3. site preparation
- 2. Things to remember for tomorrow
- 4. Meet the interviewee in his/her typical environment, so you can see them in context. In-context interviews give the participant greater ease and allow you to see the objects, spaces, and people that they talk about in the interview.
- 5. Out of Africa | Seoul, March 2008 © 2008 Experientia
- 6. Ideally no more than three people should attend any single interview so as to not overwhelm the interviewee(s).
- 8. Conversations should be conducted without an audience, since the presence of neighbors, friends, or others can sway what the person says or what they are able to reveal. Privacy can often be difficult to accomplish, however. However, sometimes a second person helps the interviewee be more confident.
- 10. Guidelines for the interviewer • Enter the interview without an agenda • Refrain from passing judgments • Ask the interviewee for permission to ask certain questions • Ask for clarification when in doubt • Let them do the thinking – do not lead them to the solution • Be aware of both yours and their body language • Listen actively; allow for silent pauses & let them think • Remind the interviewee that there is no “right” answer
- 11. ME THOD ME THOD Int erview Prep arat ion Int erview f or E p t hy ma E xplore E otions m E voke S tories Intro Y ourself Intro P roject Build R apport Question S tatem ents Thank & W rap-up WHY interview WHY prepare for an interview W want to understand a person’s thoughts, em e otions, and m otivations, so that we can determ how to ine innovate for himor her. By understanding the choices that person m akes and the behaviors that person engages in, we can identify their needs and design for those needs. Tim with users is precious, we need to m the m of it! While we always m allow roomfor the e ake ost ust spontaneous, blissful serendipity of a user-guided conversation, we should never abdicate our responsibility to prepare for interviews. Especially in following up with users (after testing, etc.), it is im perative to plan your interviews. Y m not get to every question you prepare, but you should com in with a plan for ou ay e engagem ent. HOW to interview HOW to prepare for an interview B rainstormques tions W down all of the potential questions your teamcan generate. T to build on one another’s ideas in rite ry order to flesh out m eaningful subject areas. Identify and order them es S ilar to “grouping” in synthesis, have your teamidentify them or subject areas into which m im es ost questions fall; once you’ve identified the them of your question-pool, determ the order that would es ine allow the conversation to flow m naturally. This will enable you to structure the flow of your interview ost , decreasing the potential for hosting a seem ingly-scattershot interaction with your user. R efine ques tions Once you have all the questions grouped by them and order, you m find that there are som redundant e ay e areas of conversation, or questions that seemstrangely out of place. T a few m ents to m sure that ake om ake you leave roomin your planning to ask plenty of “why?” questions, plenty of “tell m about the last tim you e e ___ questions, and plenty of questions that are directed at how the user FE LS __?” E . :: 9 :: As why E when you think you know the answer, ask people why they do or say things. The answers k . ven will som etim surprise you. A conversation started fromone question should go on as long as it needs to. es Never s “us ay ually” when as kinga ques tion. Instead, ask about a specific instance or occurrence, such as “tell m about the last tim you ___” e e ___ Encourage s tories Whether or not the stories people tell are true, they reveal how they think about the . world. Ask questions that get people telling stories. Look for incons istencies S etim what people say and what they do are different. These . om es inconsistencies often hide interesting insights. Pay attention to nonverbal cues Be aware of body language and em . otions. Don’t be afraid of s ilence. Interviewers often feel the need to ask another question when there is a pause. If you allow for silence, a person can reflect on what they’ve just said and m reveal som ay ething deeper. Don’t s es answersto your ques ugg t tions E if they pause before answering, don’t help themby . ven suggesting an answer. This can unintentionally get people to say things that agree with your expectations. As ques k tionsneutrally. “What do you think about buying gifts for your spouse?” is a better question than “Don’t you think shopping is great?” because the first question doesn’t im that there is a right answer. ply Don’t as binary ques k tions Binary questions can be answered in a word; you want to host a conversation . built upon stories. Only ten wordsto a ques tion. Y user will get lost inside long questions. our Only as one ques k tion at a tim one pers at a tim R e, on e. esist the urge to am bush your user. Make s you’re prepared to capture. Always interview in pairs. If this is not possible, you should use a ure voice recorder— is im it possible to engage a user and take detailed notes at the sam tim e e. :: 1 :: Visual adapted fromMichael Barry, P 0 oint Forward
- 12. Goals: • Prepare enough questions for 1520 minute interview with at least one person • Test questions by asking them to other team • Create a plan for interviewing
- 13. When interviewing, assign the following roles: • 1-2 people to lead the interview(s) • 2-3 note takers • 2 photographers • 2 “Storytellers” and quote-capturers **Capture as much data as possible!
- 14. Interview Practice Using the Interview Guidelines, students ask each other about life before ALA. Pair up and interview for 5 minutes each way.