How to get more than opinions: UX tips for customer development
1. How to get more than opinions
Interview techniques and advice
Johanna Kollmann - @johannakoll
Lean Startup Machine London, 19 January 2013
Photo by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center http://www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/5038531149/
2. UX helps you to get out of the building
Photo by Bottleleaf http://www.flickr.com/photos/bottleleaf/2258627441/
3. (Some) research methods (yeah we have a lot)
Quantitative Qualitative
Surveys Contextual inquiry
Generative Interviews Mental models
Interviews
Diary studies
Automated card sort Usability testing
Surveys Moderated card sort
Evaluative Automated studies Wizard of Oz
Analytics
A/B Testing
Multi-variant testing
Adapted from figures by Janice Fraser, Nate Bolt, Christian Rohrer
5. Plan who to talk to where about what and why
Photo by angelamaphone http://www.flickr.com/photos/angelamaphone/2663422833//
6. What topics shall the interview cover?
Dieting
Buying food
Exercise
Preparing food
Eating out
Busy lifestyle
Struggles
7. Prompts rather than set questions
Day-in-a-life (today, yesterday)
Decide what to eat
Last time on a diet
How active (want vs. do)
Preparing food for oneself
Preparing food for family/friends
8. Have a ‘softball question’ ready
Please tell me a little bit about your
cooking this week.
Could you tell me about the last
dish you prepared yourself?
11. Ask open questions – don’t lead
YAY NAY
• Who • Did
• What • Have
• When • Are
• Where • Were
• Why • Will
• How
Were you trying to do A or B?
What were you trying to do?
12. Some great all-purpose questions
• Has there ever been a time when you had x experience?
• Could you tell me about that?
• What was great about that?
• What was awful about that?
• Why did you do that?
• And then, what happened?
• If you had a magic wand, what would you make the situation be like?
By Janice Fraser
13. How to keep people talking
What do you mean by…
Tell me more…
What else can you tell me
about…
Can you tell me the
Help me understand better
story about that?
14. Echoing and rephrasing
This is confusing...
Confusing...
Yes, confusing. I wasn't sure whether...
Example from ‘Storytelling for User Experience’ by Whitney Quesenbery & Kevin Brooks
15. Do’s and don’ts
Photo by Hilde Skjølberg http://www.flickr.com/photos/hebe/3004800079/
16. Do
Be the learner, not the expert
Ask naïve questions
Ask for specific stories
Allow people time to think
Listen!
Take notes or record
Take photos or collect artefacts
Photo by Tomas Hellberg http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomhe/35312882/
17. Don’t
Be an interrogator
Ask questions that sound like blame, or argumentative
Ask for solutions
Try to solve problems during the interview
Ask what features people want
Ask people to imagine theoretical situations
Photo by G Meyer http://www.flickr.com/photos/kainet/144703613/
20. Photos taken at DesignJam London events by Rachel Winch and falkowata
21. Have fun!
Photo by Ed Stevenson http://www.flickr.com/photos/estevenson/2641282945/
22. Resources
Notes from my Leancamp session on this topic http://johannakoll.posterous.com/ux-research-tips-
for-customer-development-not
Mental Models by Indi Young
Storytelling for User Experience by Whitney Quesenbery & Kevin Brooks
Remote Research by Nate Bolt & Tony Tulathimutte
Undercover User Experience by Cennydd Bowles
Designing for the Digital Age by Kim Goodwin
LUXr resources and materials by Janice Fraser (http://www.slideshare.net/clevergirl/) and Lane Halley
(http://www.slideshare.net/LaneHalley/)
Articles on User Interface Engineering (http://www.uie.com/browse/usability_testing/)
Editor's Notes
Getting out of the building UX! UX research is useful for Customer discoveryCustomer developmentValidating your hypothesisMaking something that solves a problem or addresses a needMaking something usable and delightfulIt’s “generative” and “evaluative” It’s all about people skills!
Explain quickly that UX offers tons of methods, techniques and materials. You will have to get out of the building as part of this event, so we’ll focus on these (click).
Who do you need to talk to? What do you need to observe? What do you hope to find out? What’s your hypothesis about your customers? What attitudes and values do they hold?Also, make sure you identify your own bias and beliefs!
Non-leading interviews allow you to capture what a person is thinking in their terms, with their structure and vocabulary intact. Indi deliberately writes prompts rather than interview questions. Also easier to parse quickly. if you go for a non-directed interview using prompts, make sure everybody in your team has a shared understanding of the intent behind each topic. Janice calls this topic map.
Non-leading interviews allow you to capture what a person is thinking in their terms, with their structure and vocabulary intact. Indi deliberately writes prompts rather than interview questions. Also easier to parse quickly. if you go for a non-directed interview using prompts, make sure everybody in your team has a shared understanding of the intent behind each topic. Janice calls this topic map.
begin interviews with a 'softball' question - a question that is simple to answer and puts the participant at ease.
how to approach people
Be careful with WHY. ‘How did you know that X?’ ‘What were you thinking at the moment when X?’ This does not interrupt the recounting process. So ‘tell me how it was that you came to be looking for this site that day’ does the work of ‘why were you looking... ?If you’ve made people comfortable, Why should be ok.