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interviews_primer_phonebox.md

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doing research with users

a primer written by phonebox

some quick thoughts

so many UX research methods out there - there may be a place for surveys and other tools but in the context of current conversation i think the main how-to to think about is 'non-directed interviews'

among: directed interviews, non-directed interviews, ethnographic interviews -- non-directed interviews are also the closest in practice to doing a good radio interview, but instead of drawing people out on what is interesting for you and listeners, you are drawing them out on their experience.

some quick tips

  • learn how to ask really open ended questions.

    • if you use closed questions to warm people up to a topic make them non-leading and use them to funnel to open questions.
    • e.g. prefer 'what, if anything did you find useful about x?' to 'was x useful?' open ended questions cannot be answered YES or NO and begin with Why, How etc.

  • do not ask leading questions.

  • really really listen to the answers.

  • use follow up questions you haven't prepared to go further and show listening.

  • be non-judgemental

    • the person you are talking to might have a really good reason for preferring a particular operating system or text editor.

  • don't interrupt, keep your thoughts/biases to yourself as much as possible. give people time to get to what they want to say.

  • focus on experience - frame questions to concrete experience rather than abstract ideation.

  • think about the shape of the conversation:

    • establish rapport at the start and make sure the participant has an overview of the process
    • let the person lead the conversation
    • start with more general questions - get more specific - then wrap up with more general questions and clarification of what you are going to do with what they have said.

  • clarify the objective of the research before you start preparing questions.

recording

can be a useful way to make sure the time people spend with you is valuable. it enables you to go back through and draw out important points while still listening carefully and giving your full attention to the person you are talking to. (do not think of it as a 'listen later' device so you can let your mind wander)

put people in control of recording process and telling you when they don't want something included and make sure that you can tell them how you will protect the data and when you will destroy the recording. be really really clear up front about whether you are anonamising what you share back with the group or not.

where recording not appt it is good idea to team up with a separate note taker.

Recording tools:

  • cell phone calls : Call Recorder - ACR (mix has used this)
  • screen capture on linux:
    • kazaam
    • obs

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