The document is a presentation on conducting user research interviews for startups. It discusses what user research is, why it's important to do, and common user research methods. It also provides guidance on how to effectively recruit participants, write an interview script, and conduct qualitative user interviews in order to understand users and identify opportunities. The presentation emphasizes gaining empathy for users, asking open-ended questions, referencing data from screeners, and leaving space for participant responses.

1. Conducting
User Research
for Startups
Diane Loviglio
General Assembly
San Francisco
August 28, 2012

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Conducting User Research Interviews for Startups GENERAL ASSEMBLY
2 Diane Loviglio August 28, 2012

3. CLASS RULES.
We’re so thankful to the Hattery for hosting us in
their beautiful space! A few things to be mindful of:
• Please try to stay within the classroom and the
bathroom.
• Feel free to grab some water from the kitchen
area, but please do not take any food.
And now for the fun stuff...
Conducting User Research Interviews for Startups GENERAL ASSEMBLY
3 Diane Loviglio August 28, 2012

4. Conducting
User Research
for Startups
Diane Loviglio
@dianeloviglio
General Assembly
San Francisco
August 28, 2012

5. Architecture & Anthropology
Startup Founder
UX Researcher
Startup Advisor

6. Gaining empathy for ...

7. What we’ll be learning today
What is User Research?
Why do User Research?
User Research Methods
How to recruit the right people
- Writing a screener
How to best understand those people
- Writing an interview script
- Conducting an interview

8. What is User Research?
Understanding past and
current behaviors in order
to use them as a proxy for
future behaviors.

9. Why do User Research?
gain empathy
their motivations
their values
their needs
their behaviors

10. What problem is your
startup solving?

11. What do you want to know
about your current or
potential users?

12. User Research Methods
observation
in-depth interview
think aloud
diary study

13. How To Recruit the Right People? Write a Screener
Give a description,
without giving away
too much info.
Include incentive.
Start with easy questions.
Always add “Other”.

14. Don’t make any questions required.

15. Don’t use branching logic.
Ask at least one open-ended
question.
Keep it to 10 questions.

16. Only collect this info if it’s relevant

17. Include exact times and locations.

18. Ask for first name, email and cell as
last questions.

19. Write one question
for your screener

20. The Arc of an Interview

21. Write an Interview Script
GOAL Explore current app-related attitudes and behaviors among
“v2 adopters” in order to identify future opportunities and
development possibilities in the app space.
METHODS 1 day diary study
2 hour in-person interview
SCRIPT Introduction (5 min)
- introduce interviewers
Create sections and give
- get permission again to take video and photos them time limits.
- sign consent form
- no right/wrong answers
- any q’s before we begin?
About You (5 min)
- what do you do?
- how long have you lived here?
Diary Study Review (15 min)
- walk me through your diary
Show & Tell (30 min)
- walk through apps on homescreen on phone and Get them to tell you stories,
tablet. when get? how find them? why get?
- any apps you don’t use? why not delete them? and not just answer the q’s.
- what are apps good for? bad for?
Finding & Choosing Apps (10 min)
- what was the last app you got? Ask about past, not future.
- how did you find it?
- what if there were 3 that did the same thing, how
would you choose?

22. Write an Interview Script
App Stores & Paying for Apps (15 min)
- in the survey, you said that you use ______ and ______ app stores.
why do you use them?
Reference data
- which other apps stores have you heard of? from screener and
- which apps have you paid for? can you show me them?
why did you pay for them?
build on it.
- in the survey, you said that you pay for ______, ______ and ______.
how is paying for this different than paying for an app?
- if you buy something from the Apple app store today and you change your
computer, what happens to your stuff?
- how do you keep track of which apps you got from which store?
Understanding the App Ecosystem (20 min)
- how would you describe apps to somebody who’s never seen them?
- can you draw everything we talked about today and how it relates to each
other?
Give them
- what the difference between an app, a website and a program? activities so you
- show 2 screen printouts - do you see any differences here?
- are you familiar with the term web app? can you describe it to me?
have artifacts.
Thoughts on [Company X] (5 min)
- if [Company X] had an app store, how would you expect it to be different?
- [Company X] is a non-profit, would they charge for apps? why or why not?
Ask who, what,
when, where, why
Wrap Up & Thank You (10 min)
- any questions for us?
and how.
- thank you so much, we got a lot of great data here.
- here’s your incentive.

23. Write one question
to use in your interview

24. Conducting an Interview
Leave awkward
moments of silence.

25. Conducting an Interview
Tell me more. Tell me
more. Tell me more.

26. Conducting an Interview The participant is
always right - don’t
correct them.

27. Conducting an Interview
Pilot with someone.
http://abcnews.go.com/images/US/gty_charles_lindbergh_in_plane_1927_ss_thg_120516_ssh.jpg

28. Take Notes
In quote form -
not he said, she said.

29. Conducting
User Research
for Startups
@dianeloviglio
diane.loviglio@gmail.com
General Assembly
San Francisco
August 28, 2012