User interviews
User interviews are an important way of collecting feedback for itslearning. While large, statistically significant surveys may be the best way to find out what is going on in your product, interviews are the best way to find out why your users feel the way they do.
Planning
The best way to begin planning a user interview is to record all of the stakeholders’ assumptions. One of the main goals user research one of the main goals is to either confirm or contradict the assumptions held by the designer, product owner or other team members. Unchecked assumptions can creep into the design if not explored in the discovery process. Many of these assumptions may be correct, but the ones that are incorrect and not proven wrong can become issues that plague a platform for years. Involving as many team members as possible in this stage of the process is crucial.
Other important questions to answer during the discovery process are:
Who are the users?
What do the users want to do?
How are the users accomplishing their goals now?
What works/doesn’t work about how they are doing their current workflow?
Interviewing
Once the planning and recruiting are completed the real fun can begin. It is always easier to conduct interviews in person but I have dealt with users in many different countries so I often meet with users digitally.
It is important to create a rapport with your participants. Let them know they can speak freely without the fear of hurting my feelings. Interesting or unexpected answers should be followed up on but ultimately the interviewer needs to make sure all of their most important questions are answered by each participant.
analyzing
Once we have talked to enough users that we have passed the “Point of astonishment” we are ready to dig into what they have said. The most important thing now is to search for patterns in the feedback we have received.
To find patterns, I put each statement made during interviews into its own cell. I then tag each statement with as many relevant categories as possible.
Once this is done, not only are the patterns clearer but you can see which points were raised most often by users and pinpoint those as the key findings from the research project.
presenting
Once the patterns have been found, it is up to the researcher to communicate the findings within the organization effectively. Those working on the project directly should receive as much detail as possible while others in the organization should be provided a digestible, easy to understand summary of the findings.