Welcome back. Now that your participants are scheduled and you've prepared your interview materials, you're finally ready to conduct those interviews. In this video, we'll review the four steps to conducting user interviews. As I mentioned before, conducting interviews with real people is a great way to learn more about users' needs. Like many other UX designers, I find this part of the design process extremely exciting. For me, interacting with users to identify pain points is like connecting puzzle pieces. By the end of my interviews, what started off as stand-alone pain points comes together to create a better understanding of what needs to happen to improve the product. Let's get started. The first step is to meet the participant. Let's face it. Meeting strangers can sometimes be awkward. You may not know what to expect or you don't know what to say. Your job as a UX professional is to make your participants feel relaxed and at ease. Here are some tips on how to do this : Build a good rapport. This is all about establishing a professional, but friendly interaction. You can use light conversation to start, something like, how's your day going? You should also thank the participant for coming. Thanking users is a part of establishing a good rapport and can make them feel like their opinions and time are valued. Take time to review legal details that your interviewees need to know before the interview starts. This can be a good time to present any legal documents that require their consent to release audio recordings. You could also have your participants sign a verification that they are above the age of 18 and don't need permission from a parent or guardian. Gather basic details as you meet users. Remember to ask about any details that are relevant to the interview like their name and demographic information. Starting with questions that are easy for the participant to answer can give them a nice boost and confidence. Finally, let the participant know that there are no right or wrong answers. This way, they feel comfortable and are not worried about giving incorrect answers. Now you're ready for the second step of the interview process, conducting the interview. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind as you conduct interviews: Follow interview etiquette. Speak in a clear and concise manner while asking questions. It's important to remain professional no matter how users answer a question. While interviewing, also remember to ask open-ended questions. Asking yes or no questions doesn't allow your participant to tell their honest thoughts on your product. Instead, try asking questions that start with why or what. For example, if you ask a question like, do you like online shopping? You'll likely get one of two responses, yes or no. Instead, ask an open-ended question like, what do you like and dislike about online shopping? Asking questions in this manner will give you a more in-depth understanding of the users' feelings like their likes and dislikes. You should also ask follow-up questions based on how the participant answers the initial question. As you are conducting interviews, remember to take notes, which is the third step of conducting a user interview. Have you ever had a great conversation with a friend only to struggle to remember the specifics of the conversation later on? Maybe you remember how the conversation started and ended, but everything in the middle is a blur? This happens to all of us and user interviews are no different. That's why it's helpful to take notes during the interview. In the UX world, researchers who work for companies or on teams often have other members moderate or take notes during the session. For now, you'll have to fill both of these roles on your own. While taking notes, you'll want to highlight compelling quotes. These interesting quotes are great indicators about how users really think and feel. They can be included in empathy maps and user testimonies later on. Document observations about participants. Sometimes what a participant does is equally important as what they say. Making notes on their mood, expressions, body language, and behaviors will be important to consider when creating empathy maps. Finally, consider recording interviews. When you're first learning how to conduct research, recording is ideal. It can be helpful later when you're revisiting parts of an interview or taking additional notes after the interview is over. Again, it's best practice to always ask your participants for their permission to record them before the interview begins. The fourth and final step to conducting a user interview is to wrap up the interview. Just like in a track race, when you're nearing the finish line of an interview, it's important to end just as strongly as when you started. Wrapping up an interview without showing gratitude to participants for joining the interview can leave them feeling uncomfortable or wishing they had not agreed to participate. Instead, you want them to leave feeling like their opinions were a valuable contribution to your overall design process. To do this, wrap up the interview by giving users a chance to share final thoughts about any items discussed during the interview. Some participants might open up about their opinions and reveal insights that they didn't share earlier. You might try asking them if there are any new points they want to add. Also, you should always thank the participant again for their time. Tell them that you appreciate them participating in your interview, and give them a warm goodbye. If you offered any incentives to your participants to interview, now is the time to share them. That's a wrap. I hope learning these steps helps approaching an interview feel less intimidating. Following each of these steps in order increases the likelihood that your interview will run smoothly. In the next video, you'll move on to creating an empathy map. Meet you there.
