User Insights Start the Design Process

1. User Insights Start the Design Process Steve Portigal 1 @steveportigal

2. Portigal We help companies discover and act on new insights about their customers and themselves Steve Portigal @steveportigal

3. Coming soon!!! A book by Steve Portigal The Art and Craft of User Research Interviewing http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/user-interviews/ Steve Portigal @steveportigal

4. Be a methods-polygamist Choose, mash-up, or create methodology based on the problem Integrate (triangulate) with other methods Create a library of methods and artifacts Screeners, interview guides, stimuli, storyboards, etc. Steve Portigal @steveportigal

5. Different Methods Work Together Music Application Usage 55% Windows Media Player 55% 55% 38% RealPlayer 33% 35% 18% iTunes 23% 28% 18% MusicMatch Jukebox 17% 20% 7% Winamp 7% 16% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Steve Portigal @steveportigal

6. Different Methods Work Together Music Application Usage 55% Windows Media Player 55% 55% 38% RealPlayer 33% 35% 18% iTunes 23% 28% 18% MusicMatch Jukebox 17% 20% 7% Winamp 7% 16% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Steve Portigal @steveportigal

7. Innovation means getting beyond pain points Diving deep is essential if we want to use the information we’ve gathered to do more Steve Portigal than solve known pain points. @steveportigal

8. Pain points may not really be that painful anyway! Satisficing (coined by Herbert Simon in 1956) refers to our acceptance of good-enough solutions These can drive engineers and designers crazy…but the real problem isn’t always what it appears to be Steve Portigal @steveportigal

9. Use fieldwork throughout the development cycle Take a fresh look at people Use existing ideas as hypotheses What to Refine & Launch make or do prototype Iterate & improve Explore new ideas Steve Portigal @steveportigal

10. Fieldwork leads to refined beliefs about customers Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange “You are not your user” is a powerful empathic takeaway…but it doesn’t always tell the whole story Steve Portigal @steveportigal

11. Fieldwork highlights unmet organizational goals Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange Weblogs show where people are clicking but interviews revealed what people didn’t know about the organization Steve Portigal @steveportigal

12. Sometimes it can do both Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange Intranet home page real estate devoted to management goals but not actively used functions Anticipated knowledge- sharing functionality was a critical mismatch with how Project was not for SocialText; this is just a suggestive intranet image! people believed they should be working Steve Portigal @steveportigal

13. Problem Formulation What do we know and what do we want to know? Business goals • What the result will be This project was not actually the “Smart Fridge” but another inevitable technical innovation that we’ve been hearing about for years Research goals • What you want to learn Steve Portigal @steveportigal

14. Planning and executing a design research study Who do you What do you Do want to talk want to do Fieldwork something to? with them? with the data! Methodology, Interviews, self- Screening Analysis, field guide, reporting, criteria, recruiting synthesis, design stimuli debriefs Steve Portigal @steveportigal

16. Recruiting criteria: Relationship to product What is the desired relationship to the product/service/brand? • Typical user • Non-user • Extreme user Triangulate through multiple • Peripheral users perspectives • Expert user • Subject matter expert By creating contrast, you • Wannabe user reveal key influencing • Should-be user factors that you wouldn’t • Future user otherwise see • Past user • Hater • Loyal to competitor Steve Portigal @steveportigal

17. Recruiting criteria: Type of user There may more – or different – “users” than you initially think Think about the whole system: the chooser, the influencer, the user, and anyone who is impacted by those roles Challenge assumptions about who the organization is implicitly/explicitly designing for • Is that everyone? • Do they even exist? This will surface a broader sense – even prior to Is your “typical customer” real or aspirational? research – about who is affected by the product and who is being designed for Steve Portigal @steveportigal

18. Recruiting criteria: Demographics Gender Occupation Age • From outside the industries in question Lifestage/lifestyle • Married • Stage of family Income • Retirement • Can afford the product in question • Not in the middle of a major life- change (unless that’s of interest) Dwelling • Suburban/urban/rural • Apartment/living alone/ Demographic factors are roommates/single family home typically secondary when Race defining the sample • Reflect the population • Reflect the user base Steve Portigal @steveportigal

19. Recruiting criteria: The softer side Whatever their relationship with the product/brand/service, you want the person to be engaged, have a point of view, care about the thing, and be articulate Steve Portigal @steveportigal

20. The screener Screeners are very formal, linear documents Screeners have two purposes… • Figure out if the person fits your criteria • Convince them to participate …and three main sections • Introduction • Checking off criteria • Invitation to participate Steve Portigal @steveportigal

21. Creative recruiting Outside of the traditional method of working with a recruiting agency, there are other approaches • Friends and family/Social networks • Snowball recruiting (participants find more participants) • Craigslist • Intercepts • Etc. Pros and cons • Cheap but time-consuming • Quick but harder to control and manage (tempting to sacrifice process for results) • Likely to find “pure” participants but they might be too close to you (talking to yourself) Steve Portigal @steveportigal

23. Use a range of methods Interview “Tell us about how you’re using this product…” Tasks “Can you draw me a map of your computer network?” Participation “Can you show me how I should make a Whopper?” Demonstration “Show us how you update your playlists.” “I’ll be the customer and you be the receptionist, and you Role-playing show me how they should respond.” Steve Portigal @steveportigal

24. Use a range of methods Participant takes regular digital photos or fills out a booklet Logging documenting their activities Participant saves up all their junk mail for two weeks to Homework prompt our discussion Stimuli Review wireframes, prototypes, simulations, storyboards What’s in your wallet? What’s in your fridge? Exercises Sketch your idealized solution Steve Portigal @steveportigal

25. Ask how they would solve a problem Participatory design Engage people in the non-literal Doesn’t mean we implement the through games and role-playing requested solution literally Uncover underlying principles and “I wish it had a handle” explore areas of opportunity that don’t Many ways to solve the underlying yet exist need (“I need to move it around”) Designers work with this data to generate alternatives Steve Portigal @steveportigal

26. Show people a solution Consider the difference between testing and exploring Avoid “Do you like this?” Don’t show your best guess at a solution; instead identify provocative examples to surface hidden desires and expectations Image from Roberto and Worth1000.com Make sure you are asking the right questions What does this solution enable? What problems does it solve? Especially for new products, needed before getting into specifics of your implementation Steve Portigal @steveportigal

27. The interview guide (or field guide) A detailed plan of what will happen in the interview • Questions, timing, activities, tasks, logistics, etc. Transforms questions-we-want-answers-to into questions-we-will-ask Share with team to align on issues of concern • Especially with multiple teams in the field Helps you previsualize the flow of the session • Include questions as well as other methods that you’ll use Prepping an interview guide means that you may not need to use the interview guide • This is counter-intuitive • It does come in handy during freeze-up moments – scan it over to see what else you want to cover Steve Portigal @steveportigal

28. Minimalist field guide Steve Portigal @steveportigal

29. Detailed field guide Steve Portigal @steveportigal

31. Fieldwork principles Check your worldview at the door Embrace how other people see the world Build rapport Listen Steve Portigal @steveportigal

32. Check your worldview at the door Before you start doing interviews, do a team- wide brain dump of all your assumptions and expectations • Get closely-held beliefs out of your heads • You needn’t go back to verify your assumptions; goal is to make assumptions explicit Make the interview about the interview • As a transitional ritual, agree explicitly that you are going to Learn about Paul rather than Identify NextGen Opportunities for Roadmap Steve Portigal @steveportigal

33. Embrace how other people see the world Go to where your users are rather than asking them to come to you Nip distractions in the bud • Eat! • Leave plenty of time so you aren’t rushed when you arrive • Find a bathroom beforehand Be ready to ask questions you (think you) know the answers to • Think about: “When are your taxes due?” • What do you know? What are you afraid they’ll say? What might you learn? Steve Portigal @steveportigal

34. Build rapport Be selective about social graces • Just enough small talk • Accept what you’re offered Be selective about talking about yourself • Reveal personal information to give them permission to share • Otherwise, think “OMG! Me too!” without saying it Work towards the tipping point • From question-answer to question-story • You won’t know when it’s coming; be patient Acknowledge the interview as something…unusual • “What I want to learn today…” over friendly chat Steve Portigal @steveportigal

35. Listen You can demonstrate that you are listening by asking questions! • Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up • “Earlier, you told us that…” • “I want to go back to something else you said…” Signal your transitions: “Great, now I’d like to move onto a totally different topic” This level of listening is not how we normally talk to each other • Remember that you are interviewing, not having a conversation • This is really hard Steve Portigal @steveportigal

36. Listening body language Yes! Not so much. Steve Portigal @steveportigal

37. Silence defeats awkwardness After you ask your question, be silent • Don’t put the answers in the question After they’ve answered you, be silent Steve Portigal @steveportigal

38. Use natural language Talk like your subject talks! Steve Portigal @steveportigal

39. If you want to fix something, wait until the end It’s frustrating to watch users struggle with your product • Remember, you are there to learn from them You will lose the interview if you start taking their questions When it’s time to go, show or tell them only what will help them Steve Portigal @steveportigal

40. We learn from mistakes and mishaps Collect and share war stories with other interviewers www.portigal.com/series/WarStories Steve Portigal @steveportigal

42. Analysis Steve Portigal @steveportigal

43. Typical timelines 2-3 weeks 2-3 weeks 2-3 weeks Who do you What do you Do want to talk want to do Fieldwork something to? with them? with the data! Methodology, Interviews, self- Screening Analysis, field guide, reporting, criteria, recruiting synthesis, design stimuli debriefs When working in tighter timeframes, consider where you want to cut back. Be mindful of the tradeoffs! Steve Portigal @steveportigal

44. Going rogue 1 day?! 1 day?! 2 days?!! Who do you What do you Do want to talk want to do Fieldwork something to? with them? with the data! Who can you Small sample, get? Co-workers, Wide-eyed massively intercepts on the observation, Debrief parallel data street or in the winging it gathering mall, etc. Steve Portigal @steveportigal

45. An example of delivering research findings http://www.portigal.com/blog/reading-ahead-research-findings/ Steve Portigal @steveportigal

46. Documentation: audio, video, notes Essential to capture exactly what is said Difficult (impossible) to maintain eye contact, manage interview, and write down everything • Potentially a role for a second interviewer Taking notes – not as the definitive record – can help you process, notice, think about follow-ups, etc. • I strongly recommend privileging being in-the-moment (e.g., eye contact, listening) over trying to capture everything yourself Steve Portigal @steveportigal

47. Interviewing Exercise Get in groups of 3 Use the field guide handout • Imagine you are in a startup looking for opportunities in (news, food, media) • Treat it as a guide, as a starting place • Let yourself follow-up Three rounds of interviews, X minutes each • One interviewer, one interviewee, one observer • Each person plays each role once • Stay in the exercise! Group debrief Steve Portigal @steveportigal

48. I’ve got a tip (that you didn’t cover) that works Yeah, I’ve well for me… got a question for ya… One new thing I learned today is… 48 - #DeepDive Steve Portigal @steveportigal

49. Click to edit Master title style Thank you! @steveportigal Portigal Consulting steve@portigal.com www.portigal.com +1-415-894-2001 Lift11 49 Portigal

User Insights Start the Design Process

User Insights Start the Design Process

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User Insights Start the Design Process