Your "Psychologist Voice": Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research
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My 2017 Big Design Conference presentation about being mindful about your voice when conducting qualitative UX research.
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Your "Psychologist Voice": Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research
- 1. 1 PREPARED BY Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research September 16, 2017 Big Design Conference Dan Berlin Vice President, Experience Research Mad*Pow dberlin@madpow.net @banderlin
- 2. 2 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research Hi! I’m Dan Berlin • BA in Psychology from Brandeis U. • Seven years of tech support • Participant in a usability study and discovered the world of UX • Quit my job • Did a 2.5 year program at Bentley U. to get an MBA and MS in Human Factors in Information Design • Have been doing UX research for ten years • Vice President of Experience Research at Mad*Pow @banderlin
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- 5. 5 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research Best Practices Typically Deal with Artifacts & Methodology • Preparation, documentation, & technique • Asking non-leading questions • Types of questions to elicit different data • Participant activities
- 6. 6 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research Very Little Research About How to Carry Your Voice
- 7. 7 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research Julian Treasure: How To Speak So That People Want to Listen
- 8. 8 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research Be Mindful of WHAT You Say • Seven deadly sins of talking: • Negativity • Gossip • Judging • Complaining • Excuses • Lying • Dogmatism
- 9. 9 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research Be Mindful of WHAT You Say • Speak with: • Honesty • Authenticity • Integrity • Love
- 10. 10 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research Building Rapport • Open the conversation by following social norms • Limit talking about yourself, but do so as needed • Listen by asking questions • Use the participant’s vocabulary • Explain, don’t lecture • It’s satisfying to have a productive conversation with a stranger
- 11. 11 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research Remaining Neutral • Your opinion and outlook on the subject don’t matter • Don’t have a point of view • Even if you think you know the answer, ask the question anyway • Be completely invested in what the participants have to say “You need to not only be ready to hear your participant’s take on things, but you should also be hungry for it. This willingness to embrace is an active, deliberate state.” - Steve Portigal, Interviewing Users
- 12. 12 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research Be Mindful of HOW You Talk – Voice Components • Pace – how fast you talk • Power – where your voice is coming from • Volume – loudness • Timbre – warmth or smoothness • Emphasis – putting stress on key words or syllables • Pause – where you stop for emphasis • Depth – pitch • Inflection – the ups and downs of your sentences
- 13. 13 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research Controlling Your Voice – The Easy Answers
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- 15. 15 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research Components of the Psychologist Voice • Pace – even, calm pace • Power – talk from your belly, not your mouth/head • Volume – audible, but not too loud • Timbre – warm and soothing • Emphasis – ensure to stress the important words • Pause – stop to emphasize key points • Depth – where you are comfortable, to a point • Inflection – not monotone
- 16. 16 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research Non-Verbal Communication Source: Mehrabian, A. (1981) Silent messages: Implicit communication of emotions and attitudes. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
- 17. 17 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research Non-Verbal Communication • Posture – slouching indicates disinterest • Facial expressions – appropriately responsive • Distance – optimum conversational distance • Voice tone – conversational tone • Body movements – convey interest by squarely facing the participant and leaning in where appropriate • Mannerisms – distracting mannerisms may convey disinterest
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- 19. 19 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research Learning From The Stereotypical 1950’s Psychotherapist • Listen to listen and understand • Asking “Why” multiple times without using the word “why” • Turn questions back onto participants • Confirm you understood them correctly • Keep quiet – keep the participant talking
- 20. 20 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research Convey There Are No Wrong Answers • Never sound disappointed in an answer • Always be interested in what they have to say • Convey that the participant is the expert
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- 22. 22 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research Practice Voice Mindfulness • “Mindfulness” = active attention on the here and now • “Voice mindfulness” = active attention about how you convey your words • Tough to transcend unconscious behavior • Warm up your voice • Practice, practice, practice
- 23. 23 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research Psychologist Voice = Voice Mindfulness Use your psychologist voice to exhibit voice mindfulness Be mindful of your voice to put participants at ease People talking without speaking People hearing without listening - The Sound of Silence, Simon & Garfunkel
- 24. 24 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research For More Information
- 25. 25 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research Let’s Try It! Turn to your neighbor and ask how s/he feels about qualitative research… in your regular voice
- 26. 26 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research Let’s Try It! Now, ask the same question using your Psychologist Voice Turn to your neighbor and ask how s/he feels about qualitative research… in your regular voice
- 27. 27 Your "Psychologist Voice”: Leveraging Voice Mindfulness for UX Research Thank You! Questions? Dan Berlin VP, Experience Research Mad*Pow dberlin@madpow.net @banderlin
Editor's Notes
- Types of qualitative research: focus groups, user interviews, usability, & contextual inquiry (ethnography)
- Want to get the best possible information from participants – time is expensive and precious Examples of recruiting costs We want them to be relaxed, comfortable, and ready to share their innermost thoughts and dreams A relaxed participant will be honest and provide useful data Participant rapport = friendly conversation A tense participant will be hard to control and distant No one wants to spend an hour pulling teeth
- Good preparation & documentation typically leads to consistent techniques and useful data Non-leading and unbiased questions We can really screw up qual research by biasing participants Choosing the right activity for different goals
- This typically only comes with experience and/or training We learn what works & what doesn’t We learn which of our own behaviors affect participants’ responses A researcher’s first few sessions can be awkward; but we learn from our mistakes The best researchers are very open to critique But let’s get ahead of that – let’s take a moment to think about HOW to speak and what to say
- After the first time I gave this talk, someone told me to check out this Ted talk I suggest you do the same
- When we convey love & honesty to participants, they will respond likewise
- Social norms = Steve’s “taking a drink” example Asking questions = shows you are actively listening Their vocabulary = don’t make them feel dumb
- Match the participant’s tone and pace Can be unnatural If done incorrectly, participants may think the moderator is mocking them Just be yourself As previously mentioned, we don’t any enough attention to how we speak “Yourself” may be a booming, intimidating voice, or a meek voice that does not command authority
- Dr. Serkin story
- NVC is typically involuntary – harder to control NVC sets the stage for the subsequent words Think about how much information you gather about a person without even speaking to them
- Not to say you have to be a stereotypical 1950’s psychiatrist – overly even-toned Can still show emotion, and you should Convey that you empathize with the participant Don’t have to be their friend, but still a confidant
- Everyday conversations = listen to respond and interject Tell me how you feel about that; tell me more about that; what is your reaction to this Have participants answer their own questions before answering them Just to confirm, you feel X because of Y, is that correct? Is there another way to put it? Awkward silences are okay – participant may feel compelled to fill it with words Use a mantra to shut yourself up Give it another beat after they finish talking; don’t just move onto the next question
- Be a gracious host
- This is also useful outside of the lab setting Can be used for difficult conversations We talk all day long without thinking of how we are delivering our words We let our emotions guide our voice – for better or for worse Calm contentious situations with a calm voice Calm yourself down for an important interview or meeting an important person Pilot voice example from Jennifer Keene Moore’s talk There’s a little turbulance, everything will be okay; but thinking something different
- Especially in our culture, we just speak without thinking about HOW we say things Warming up: Stand up, shoulders back, and hands on your stomach. Let your stomach muscles relax. Breathe in through your nose and fill up your abdomen first (you should feel and see it expand), then your ribs, and all the way up to your chin. Hold this breath and count to 10. Now exhale slowly through your mouth We hold tension in our face and jaw, which can impede easy talking Loosen up your jaw, mouth, & tongue