On the ground tips and tricks for teams new to conducting user interviews, including: formulating useful questions, how to clarify and probe, and getting to your burning questions (without leading).
We know that preparation is important, but what's the best way to prepare for meeting someone who could be using your next design? How do you make sure you get into their head, learn what their life is all about, and get the information you need to build something truly innovative and delightful?
You don't want to leave important information "on the table"—information that can give you a more complete understanding of how to move your vision forward. You might act on incomplete detail that creates risk when it forces you to guess what the users need. Worse, the partial insight you have may take your design team in the wrong direction.
User research is an expensive endeavor. Make sure you're prepared to get the most out of every minute that you're with your users. Come home with a deep insight into their thinking, their lives, and how you can change their experience for the better.
Steve Portigal will show your team the art of asking the question. You might visit the user in their office or home, have them come to you for a usability test, or even have a chance encounter at a trade show or while waiting for an airplane. Do you know what to ask? Do you know what to listen for, to extract the critical detail of what they can tell you about your design?
Tips for moderating one-on-one user interviewsAlly
Get best practices for moderating one-on-one user interviews -- how to prepare, tips and tricks during the discussion, how to avoid leading questions, etc.
How To Overcome the Toughest Public Speaking Situationsberkun
Based on the bestseller Confessions of a Public Speaker, author Scott Berkun will cover both the most common and the most challenging presentation situations, coaching you to both avoid and recover from just about anything that can possibly go wrong during a presentation of any kind.
We know that preparation is important, but what's the best way to prepare for meeting someone who could be using your next design? How do you make sure you get into their head, learn what their life is all about, and get the information you need to build something truly innovative and delightful?
You don't want to leave important information "on the table"—information that can give you a more complete understanding of how to move your vision forward. You might act on incomplete detail that creates risk when it forces you to guess what the users need. Worse, the partial insight you have may take your design team in the wrong direction.
User research is an expensive endeavor. Make sure you're prepared to get the most out of every minute that you're with your users. Come home with a deep insight into their thinking, their lives, and how you can change their experience for the better.
Steve Portigal will show your team the art of asking the question. You might visit the user in their office or home, have them come to you for a usability test, or even have a chance encounter at a trade show or while waiting for an airplane. Do you know what to ask? Do you know what to listen for, to extract the critical detail of what they can tell you about your design?
Tips for moderating one-on-one user interviewsAlly
Get best practices for moderating one-on-one user interviews -- how to prepare, tips and tricks during the discussion, how to avoid leading questions, etc.
How To Overcome the Toughest Public Speaking Situationsberkun
Based on the bestseller Confessions of a Public Speaker, author Scott Berkun will cover both the most common and the most challenging presentation situations, coaching you to both avoid and recover from just about anything that can possibly go wrong during a presentation of any kind.
In most English-speaking countries, it is normal and necessary to make “small talk” in certain situations. Small talk is a casual form of conversation that “breaks the ice” or fills an awkward silence between people. The ability to make ‘small talk’ is highly valued. In fact, many English students agree that making effective small talk is much more important than knowing correct grammar structures – and rightly so! Small talk gets friendship started and ‘breaks the ice’ before important business meetings and other events.
Even if you don't necessarily like it, there's no getting away from the fact that good presenting skills are essential for any entrepreneur or business owner. Our article outlines some quick tips to improve your business presentations.
Get noticed 2017 - how to get seen and stay visible Alan Stevens
Techniques to help you get noticed in business, including tips on speaking and presenting, how to handle difficult questions, and how to tell great stories.
SXSW - Diving Deep: Best Practices For Interviewing UsersSteve Portigal
While we know, from a very young age, how to ask questions, the skill of getting the right information from users is surprisingly complex and nuanced. This session will focus on getting past the obvious shallow information into the deeper, more subtle, yet crucial, insights. If you are going to the effort to meet with users in order to improve your designs, it's essential that you know how to get the best information and not leave insights behind. Being great in "field work" involves understanding and accepting your interviewee's world view, and being open to what they need to tell you (in addition to what you already know you want to learn). We'll focus on the importance of rapport-building and listening and look at techniques for both. We will review different types of questions, and why you need to have a range of question types. This session will explore other contextual research methods that can be built on top of interviewing in a seamless way. We'll also suggest practice exercises for improving your own interviewing skills and how to engage others in your organization successfully in the interviewing experience.
In most English-speaking countries, it is normal and necessary to make “small talk” in certain situations. Small talk is a casual form of conversation that “breaks the ice” or fills an awkward silence between people. The ability to make ‘small talk’ is highly valued. In fact, many English students agree that making effective small talk is much more important than knowing correct grammar structures – and rightly so! Small talk gets friendship started and ‘breaks the ice’ before important business meetings and other events.
Even if you don't necessarily like it, there's no getting away from the fact that good presenting skills are essential for any entrepreneur or business owner. Our article outlines some quick tips to improve your business presentations.
Get noticed 2017 - how to get seen and stay visible Alan Stevens
Techniques to help you get noticed in business, including tips on speaking and presenting, how to handle difficult questions, and how to tell great stories.
SXSW - Diving Deep: Best Practices For Interviewing UsersSteve Portigal
While we know, from a very young age, how to ask questions, the skill of getting the right information from users is surprisingly complex and nuanced. This session will focus on getting past the obvious shallow information into the deeper, more subtle, yet crucial, insights. If you are going to the effort to meet with users in order to improve your designs, it's essential that you know how to get the best information and not leave insights behind. Being great in "field work" involves understanding and accepting your interviewee's world view, and being open to what they need to tell you (in addition to what you already know you want to learn). We'll focus on the importance of rapport-building and listening and look at techniques for both. We will review different types of questions, and why you need to have a range of question types. This session will explore other contextual research methods that can be built on top of interviewing in a seamless way. We'll also suggest practice exercises for improving your own interviewing skills and how to engage others in your organization successfully in the interviewing experience.
Techniques for getting the conversation right when you talk to your customers and users, for analyzing your data and modeling that data into personas. Anyone can do this!
This is a tutorial that I have run a number of times which enables students to practice conducting interviews in such a way that they can take lessons away. It has been successful with both undergraduates and postgraduates.
These slides summarize the Designing Your Life book by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. Dr. Kristin Palmer led a workshop walking through big ideas in the book sharing templates and tools for helping people to design a live they can love. You can reach Dr. Palmer through http://www.CentralOregonLifeCoach.com.
A 40 minute quick introduction to using a few clean questions to elicit positive states for your teams, and reveal things that would amplify their effectiveness. Presented at Agile NYC 2018
By Neeharika Bhartiya, Head of Product and Co-Founder at Sonar.
Learn how to conduct product usability studies at lean startup organizations. Know prototyping techniques, how many user studies to run, which software to use, and which questions to ask through the studies. These user studies have significantly informed product at Sonar, and we hope they'll help you do the same!
Triagile Conference Workshop on Ubiquitous Coaching using Clean LanguageAndrea Chiou
How to use questions to find out more about resourceful states, desired outcomes, future events. How to give Clean Feedback. How to notice Metaphors. Where to look for more information
The slideshow contains tips and techniques on how to develop great ideas, how to choose topic, how to maintain good posture and avoid bad ones. It also consists of several activities like Tree Map for speech, cards for creative elevator pitch and some suggestions on how to improve your speech. This slideshow is compiled and created by Sirhajwan Idek.
(title image by @hookieduke)
Racism. Sexism. Homophobia. Transphobia. Within our own communities, these concepts are not new—but the 2020 pandemic has shone a spotlight on these issues.
It was only February of this year that Prime Minister Kishida’s aide said he “didn’t even want to look at” same-sex married couples.
But surely, we’re not like that. We make technology to make the world better, not hurt it.
Well, there’s good news and bad news. The bad news is the technology that we make is not immune to our human biases, and we all have biases. The good news is we can change this. With a bit of courage and humility, we can take the next step into a new frontier of universal design—technology that can be useful to everyone, regardless of their race, ability, identity or sexual orientation.In this 2-hour interactive session, participants will explore together common types of biases in technology and tackle difficult conversations around product design and development decisions.
It will be led by CJ Hostetter (they/them), a designer with ten years of experience in UX design who identifies as nonbinary.
This workshop will take place in person and be centered around small-group discussions tailored to digging in deep and sharing personal predicaments around bias in tech.
人種差別、性差別、同性愛嫌悪、トランスフォビア。
私たちのコミュニティでは、これらの概念は目新しいものではありませんが、2020年のパンデミックによって、これらの問題にスポットライトが当てられるようになりました。
また、岸田首相の側近が同性婚カップルを「見たくもない」と言ったのは、今年2月のことでした。
でもきっと、私たちはそんなことはない。私たちは、世の中を良くするために技術を作るのであって、傷つけるために技術を作るのではありません。
さて、良いニュースと悪いニュースがあります。悪いニュースは、私たちが作るテクノロジーは、私たち人間のバイアスに左右されてしまうということです。
良いニュースは、私たちがこれを変えられるということです。
少しの勇気と謙虚さがあれば、人種、能力、アイデンティティ、性的指向に関係なく、すべての人に役立つユニバーサルデザインの新しいフロンティアへ次のステップを踏み出すことができるのです。
この2時間の対話型セッションでは、参加者は一緒にテクノロジーに共通するバイアスを探り、製品設計や開発の意思決定にまつわる会話に取り組みます。
UXデザインで10年の経験を持ち、ノンバイナリーを自認するデザイナー、CJ Hostetter (they/them)がワークショップを行います。
このワークショップは、対面で少人数のグループディスカッションを中心に、テクノロジーにおける偏見にまつわる個人的な苦境を掘り下げ、共有するために行われます。
Some techniques, tools and tips for the Empathy phase of Design Thinking.
Content created by Stanford D.School
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Transforming Brand Perception and Boosting Profitabilityaaryangarg12
In today's digital era, the dynamics of brand perception, consumer behavior, and profitability have been profoundly reshaped by the synergy of branding, social media, and website design. This research paper investigates the transformative power of these elements in influencing how individuals perceive brands and products and how this transformation can be harnessed to drive sales and profitability for businesses.
Through an exploration of brand psychology and consumer behavior, this study sheds light on the intricate ways in which effective branding strategies, strategic social media engagement, and user-centric website design contribute to altering consumers' perceptions. We delve into the principles that underlie successful brand transformations, examining how visual identity, messaging, and storytelling can captivate and resonate with target audiences.
Methodologically, this research employs a comprehensive approach, combining qualitative and quantitative analyses. Real-world case studies illustrate the impact of branding, social media campaigns, and website redesigns on consumer perception, sales figures, and profitability. We assess the various metrics, including brand awareness, customer engagement, conversion rates, and revenue growth, to measure the effectiveness of these strategies.
The results underscore the pivotal role of cohesive branding, social media influence, and website usability in shaping positive brand perceptions, influencing consumer decisions, and ultimately bolstering sales and profitability. This paper provides actionable insights and strategic recommendations for businesses seeking to leverage branding, social media, and website design as potent tools to enhance their market position and financial success.
Between Filth and Fortune- Urban Cattle Foraging Realities by Devi S Nair, An...Mansi Shah
This study examines cattle rearing in urban and rural settings, focusing on milk production and consumption. By exploring a case in Ahmedabad, it highlights the challenges and processes in dairy farming across different environments, emphasising the need for sustainable practices and the essential role of milk in daily consumption.
EASY TUTORIAL OF HOW TO USE CAPCUT BY: FEBLESS HERNANEFebless Hernane
CapCut is an easy-to-use video editing app perfect for beginners. To start, download and open CapCut on your phone. Tap "New Project" and select the videos or photos you want to edit. You can trim clips by dragging the edges, add text by tapping "Text," and include music by selecting "Audio." Enhance your video with filters and effects from the "Effects" menu. When you're happy with your video, tap the export button to save and share it. CapCut makes video editing simple and fun for everyone!
Connect Conference 2022: Passive House - Economic and Environmental Solution...TE Studio
Passive House: The Economic and Environmental Solution for Sustainable Real Estate. Lecture by Tim Eian of TE Studio Passive House Design in November 2022 in Minneapolis.
- The Built Environment
- Let's imagine the perfect building
- The Passive House standard
- Why Passive House targets
- Clean Energy Plans?!
- How does Passive House compare and fit in?
- The business case for Passive House real estate
- Tools to quantify the value of Passive House
- What can I do?
- Resources
Book Formatting: Quality Control Checks for DesignersConfidence Ago
This presentation was made to help designers who work in publishing houses or format books for printing ensure quality.
Quality control is vital to every industry. This is why every department in a company need create a method they use in ensuring quality. This, perhaps, will not only improve the quality of products and bring errors to the barest minimum, but take it to a near perfect finish.
It is beyond a moot point that a good book will somewhat be judged by its cover, but the content of the book remains king. No matter how beautiful the cover, if the quality of writing or presentation is off, that will be a reason for readers not to come back to the book or recommend it.
So, this presentation points designers to some important things that may be missed by an editor that they could eventually discover and call the attention of the editor.
Expert Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Drafting ServicesResDraft
Whether you’re looking to create a guest house, a rental unit, or a private retreat, our experienced team will design a space that complements your existing home and maximizes your investment. We provide personalized, comprehensive expert accessory dwelling unit (ADU)drafting solutions tailored to your needs, ensuring a seamless process from concept to completion.
1. You are the best user
researcher ever
Tips and tricks for teams new to conducting interviews
Talisa Chang | @talisa
2. Real interviews aren’t as simple as asking a
question, getting an answer, and moving on to
the next question on your list.
You need a range of tools and techniques.
And you need to feel when you haven’t gotten
the answer yet so you can keep going.
– Steve Portigal
5. Formulate
Avoid leading questions
X Would you say ellipticals are better than treadmills?
→ What type of exercise gives you the best workout?
X Do you like to use felt tip pens?
→ What types of tools do you use to draw?
7. Get some context
X So as a designer, you use photoshop a lot, right?
→ What do you do for a living?
→ How long have you been doing x?
→ In your survey you mentioned you work at Company X. Tell me
about that.
8. Probe behavior, not intention
X How many times do you plan to go to the gym?
X What type of features do you want in an activity tracker?
9. Probe behavior, not intention
X How many times do you plan to go to the gym?
→ Describe the gym schedules you’ve had in the past
→ How many times have you been to the gym in the last 3 months?
→ How many times have you been to the gym in the last two weeks?
X What type of features do you want in an activity tracker?
→ Walk me through a time you had a positive experience doing…
→ Walk me through a time you had a negative experience doing...
11. Focus on specific instances
X How do you usually...?
→ Walk me through the last time you…
→ What were the steps you took to…and then what did you do?
→ Take me through your day yesterday…
→ Show me how you (when screen sharing) …
→ Can you give me an example? (After they mention something)
12. Avoid compound questions
X When you’re cooking, do you use a food processor, or a hand
mixer, or like, a Vitamix, or…?
13. Avoid compound questions
X When you’re cooking, do you use a food processor, or a hand
mixer, or like, a Vitamix, or…?
→ What kitchen item do you use the most?
→ List all of the equipment you used to make dinner last night
14. Ask for comparisons
→ Do your co-workers also do it that way?
→ How are things different than they were last year?
→ What’s the difference between receiving that info via text versus an email?
Ask for quantity
→ How many times did that happen last week?
→ How many projects fall into that category?
15. Force them to prioritize (as a means for getting to WHY)
→ Based on the 2 experiences I just showed you, which would you choose?
… WHY?
→ On a scale of 1-10, how easy was it to complete this task? (ask for each)
… WHY?
16. Create a scenario
→ If you had to explain to a 5-year old how to use this remote control, what
would you say?
→ Let’s say I just arrived here from another country. How would you describe a
typical American breakfast?
18. Team Roles
● One moderator
● One note taker
● One observer/photo-taker
If in-person: maximum 3 people in
the room
If remote: as many observers and
note takers as possible!
19. Make them
comfortable
● Offer water, a snack, etc
● Thank them for their time
● A little small talk to break the ice
● Get permission to record (and explain how
you’ll use it)
● Let them know if others are listening in
● Re-mention the NDA
● Remind them it’ll be fun!
Be a good host
20. Set the stage
Why are they here?
● Give some context: “We here to learn
about you and people like you as it
relates to XYZ”
● But not too much: “We’re having
problems getting customers to convert
on the checkout flow”
● Let them know you didn’t design what
they’re looking at (lie if necessary), so
they can be honest (“you can’t hurt my
feelings”)
21. Tone matters
● In person: use active listener body
language, smile, keep it casual but
professional
● Over the phone is even harder: don’t affirm
to eagerly (“that’s interesting!”), but be
careful of coming off curt or monotone
(“Ok.”)
● Use transitions: “That’s very helpful. Now I
want to move on to…”; “I want to switch
gears a bit and talk about…”
● Listen to the recording afterwards and/or
ask your peers for honest feedback for
how you sounded
Not too effusive, not to robot-y
22. A conversation
that isn’t
Put your researcher hat on
● Should feel like a conversation to them
(don’t be a question robot!)
BUT:
● Avoid talking about yourself, explaining
the way the product should be, or saying
“me too!”
● Be careful about paraphrasing their
statements, finishing their sentences, or
putting words in their mouth
● They shouldn’t be able to figure out
exactly what you’re working on/what your
assumptions are (a sign that you may be
leading them)
23. Silence is
golden
…
● Pause after you say something
● Pause after they say something
● Let silences hang and make them fill it
(they will!)
● Don’t jump to the next question
● Try not to interrupt
● Avoid affirmations/acknowledgements
(they can be leading)
● “Let people speak in paragraphs” –
Steve Portigal
24. Be confident
You are the best researcher
ever
● Trust the question!
● Don’t trail off
● You can be open-ended and direct at the
same time
● It’s ok to pause, regroup, take notes (the
silence isn’t as long as it feels)
● They have no idea how the interview is
going
25. Clarify
Because you can’t ask a
recording later
● Repeat (just be careful about putting
words in their mouth)
● “What do you mean by that?”
● “What did you expect to happen?
● “Why do you call it ‘the Hellmouth’?”
● “How do those departments work
together?”
● “When you say “her,” who exactly are
you referring to?”
● There is no such thing as an obvious
answer (Always ask why!!!)
26. A note on
paraphrasing
The gateway to leading
Paraphrasing can seem like a helpful way to clarify, but
you run the risk of introducing your biases:
User: “I often browse through 30 or 40 pages of
results before I find what I’m looking for”
Researcher: “So searching is pretty time
consuming for you.”
User: “Um… yeah, I guess so.”
Instead, try clarifying questions like:
● “Why do you do that?”
● “How do you feel about that?”
● “How often does that happen?”
● “When you say XYZ, what do you mean by
that?”
27. Probe
The only questions you need for
a great interview
● So do you mean…
● What do you mean by “thing
they said”?
● Tell me more about that…
● Can you give an example?
● Help me understand...
● Why?
● Why?
● Why?
● Why?
● Why?
28. Beware of the query
effect
People can make up an opinion about anything, and they’ll do so if
asked. Users can comment at great length about something that doesn’
t matter to them, and which they wouldn’t have given a second thought
of if left to their own devices.
It’s dangerous to make big design changes because “users didn’t like
this” or “users asked for that.” If you ask leading questions or press
respondents for answers, they might make up opinions that don’t
reflect their real preferences in the slightest.
– NNG article, Interviewing Users
29. On hitting the
key topics and
features
Because sometimes you gotta.
● Keep a list of your “must have” topics or features
handy, including related questions
● Check items off as they come up organically in the
session. If the user doesn’t bring something up or
notice a feature, don’t push it (see: the query
effect)
● At the end of the session, check to see what hasn’t
been touched on, and choose only 1 or 2 areas to
ask about (and take those answers with a grain of
salt!)
● Be sure to write out any questions related to your
“must haves” in advance to prevent as much
bias/leading as possible
● Afterwards, brainstorm better, less-leading ways
you could have gotten to these topics
30. “Would you use
this?”
Other ways to get at the burning
questions about your designs
and prototypes
● Why is it “cool”?
● How is it “helpful”?
● How would this change what you do today?
● Can you give me an example?
● Going back to that time you searched for
happy sloths, how would this have fit into
that process?
● When wouldn’t you use this?
● Is this more helpful than X?
● If you could only have 3, would this be one
of them? (Why?)
31. Wrap-up
You made it!
● Final Q: “Based on all the things we
talked about/you’ve seen today, what
are you most excited about?”
● Thank them and express how valuable
the session was
● Let them know when/how they’ll receive
the incentive
● Ask them if you can follow up with further
questions
● See if they know anyone else you could
speak to!
32. Debrief
immediately
While it’s fresh!
● Right after each session
● Collect and summarize major high and
low points
● Identify surprising learnings and
invalidated assumptions
● Share quotes
● Flag themes to look out for
● The debrief isn’t the same as a findings
report
33. A note on being
notetaker
You’re just as important as the
moderator
● Be present (get off email)
● Take notes, including relevant quotes that
strike you
● Jot down follow-up questions for the
moderator to ask
● Take note of things to consider that impact
your work
● Based on what you heard, write “How might
we’s” to discuss with the team
34. Resources & h/ts
Liz Danzico, @Bobulate
Steve Portigal, @StevePortigal
General Assembly, @GA
35. Want more tips on how to interview users?
View the slideshareView the slideshare
36. Talisa Chang is an interdisciplinary
product and UX consultant who
specializes in helping teams learn
before they build.
Find her on Twitter, Linkedin, Medium, or her website.