1.
It’s hard to understand people
Early stage customer development
Johanna Kollmann - @johannakoll
Lean Startup Machine London, 23 June 2012
Photo by NASA JSC Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa_jsc_photo/7257865176

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

4.
Before you leave the building

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?

9.
Photo by TheeErin: http://www.flickr.com/photos/theeerin/4729019845/

10.
Out in the wild

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.
Do’s and don’ts
Photo by Hilde Skjølberg http://www.flickr.com/photos/hebe/3004800079/

14.
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/

15.
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/

16.
Making sense of what you saw and heard

17.
Photos taken at DesignJam London events by Rachel Winch and falkowata

18.
Source: http://www.uie.com/articles/research_to_personas/

19.
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/)