea of old versus new you, but how do you think about this transition?
Derek: Yeah, I don’t really see it.
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Click to edit Master title styleIf you want to fix something, wait until the end
Frustrating to watch users struggle with your product
• Remember, you are there to learn from them
You will lose the interview if you start taking their questions
When it’s time to go, show or tell them only what will help them
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Click to edit Master title styleFind your personal style
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
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Click to edit Master title styleQuestions to gather context and collect details
Sequence“Describe a typical workday. What do you do when you first
sit down at your station?…Then what do you do next?”
Quantity “How many files would you delete when that happens?”
Specific examples“What is the last movie that you streamed?” – Compare this
to “What movies do you stream?”
Complete list“What are all the different apps you have installed on your
smartphone?” – Will require follow up
Relationships“How do you work with new vendors?” – General question is
appropriate when you don’t even know enough to ask a specific question
Organizational structure
“Who does that department report to?”
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Click to edit Master title styleQuestions to probe on what’s unsaid
Clarification“When you refer to ‘that’ you are talking about the newest
server, right?”
Code words/native language
“Why do you call it the ‘Batcave?’”
Emotional cues “Why do you laugh when you mention ‘Best Buy?’”
Why“I’ve tried to get my boss to adopt this format, but she just
won’t do it…” “Why do you think she hasn’t?”
Probe delicately“You mentioned a difficult situation that changed your usage.
Can you tell us what that situation was?”
Probe without presuming
“Some people have very negative feelings about Twitter, while others don’t. What is your take?”
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Click to edit Master title styleQuestions to probe on what’s unsaid
Explain to an outsider“Let’s say that I’ve just arrived here from another decade,
how would you explain to me the difference between smartphones and tablets?”
Teach another“If you had to ask your daughter to operate your system, how
would you explain it to her?”
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Click to edit Master title styleQuestions to uncover mental models
Compare processes“What’s the difference between sending your response by
fax, mail or email?”
Compare to others “Do the other coaches also do it that way?”
Compare across time
“How have your family photo activities changed in the past five years? How do you think they will be different five years from now?” – Not intended to capture an accurate prediction
but break free from what exists now
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Click to edit Master title styleWhy so many types of questions?
Real interviews aren’t as simple as asking a question, getting an answer, and then moving onto the next question in your list.
You are unlikely to get to the actual answer without asking a few different questions a few different ways.
You need a range of tools and techniques. And you need to feel when you haven’t got to the real answer yet so you can keep going
.
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Click to edit Master title stylePrepare for exploding questions
Let’s find out what service
this is?!
I don’t understand her
financial model…
Why does she expect that it would be the
same?
Coping techniques
• Wait until these issues come up organically, without you having to ask
• Make notes on your field guide about what you want to loop back to so you don’t forget
• Triage based on what’s most pressing for your topic
• Triage based on what makes the best follow-up, to demonstrate listening
Well, my cousin never tells me when she has
an updated bank balance so I figured I
would handle it myself. That’s why I signed up for the PayPal service,
I think it’s them but maybe not.
I decided I had to spend the money I had
from last month in order to save month’s
money and this service was going to help me do that. Even if it’s not
the same password that my cousin would
be using
Okay.
Why does this matter?
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Click to edit Master title styleExploding questions can lead to a flow state
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Click to edit Master title styleManaging others in the field
We lead a thirty-minute training session for everyone who will join us in the field
• Field teams are ideally 2, at most 3
Ensure one person leads the interview and clarify the role of the “second interviewer”
• They should ask questions, but stay in the “chapter” that we’re in
During our debriefs, we offer feedback and coaching about the process, if possible
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Click to edit Master title styleGetting better at interviewing
Practice with hallway or other serendipitous micro-interviews
Write surveys and participant screeners to practice crafting questions out of the moment
How do you get to Carnegie
Hall?
Practice, man,
practice!
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Click to edit Master title styleParticipant screeners as asking practice
A good way to practice both framing a question and the empathic exercise of thinking through the respondent’s user experience with that question
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Click to edit Master title styleWrite and take surveys
Develop your own critical eye (and interviewer’s voice) by looking for bad examples and identifying just what’s wrong with them
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Click to edit Master title styleWe learn from mistakes and mishaps
Collect and share war stories with other interviewers
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Click to edit Master title styleInterviewing Exercise
Get in groups of 3
You are in a startup looking for opportunities in…1. Music – purpose/role/interests, technology, devices
2. Food, groceries, meals, nutrition
3. News – media, information, sources, purpose
Review sample interview guides• Imagine the flow• Background, depth, reflection
Three rounds of interviews, 10-12 minutes each • One interviewer, one interviewee, one observer• Each person plays each role once• Stay in the exercise!
Group debrief
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Click to edit Master title styleGiveaway #1
Everyone gets a license for TechSmith’s screen capture tool Snagit
• Expect it by email in a couple of weeks
Everyone gets 3 tests from UserTesting.com• Use code uxworkshop; expires in 2 weeks
Draw• 2 licenses for TechSmith’s Camtasia (Mac/PC)• 1 license for Techsmith’s Morae (PC)
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Click to edit Master title styleLunch
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Introduction 9:00 – 9:10
Best Practices Overview 9:10 – 10:00
Methods 10:00 – 10:30
Break 10:30 – 10:45
Interviewing 10:45 – 11:30
Interviewing Exercise 11:30 – 12:15
(The rest of) today
Lunch!Observation Exercise 1:15 – 2:00
Synthesis 2:00 – 2:45
Break 2:45 – 3:00
Ideation 3:00 – 4:00
Share 4:00 – 4:30
Q&A + Wrap-up 4:30 – 5:00
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Homework/Observation Exercise
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Click to edit Master title styleHomework Check-in
Your mission: Dedicate at least half an hour to walking around and observing people in your neighborhood
Props to Dylan, Caroline, and David!
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Click to edit Master title styleHomework Check-in
Who was able to do the assignment?
Was this anyone’s first experience doing observational fieldwork?
Is there anyone who has not done user or observational research in the field?
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Click to edit Master title styleObserving
Notice what… people, places
Notice how… processes, sequences, interactions
Suspend your point of view
Avoid conclusions
Allow confusion
Do it “out loud” Steve, practicing his “noticing.” You can tell because he looks like he may be a little confused.
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You’re observing people within their culture. Notice how cultural artifacts reflect and define the environment; and reveal what is “normal”
Normal isn’t “right or wrong” – it’s the set of background rules that define much of what people choose or ignoreMediaProductsAdvertisementsStreet CultureTrends/ Fads
Cultural context
What are they selling?
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Click to edit Master title styleCultural context
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Click to edit Master title styleCultural context
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Click to edit Master title styleCultural context
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Your mission: Imagine you are working on a project for Gentrific8, looking for ideas to redevelop parts Seattle around downtown and the Central Library.
Form groups of 2 – 3. Mix it up• Wander and observe people,
interactions and environments• Do it out loud!• Capture (photos, notes)
• What, who, where, when?• Why, how?
This is not a design audit of signage or merchandise displays
Exercise: Explore!
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Click to edit Master title styleNeighborhood observations: Noe Valley, San Fran
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Click to edit Master title styleNeighborhood observations: Noe Valley, San Fran
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Click to edit Master title styleNeighborhood observations: Montara, California
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Be back by 2:25!
Exercise: Explore!
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Synthesis: From data to insights
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Detailed solutions
SolutionsStrategies
Insights Opportunities
Analysis
Synthesis
Ideation
Synthesis & ideation process
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Fieldwork
Development
Synthesis
Ideation
Why a process?
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Click to edit Master title styleAvoid jumping to conclusions
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Click to edit Master title styleDTDT: Analysis vs. Synthesis
AnalysisBreak large piece(s) into smaller ones in order to make sensee.g., interviews, transcripts into anecdotes, stories
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Click to edit Master title styleDTDT: Analysis vs. Synthesis
Synthesis
Combining multiple pieces into something new e.g., developing themes, implications, opportunities
AnalysisBreak large piece(s) into smaller ones in order to make sensee.g., interviews, transcripts into anecdotes, stories
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Click to edit Master title styleDTDT: Analysis vs. Synthesis
Synthesis
Combining multiple pieces into something new e.g., developing themes, implications, opportunities
AnalysisBreak large piece(s) into smaller ones in order to make sensee.g., interviews, transcripts into anecdotes, stories
The process gradually moves from one to the other
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Click to edit Master title styleAnalthesis????
Synthesis
Combining multiple pieces into something new e.g., developing themes, implications, opportunities
AnalysisBreak large piece(s) into smaller ones in order to make sensee.g., interviews, transcripts into anecdotes, stories
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Sense-making through an iterative process of refining gathered data
Early, Informal data in your head
First, process the experience you had collecting data• Refer to debriefs and conversations• Articulate and identify themes• Outcome: Topline Report
Process-based, Formal heavy lifting
Then, process the data itself• Individual and group analysis• Pattern-identification, clustering,
models, frameworks• Outcome: Opportunities
More narratively, what is synthesis?
Review, Refine, Rinse, Repeat
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Synthesis naturally begins in the field• Resist meaning (for now)• Focus on observations• Get the detail
Create time to talk after each fieldwork experience• Worksheet to facilitate the
debrief
Write up real-time summaries for the team, ASAP
In-field debriefing
Fieldwork highlights captured in the wild.
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After fieldwork, collate reflections and quickly externalize a starter set of 5 to 10 thematic areas based on
•Pre-identified areas of inquiry•Refer to debriefs and conversations from the field
•New patterns that we observed
Identify interesting areas; acknowledge that you don’t understand details yet, identify questions
Outcome: Topline Report
All right researchers… what did you see?
Early, informal synthesis (data in your head)
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This sheds light on what excites the team and the stakeholders and brings focus to the next stage of synthesis
The Topline Report
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Go back through your raw data very closely to move beyond the Topline Report
Individually (heads-down) and collaboratively (heads-up) develop clusters, identify patterns, collate and refine findings
• Process maps, eco-systems• Frameworks, models• Design implications
i.e.: What did other public announcements in the study look like? What are the layers of information and cultural context? What form factors are favored? Why?
Process-based, formal synthesis (heavy lifting)
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Heads down!• Video• Photos, field artifacts• Transcripts
• DV→MP3→FTP→.docx• We use Chromolume
Transcript analysis• Make marginal notes on
patterns, quotes, or what seems interesting
• Ask yourself questions; give labels; propose solutions
• Don’t worry about implications, be descriptive and reactive
Individual analysis (not today…)
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If you can’t get transcripts, watch video/listen to audio (even sped-up) and in near real-time jot down the rough narrative of the session
• When you make an observation in your own voice, do something typographic to call it out (ALL CAPS, highlight, etc.)
Individual analysis (not today…)
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Heads up!
Present each interview (etc.) as a case study. Introduce each, and pick out the provocative highlights.
Voice and document reactions, a-has, support and questions
• Clustering with stickies• White-board notes
Develop a new shared point-of-view, beyond “findings”
Collaborative analysis
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Easy to scan for patterns and relationships
Play with data by rearranging individual elements
Lo-fi way to makes data tangible, visible, and sharable
Sticky work
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As you are telling stories, quickly get the key points (notes, themes, observations, quotes) up• Code with the source (interview
name, etc.)
Separate what was observed from what you think it means
Write big and try to code visually (e.g. colored dots, colored post-its, symbols)
Sticky work
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Group stuff
Be opportunistic, using whatever makes sense at first• You may want to re-use your topline
headings or you may want to be fresh • Initial groupings may be “All things
related to shopping” or “what people are doing” or “what people are feeling” or “pain points”
Sticky work
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Click to edit Master title styleSticky work
Re-group stuff
Now, go back and re-group at a higher level• What it means• What people are trying to accomplish
(i.e., needs/motivations/goals)
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Name your groups
These themes are the points of view you will carry forward• Individual stickies are
supporting evidence you can return to
Sticky work
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Click to edit Master title stylePlay with possible models and frameworks
The 2 x 2
Relationship to other data
Timeline
Frequency
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Spreadsheet analysis enables immersive refinement of data
Play with data by generating alternate views of the dataset• Rewrite each sticky in a cell (adding commentary, explanation, context, quote)• Processing each entry allows further synthesis and thought
More individual analysis
Tag each comment with person, segment, market etc. to allow you to manipulate data
Categories of columns will vary by project
Comment comes from rewritten sticky
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Uncover patterns through additional layers of keywords• Prioritize and better understand themes and relationships• Search for quotes and evidence as you transition to writing presentation• Go back to your data in search of more insights or further inspiration
More individual analysis
Spreadsheet tools let you see data in different ways
Use themes from sticky work and/or presentation sections to reveal relationships and shore up shaky thinking
Coding entries with keywords builds a taxonomy for future reference
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Keep the human touch in communication
Allow people to move seamlessly between places
Allow people to integrate seamlessly across different devices and systems
Opportunities are not • A reporting of “interesting findings” • A list of solutions
Opportunities are• Change we can envision based
on what we heard and observed• About people• In the context of, but reframing the
business questions• Generative, inviting many
solutions
Developing opportunities
What should we do?
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Topline
Keep the human touch in communication
Allow people to move seamlessly between places
Allow people to integrate seamlessly across different devices and systems
Summary of analthesis activities
Externalize the data in your head
Opportunities
Collaborative Analysis
Individual Analysis
Individual Analysis
The heavy lifting Play with individual data elements
Play with the entire data set
Determine generative directions
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Get in groups of 4
Quickly review what happened (today and from your homework) and what you saw. Collate reflections. Resist the urge to move too far towards conclusions• Don’t refer to notes or photos yet• Keep your own experiences, existing
hypotheses, cultural clichés, etc. in the background
Develop 3 - 5 themes as a “Topline Report” sketching out the big takeaways, leading into further synthesis• Don’t fuss over exact wording
Exercise: Develop a topline (7 minutes)
All right researchers… what did you see?
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Evolve your “Topline Report;” flesh out and enrich themes• Write your themes and put them up
• Leave space for new ones• Now (!) tell stories from the field (from
your neighborhood and today), using photos, notes and memory
Rethink the relationships between the themes, pick your strongest themes and write a sentence with a point of view• Go from “Graffiti everywhere” and “Teen
gangs hanging out” to “Public spaces in the neighborhood are used to communicate identity and belongingness”
Exercise: Develop findings (7 minutes)
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Build on your findings• Start each opportunity with a verb
Opportunities are not • A reporting of “interesting findings” • A list of solutions
Opportunities are• Change we can envision based on what
we heard and observe• About people• In the context of but reframing the
business questions• Generative, inviting many solutions
Exercise: Identify opportunities (7 minutes)
What should we do?
Keep the human touch in communication
Allow people to move seamlessly between places
Allow people to integrate seamlessly across different devices and systems
What should we do?
Keep the human touch in communication
Allow people to move seamlessly between places
Allow people to integrate seamlessly across different devices and systems
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Click to edit Master title styleBreak!
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Ideation: From insights to solutions
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A simple step moves you from Opportunities to Ideation Questions, reframing them into actionable language
How can we
Ideate!
keep the human touch in communication
allow people to move seamlessly between places
allow people to integrate seamlessly across different devices and systems
How can we
How can we
Ideation questions
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Solutions exist across many different business areas
Functionality
Visual design
Marketing
Architecture
Public Services
Partnerships
Events
Software
Form factor
Packaging
Policy
Retail design
Even if you are unlikely to impact certain business areas, it’s crucial that you set that constraint aside for ideation
Scope of solutions
How many business and civic areas to impact can you spot in this picture?
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Responses to any ideation question can lead in different strategic directions
Finding: Students have to smoke outside, but they get cold and wet
Opportunity: Improve the experience of students who smoke
Ideation Question: How can we improve the experience of students who smoke?
Developing strategies
Create a protected environment for smoking
Support underlying needs and behavior by embracing the finding
Eliminate smoking
Question needs and behavior, seek change by challenging the finding
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Finding: Students have to smoke outside, but they get cold and wet
Opportunity: Improve the experience of students who smoke
Ideation Question: How can we improve the experience of students who smoke?
Strategies
Solutions
Strategies can inspire solutions
Create a protected environment for smoking
FacilitiesBuild a pavilion
AdminAllocate interior room
PartnersAlign with nearby cafe
Eliminate smoking
OnlineSmoking cessation games
AdminBan smoking
PartnersStop smoking coaches
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Finding: Students have to smoke outside, but they get cold and wet
Opportunity: Improve the experience of students who smoke
Ideation Question: How can we improve the experience of students who smoke?
Solutions can suggest strategies
Create a protected environment for smoking
Eliminate smoking
AdminAllocate interior room
AdminBan smoking
Strategies
Solutions
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This is a collective, out-loud activity! Talk, listen, build on each other’s ideas• Don’t worry about a “bad” idea… it
may lead to a “good” idea
Don’t correct; generate alternatives• “Yes, and…”
This is a visual activity! Sketch, draw…
• Quantity over quality; go quickly
Individual ideas matter less than what the collective produces overall
How can a sour lemon help keep things working smoothly?
Collaborative generation
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Click to edit Master title styleStuck?
Come up with bad ideas• Immoral• Dangerous• Bad for business
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Click to edit Master title styleDon’t forget your second wind
Time
Pace of idea generation
Obvious but necessary, problem-solving, need-filling, low-hanging fruit
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Click to edit Master title styleDon’t forget your second wind
Time
Pace of idea generation
Obvious but necessary, problem-solving, need-filling, low-hanging fruit
Wacky, transgressive, innovative, breakthrough, weird
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Questions Business Areas Ideation and Sharing 2 minutes 3 minutes 40 minutes 30 minutes
How can we
Ideate!
keep the human touch in communication
allow people to move seamlessly between places
allow people to integrate seamlessly across different devices and systems
How can we
How can we
Summary of ideation exercises
Shift to “How can we…?”
Figure out where we can play
Remember, “Yes, and…”
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Apply How can we…? to each of your Opportunities
How can we
Ideate!
keep the human touch in communication
allow people to move seamlessly between places
allow people to integrate seamlessly across different devices and systems
How can we
How can we
Exercise: Ideation questions (2 minutes)
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Let’s collectively list possible business areas to design for• Think about whatever Gentrific8 could do
or affect
Use this list as a starting pointFunctionality
Visual design
Marketing
Architecture
Public Services
Partnerships
Events
Software
Form factor
Packaging
Policy
Retail design
Incentives
Exercise: Business areas (3 minutes)
How many business and civic areas to impact can you spot in this picture?
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Use your ideation questions to generate strategies and solutions
• Out loud• Visual• Collaborative
Consider the range of possible business areas
Bounce back and forth between generating strategies and solutions
Most ideas will not turn out to be winners; the goal is to practice connecting research data to solutions
Exercise: Ideation (40 minutes)
Apply lemon as needed.
Don’t forget your second wind
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Rapidly align on your team’s best ideas and message
Choose a messenger
Exercise: Prepare to share (2 minutes)
The wise team will choose a bold, expressive spokesperson
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Click to edit Master title styleExercise: Pitch it back!
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Click to edit Master title stylePrioritization
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Click to edit Master title styleBig group voting
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Click to edit Master title styleSmall group ranking…and reconciliation
Color indicates voting winner Ranking factors may even include how clear the idea is
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Wrap Up
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Development
Synthesis
Ideation
How experts use frameworks
Fieldwork
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Who do you want to talk
to?
What do you want to do with them?
Do something
with the data!
Typical timelines
Screening criteria,
recruiting
Methodology, field guide,
stimuli
Analysis, synthesis, design
Fieldwork
Interviews, self-reporting, debriefs
2-3 weeks 2-3 weeks 2-3 weeks
When working in tighter timeframes, consider where you want to cut back. Be mindful of the tradeoffs!
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Who do you want to talk
to?
What do you want to do with them?
Do something
with the data!
Going rogue
Who can you get? Co-workers, intercepts on the street or in the
mall, etc.
Wide-eyed observation,
winging itDebrief
Fieldwork
Small sample, massively
parallel data gathering
1 day?! 1 day?! 2 days?!!
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A book by Steve Portigal
The Art and Craft of User Research Interviewinghttp://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/user-interviews/
Coming in 2012!
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One new thing I
learned today is…
I’ve got a tip (that you
didn’t cover) that works
well for me…Yeah, I’ve
got a question for ya…
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Click to edit Master title styleBrought to you by
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Click to edit Master title styleGiveaway #2
Draw• 8 Rosenfeld Media titles• Steve Krug’s Rocket Surgery
Made Easy• UserTesting t-shirt(s) etc.
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Portigal Consultingwww.portigal.com
Thank you!