User Research

Conducting research

Conducting user research on the in-house project gives our developers an opportunity to challenge their assumptions and adjust their product to meet the needs of their users.

Scheduling

Each interview should be 20-30 minutes long and scheduled in advance. We ask the cohort to arrange a few users each before they start their project.

The best users to interview are people who aren't developers or otherwise familiar with the software development process, and aren't familiar with the product idea.

Conducting interviews

Interviews are conducted in pairs with one developer taking the lead on asking questions, and leading the conversation. The other developer takes notes of what the user has said.

The interviews can be face to face, or online.

Conducting good research

Start with an introduction: to the developers, the process, and one sentence on the product idea.

• Keep an open mind, don't be afraid to challenge assumptions

• Ask open-ended questions, which give a user plenty to talk about or reflect on

• Look for stories - for example, with questions starting with 'tell us about a time...'

• Listen to the user and give them ample opportunity to speak

• Ask follow-up questions based on what the user says, and don't worry about sticking too closely to a script

• Avoid bias by only giving the user a brief summary of the product idea and avoiding giving your own opinion during the interview