2012 May 19 Interviewing for UX

Interviewing for
User Experience
General Assembly
May 19, 2012
Josh Seiden
@jseiden

Saturday, May 19, 12

My hashtags

Josh Seiden
@jseiden
josh@proof-nyc.com

www.proof-nyc.com
@proof_nyc

#leanUX
#leanStartup

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Agenda

• Why use interviews?
• How to use interviews
• Practice in interview techniques

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WHY INTERVIEW?



Research Questions: The Big Three

1. Is there a need or opportunity?
§ Observations and interviews

2. Do people want my proposed solution?
§ Measure behavior and interviews

3. Can people use my proposed solution?
§ Usability testing and interviews



Not today: usability testing



CUSTOMER DISCOVERY
INTERVIEWS



What are we listening for?

Expressed needs
Implied needs
Latent needs

If you had that feature, what would it let you do?



Tips for Customer Development
1. One person at a time
2. Know your goals and questions ahead of time
3. Distinguish “what I do” from “what I think”
4. Examine actions, not speculative desires
5. Get psyched to hear things you don’t want to hear
6. Disarm politeness training
7. Ask open ended questions
8. Listen, don’t talk
9. Encourage but don’t inﬂuence
10. Say it back
11. Ask for introductions
12. Look for patterns and apply judgement


Sample interview guide
Warm-up questions to set context
§ “Tell me a little about yourself…”
Talk about real events, avoid conjecture
§ “Tell me about a recent time when you…”
§ Collect artifacts, photos, etc.
Show demos/sketches later in meeting
§ “Show me how you would use this to…”
Express appreciation
§ “Thanks for your time!”
Arrange follow-up, ask for introductions.

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It’s a conversation.
Get stories.

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Introduction: research plan
§ Discuss what you want to learn
§ Identify who you need to talk to (and recruit)
§ Prepare interview “guide”
§ Practice asking questions and listening
§ Get out of the building
§ Collect evidence
§ Debrief, share, draw conclusions
§ Use your visits for multiple purposes

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Warmup

BEST MEAL?



INTERVIEW EXERCISE



Exercise prep
Form teams (of 2 or 3).
Decide on roles.
§ 1 interviewer
§ 1 notetaker / support
§ 1 interviewee
Here is your guide...

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Interview exercise: research brief
You are working on a mobile phone app that makes it easier to pay
in restaurants. Your team has brainstormed a number of
features, but you’re not sure which ones to build ﬁrst.

Some features (expense account integration) are great for business
customers.

Others (like split the check features) are great for consumers.

Let’s interview some restaurant diners to see if we can ﬁnd some
opportunity.
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Interview exercise: interview guide
Establish context: eating out habits. Specific recent meals.
- Do you eat out in restaurants? What is typical?

Specific examples of business meals, casual meals, other?
- “Tell me about the last time / a specific time when you...”

Probes: Who was it with? Why were you there? How did you pay?
Were there problems paying? Were there other issues or
opportunities?

@jseiden 18

Interview exercise: debrief
Who did you talk to?

What was/were their context(s)?

What problems / opportunities did you hear about?

What did you conclude?

What evidence supports your conclusion?

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REFLECTIONS AND QUESTIONS



If you liked this talk, please follow @jseiden

THANK YOU! @proof_nyc



2012 May 19 Interviewing for UX

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