User Interviews – Collecting Data and Uncovering Problems
Within Eye Studios, in the last period, we are focusing on the Research and Analysis part of the UX Design workflow, in order to standardize a process that can be scalable and replicable.
This document aims to bring together a lot of information that we are collecting and that we believe will be useful to anyone who wants to learn more about this topic.
It is not a finished document or a guide, but a collection of useful information that we are gathering and that we think can be shared.
This will be part of a series of documents, visit Eye Studios Linkedin profile to be updated on all available documents.
“Quantitative data are used to collect the bare facts, the figures. It is statistical and structured data, which supports drawing general conclusions from research.”
en.surveymonkey.com ‘ quantitative-vs-qualitative-research
“Qualitative data collect that information which attempts to describe a topic rather than measure it: it is about impressions, opinions and views.”
en.surveymonkey.com ‘ quantitative-vs-qualitative-research
Quantitative Research | Qualitative Research | |
Questions | How many and how much? | Why? |
Goals | evaluate the usability of an existing site – track usability over time – compare the site with competitors – calculate ROI | Making design decisions – identifying usability problems and finding solutions |
When to use it | When you have a working product (at the beginning or end of a design cycle) | At any time: during the design phase or even when you have a working final product |
Result | Significant data and statistics that can be used to conduct other analyses | Meaningful data and statistics that can be used to conduct other analysesDesigner interpretations based on impressions and prior knowledge |
Methodology | Many participants – Defined and precise approach – Not usually “thinking aloud”. | Few participants – Variable approach depending on the needs of the team – Usually “thinking aloud”. |
inspired by Evan Bowers – Zapier
Hi {name}, how are you today?
Thank you so much for your willingness to help us with this, have you ever taken part in a usability study before?
I’m just going to give you an overview of what we’re going to do today …
I’m going to show you a prototype design where I’m going to have you complete some tasks and ask you some questions along the way. The first thing I want to make clear is that we are not testing you, we are testing the design, so there are no wrong answers you can give.
Our goal is to get your perspective. To get your perspective, I’m going to ask you to try and think out loud as much as you can – to say what you’re looking at, what you’re trying to do and what you’re thinking – it will help.
If you have any questions during the session, please ask – just know that I may not be able to answer them straight away, as we are interested in how people behave when they have no guidance.
One last thing before we start… do you mind if I record this session it will help my teammates who are not here and so that I can review it.
To be able to prioritise questions and create new ones, you can start from the functionalities and objectives in the Product Backlog (or simply those defined by the team).
The following diagram is an example of how to go from an objective to a clear and defined test
To take notes during the sessions we experimented with different templates used by large companies using Google Sheets (template at the bottom).
The note-taking sheet consists of:
User response: “I thought the design was very simple.”
Follow-up question: “What made you think it was simple?”
User response: “This is not a feature I would use.”
Follow-up question: “What was the situation that made you not use it?”
User response: “I didn’t expect it to work this way.”
Follow-up question: “How do you expect it to work in that situation?”
User response: “I don’t like that colour of blue.”
Follow-up answers: “Why don’t you like that colour of blue?” or “What is that colour you don’t like in relation to the product?”
User response: “This is not something I would like to download and use.”
Follow-up response: “Can you tell me why this application is not useful to you?”
Top UX Research Interview Questions to Ask Users, Andrew Smyk, Adobe