User Research Scripting

This section contains information and tips for conducting user research.

Introduction

The information in this section can be used to inform Product Managers about conducting user research. This should help give insight into how to conduct good user research but is not a prescriptive method. Each Product Manager will have different users and questions to ask - some may find one-on-one interviews useful but this may not be appropriate in another context.

What?

During the Discovery Phase, the key goal is to do exploratory research. User Research is about trying to get to the core of what a user is trying to do and what their problems are.

This can involve: one-on-one interviews, focus groups, steering groups or group interviews.

How?

Questions should be broad and open-ended. The most important thing to remember while conducting User Research is to let the user talk and to avoid interrupting them or suggesting answers to them.

Ask people as close to the real user base as possible - test with real users if possible.

Create a script but be flexible about following it. If an interviewee goes off script and begins talking, more information will come out than the script would have allowed for.

At least three user research interviews should be conducted in order to get valuable insights for the Definition Phase.

Why?

User Research is conducted so as to understand users’ characteristics, aims, and behaviours towards achieving their aims.

User Research is about learning what a user is trying to do and understanding what is and isn’t working for them. It’s not about asking them what they want.

User Research allows Product Managers to test the assumptions they have before embarking on Design or Prototyping work.

User Research helps place users at the centre of the Design process and your products. Product Managers should be encouraged to advocate for their users.

Tips

• Keep it short

• Be prepared and specific

• Look for stories

• Listen, don’t talk

• Be confidential

• Be mindful about diversity

• Ask permission before the interview

• Avoid any bias - ask open ended questions

• Don’t ask questions about the future

• Don’t pressure the interviewee

Collaboration

During workshops, we ask a Product Manager to give their script to someone else and this person shall read the questions back to the Product Manager. This allows the Product Manager to understand how their questions sound from the perspective of the user. They need not answer the questions but can make notes on phrasing, assumptions or things they think they might be missing.

Workflow

The questions to generate here can be done free-flow or with some guidance.

During our Workshops, we'd usually ask first that the participants look back to their Assumptions & Validated If table. Looking at the Validated If column, they should rephrase these into questions. See Assumptions to Questions exercise.

Next, we'd ask Product Managers to think more broadly about what they'd like to ask their users. Thinking about their user persona, technology and behaviours.

Finally, we bring the table together in a discussion of common areas and whether there are questions which could be shared between Product Managers. If there are, it's great to encourage Product Managers to communicate with each other about the answers to these over Slack before the next workshop.