This presentation and hands-on workshop will describe the process of conducting user interviews at Pivotal Labs Denver.
It’s a way of understanding your users problems, needs and behaviors. It’s not the only way but represents many of the same activities and exercises used within similar companies and agencies.
6. Know Your Goals
Research Planning Workshop
The goals of a Research Planning Workshop are to define
1. What We Already Know (Think We Know)
2. Who our Audience is
3. What questions we want to answer. E.G. what do we want to know about our
audience?
4. Why - how will knowing the answers to these questions help the business.
What value will asking these questions provide.
7. Know Your Goals
Assumption and Experiments Workshop.
The goals of an Assumptions and Experiments workshop are to:
1. Extract all the information within the domain
2. Organize the information
3. Focus on the bits that matter
4. Prompt incremental decision making
5. Decide what the nature of the outcome you’re looking for, is not for details
6. To not create the answers yourself
9. Creating A Research Brief
A good research brief has a well structured outline
1. Purpose: a document to serve as an outline for our research
2. Value Proposition
3. Goals
4. Audience/Participants
5. Methodology
6. Schedule
7. Associated Research Costs
11. Your Interview Script
Things to consider when creating your interview script.
1. 8 main questions and or topics in a 1 hour interview (practice makes perfect)
2. Ice-breaker questions or observations help set the mood and build rapport
3. Keeping it short allows time for follow-up and probing deeper
4. Limiting questions provides focus and prioritization
5. Number the questions - this will help set pace and make sure you covered
everything
6. Craft your question to get people to tell a story. E.G. “tell me about…”
12. Your Interview Script
Things to avoid when creating your interview script.
1. Too many question for the time available
2. Questions not related to reaching goals, no focus
3. Don’t talk too much about yourself
4. Be aware of your body language
5. Problems with how questions are phrased
13. Your Interview Script
This list represents specific types questions to avoid when creating your script.
1. Leading
2. Double-Barreled
3. Too broad or vague
4. Mutually exclusive options
5. Limited response options
6. Caution with predictions
14. Your Interview Script
Other important considerations when creating the questions in your script.
1. Avoid polarized words like always and never.
2. Use of adjectives.
3. “Likert” scales. EX: 1-5, 1 is best, 5 is worst
26. Let’s Practice
There is a dot on your name tag. They indicate what role you will be playing in this exercise. You should be in a group with
different colors than your own.
Participant Moderator Note Taker
30. Resources:
Interviewing Users, Steve Portigal
The Ethnographer's Toolkit Series, Margaret D.
LeCompte and Jean J. Schensul
Just Enough Research, Erika Hall