Extracts from a user-insight questionnaire developed for a mini ethnographic research project looking at the lived experiences of students with special educational needs and their parents.

1. +
User-insight questionnaire
Ella Walding

2. +
Objective
To find out about the lived experiences
of students with special educational
needs and disabilities, and their
parents.

3. +
I designed a separate
logbook for students
and parents to be used
in the interviews.
I started by finding out about them…
This power point will show you
some examples of the questions
 5-minute story
of your life
 Story of special
educational
needs

4. + What are your high and low points during the
week?
Use a temperature chart to map the highs and lows from Monday morning to
Sunday night. Explore the reasons for the highs and lows.

5. + Give me the story of what the routine is on a
typical school day evening?
What happens at each of these times? How does homework fit into a school
evening if at all? Write smiley, neutral or sad faces at each time.

6. +
Write on post-its all the
words that describe you
and then to choose the
top three best things.
1
2
3

7. +
Pressures and support
 What is the most trouble you have been in? How did that
happen?
 Can you put these cards in order of who provided you with the
most and least support? Talk me through the thinking behind
the ranking.
 If I was going to give you some money to buy some extra
support for you/your child, what would you want it to be spent
on?

8. +
Experience in school
 Here is a map of the school.
Put the green dots on the
parts of the school where
you most enjoy being. Put
the red dots on the parts of
the school you least enjoy
being. Tell me the story
behind the placement of the
dots.
 How could some of these
red dots be turned into
green dots?

9. +
Parent school communication
 How often do you have contact with the school?
 Tell me a good story when the school have contacted you.

10. +
Parents evening
 Overall on a rating scale from 0-10 where 0 is communication
with the school is very difficult to 10 communication with the
school is always brilliant – what rating would you say?
 Why wasn’t
the ranking
0?
 What would
make it 2
points higher?

11. +
Hopes and fears
In the next 5 years, what are your greatest hopes and
fears, for you and your family?

12. +
The next project describes
what I found…

13. +
End of presentation