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Feb 09Toolbox Series: User Interviews
As I was writing this entry, I realized that I had even more to add to the ‘toolbox’…so keep in mind that this is an overview at best of user interviews and there are tons of books out there dedicated to this subject alone. My large influences for this section would have to be Designing for Interaction, Mental Models, and of course, my coworkers. Questions, comments, and additions more than welcome as this series is meant to be a learning experience for me.
Jumping right into it:
Learning the goals and the motivations of the user is key to a successful product. And how do we do this? Read about our subject? Make half-cocked, harebrained assumptions about who they are and what they want? No! We go to them. We put ourselves in their environment and learn their needs.
Maybe it’s my delusions of grandeur, but I like to think of myself as an ethnographer. I am there to observe, to enter with no predispositions or ideas as to how I think they operate. I enter with a blank slate and view this climate with fresh eyes.
Shadowing is a well-known method of user research. Trailing behind your subject, scribbling notes, and muttering quickly yet unintelligibly to yourself is highly recommended. Observe, take pictures, and most of all, take note. What are their surroundings like? What are the lighting conditions? What does their desk look like? What are the tools that they often carry around? Most importantly, as you take this all in, consider how you can support this environment and possibly even improve their work situation.
Another excellent way of getting to know your user is to talk to them. Imagine that. You might call this an interview but really it’s more of a dialogue and an opportunity to get to know for whom you are building. I’ve come to know this as a ‘non-directed interview.’ You are not there to barrage them with questions about things you assume they care about. You ask a question to get them going and follow their lead. Prod areas that need more detail and when things derail, offer a simple, ‘could you go back and tell me about ____.” A related note is that people love to talk about themselves (despite what they would have you believe), so if they can spare the time, be there with a recorder, a notebook, and plenty of writing utensils.
After you interview a good selection of users, transcribe your interviews (or, if you have to go the more time-conscious route, paraphrase) and review their statements on paper to tease out important tidbits. Goals, statements, motivations- it’s all there for you to review and pick up on patterns of behavior and stories. These will serve you later as you delve into the users’ environment for clues as to how you can support them.