No matter what we make, we have to understand people. Whether you create reports, tools, services, or software, a person is ultimately going to use your product. In this workshop you will learn how to find out what your users truly need, what motivates them, what jobs they need your product for, and how to leverage what you learn from them so you can deliver something that is useful, desired and possibly even delightful. You will get hands-on practice in crafting interview questions that help uncover valuable insights, conducting successful interviews, and forming solid personas to guide your product development. At the end, you will be armed with knowledge and methods that you can use immediately to improve your work.

1. Design for Use
getting started with user research & customer development
A Workshop by Nicole capuana

2. hello!

3. I WORK ON A BOAT

4. Defined UX Standards for
Progressive
Built Software Design
Consultancy
Started Usability Program
for Fortune 500 Company
Teach Lean UX to high
schoolers
Lecturer & Contributor to
IOT class at Case Western
Reserve
& Evangelize Balanced Teams

5. PERFECTING PASTRAMI RECIPE

6. Design for use@ncapuana
Let’s begin

7. Design for use@ncapuana
Have you:
• sworn because
you’re so
Frustrated?
• felt you can’t figure
it out?
• wondered if you did
it correctly?

8. Design for use@ncapuana
Good design starts
with people

9. Design for use@ncapuana
Human
centered
design

10. Design for use@ncapuana
when we design
It’s not you or me
we don’t have the answers

11. Design for use@ncapuana
we talk to people to
find out what they
need and why

12. Design for use@ncapuana
we get Insight
through empathy

13. Design for use@ncapuana
it’s not hard

14. Design for use@ncapuana
it takes
practice

15. Design for use@ncapuana
Today you’ll get to practice &
learn how to:
• interview
• map your findings
• & create a persona

16. Design for use@ncapuana
part 1:
interviewing

17. Design for use@ncapuana
Pretty simple - it’s
asking people questions
It’s not pitching your idea

18. Design for use@ncapuana
Get out of the building
Go where your users are

19. Design for use@ncapuana
create a script
It’s meant to guide you & give you consistency.
It’s okay to adapt based on where your conversation with the person goes

20. Design for use@ncapuana
avoid the woulds

21. Design for use@ncapuana
Open-up & Open-ended
• Make sure
you’re
physically
open &
welcoming
• Smile
Ask open-ended
questions like:
• Tell me…
• What happened
the last time?
• Can you show
me?
• Why was that?
• How did you
feel?
• Why?

22. Design for use@ncapuana
do vs. say
Observe when you can
99% said they
washed their
hands
32% of men and
64% of women
actually did

23. Design for use@ncapuana
get the stories out
Find out the “why”

24. Design for use@ncapuana
Listen!
Take notes or record

25. Design for use@ncapuana
silence will draw
more out

26. Design for use@ncapuana
Let’s practice

27. Design for use@ncapuana
Form teams
• Find 3 other people you
DON’T know
• You have 4 minutes to
introduce yourselves and
learn something about
your teammates

28. Design for use@ncapuana
Today’s challenge:
how might we
help people start
their day?

29. Design for use@ncapuana
We want to learn
• How do they start their day?
• What’s their goal?
• What do they do from the moment
they wake up until they get to
work?
• Where are opportunities for
improvement or removing friction?

30. Design for use@ncapuana
5 minutes - draft a script
• Write down questions you want to answer and ask in your
interview - make two copies of the questions.
• Remember to use open-ended questions and to elicit stories
• Avoid “do you like”, “yes/no”, and the “woulds”

31. Design for use@ncapuana
get ready to interview
• Divide into pairs
• Make sure each pair has a copy of the script
• Determine who will ask the questions and who will take notes for
the 1st interview
• You will switch roles on the 2nd interview

32. Design for use@ncapuana
interview - 1
• Find another pair
• Decide who will ask the questions and who will be interviewed
• You will have 2 minutes to interview the first candidate
• One person will interview (ask questions) of one person from the other pair
• One person will take notes
If you are interviewing, do not take over the conversation -
you want the person answering your questions to do most of
the talking

33. Design for use@ncapuana
interview - 2
• Interview second candidate
• Switch who interviews and who takes notes
• You will have 2 minutes to interview
If you are interviewing, do not take over the
conversation - you want the person answering your
questions to do most of the talking

34. Design for use@ncapuana
Switch

35. Design for use@ncapuana
interview - 3
• Pair that was interviewed should now interview the other pair
• Decide who will ask the questions and who will be interviewed
• You will have 2 minutes to interview the first candidate
• One person will interview (ask questions) of one person from the other pair
• One person will take notes
If you are interviewing, do not take over the conversation -
you want the person answering your questions to do most of
the talking

36. Design for use@ncapuana
interview - 4
• Interview second candidate
• Switch who interviews and who takes notes
• You will have 2 minutes to interview
If you are interviewing, do not take over the
conversation - you want the person answering your
questions to do most of the talking

37. Design for use@ncapuana
do we have time
for 1 more round?
If yes, find another pair and we’ll do another round - 8 minutes total

38. Design for use@ncapuana
part 2:
mapping findings

39. Design for use@ncapuana
come back together

40. Design for use@ncapuana
Discuss as a team what you
learned in your interviews

41. Design for use@ncapuana
EmPathy Map
• Collaborative tool to develop a user
persona or customer segment (sometimes
it will surface multiple personas)
• Allows teams to quickly distill what they
learned in interviews & observations
• Most useful at the beginning of the design
process
• Feelings & thoughts may have to be
inferred

42. Design for use@ncapuana
David Gray - XPLANE
Online at
Innovation Games

43. Design for use@ncapuana
Paul Boag
Adapting
empathy maps
for UX design

44. Design for use@ncapuana
Map your findings
Write one finding per sticky note and place in
section
• What did you hear? What can be inferred?
• What did your users say?
• What actions and behaviors do your users do?
• What might your users be thinking?
• What emotions might your user be feeling?
• What do your users see and hear?

45. Design for use@ncapuana
part 3:
define your persona

46. Design for use@ncapuana
personas
• Guide us in design & development
• Not made up - based off of real people formed through research and
amalgamation of people
• Give insight into goals, behavior and motivations of users
• You can have multiple personas - they just might have differing priorities for
your project
• Refine and adjust your personas as you learn more
• Holistic view of persona beyond the role

47. Design for use@ncapuana
It’s magic - a persona emerges
At the center of the map:
• Draw a picture of your user
• Give your user a name
• List their goals, pains, and wants
• Create a scenario
• Can you identify any patterns or themes?
• What insights and needs can you identify?

48. Design for use@ncapuana
show & tell

49. Design for use@ncapuana
Learn More
Articles
• Three Exercises to Teach Your Team Empathy
• 4 Customer Interview Questions You Should Never Ask
• How Reframing a Problem Unlocks Innovation
• B2B Customer Discovery Interview Questions — A
Master List
• How The Lean Startup Team Practices Customer
Development
Online Tools
• DesignKit by IDEO
• Validation Board by Lean
Startup Machine
• Business Model Canvas and
Value Proposition Canvas by
Strategyzer
Books
• Lean UX by Jeff Gothelf
• Rocket Surgery Made Easy: The Do-It-Yourself Guide
to Finding and Fixing Usability Problems by Steve
Krug
• Universal Methods of Design: 100 Ways to Research
Complex Problems, Develop Innovative Ideas, and
Design Effective Solutions by Bella Martin, Bruce
Hanington
• Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steve Blank
• Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products
and Services Customers Want by Alexander
Osterwalder
• The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book
That Will Change the Way You Do Business by
Clayton M. Christensen