"Interviewing is a way to engage users. Think of it as engaging with someone, rather than interviewing or surveying someone. This mindset allows us to seek the deeper insights and ask the harder questions. At the end of your time with a user, you want to have captured what that person said and did, and you want to have an understanding of what that person thinks and feels."
-d.school.stanford.edu
2. The Rules of Engage Club 1 st RULE: You do not say ‘usually’ when asking a question. 2 nd RULE: You do NOT say ‘usually’ when asking a question. 3 rd RULE: If someone says “I think” or states a belief or seems to prefer one thing over another, then the conversation is NOT over. Ask why that’s important. 4 th RULE: Only 10 words to a question. 5 th RULE: One question at a time. 6 th RULE: No binary questions, no leading questions. 7 th RULE: A conversation started from one question will go on as long as it has to. 8 th RULE: If you’re the only one interviewing, then you HAVE to use a voice recorder to capture!
3. 1 st RULE: You do not say ‘usually’ when asking a question. When do you usually use maps? Tell me about the last time you used a map.
4. 2 nd RULE: You DO NOT say ‘usually’ when asking a question. Where do you usually use maps? Where did you last look at a map?
5. 3 rd RULE: If someone says “I think” or states a belief or seems to prefer one thing over another, then the conversation is NOT over. Ask why that’s important. Hm. Interesting. Why does that matter to you? Why don’t you think maps are ‘good for dates’? Well, maps have the connotation of being ‘lost.’
6. 4 th rule: Only 10 words to a question. You mentioned maps being the most un-ideal travel gear—why? Because of the rising price of oil, airlines are doing everything possible to lower their expenses, and more efficient mapping technology seems like an opportunity; therefore, they have been experimenting with allowing passenger’s Top…what do you think about this?
7. 5 th RULE: One question at a time. So, tell me about the last time you used a map. How would you redesign your mapping experience?
8. 6 th RULE: No binary questions, no leading questions. At about what time did you last use a map? What was the last thing you did before using a map? What was the next thing you did? Probably at around 9pm. Since maps can be so heavy, what type of maps are better for carrying, paper or laminated?
9. 7 th RULE: A conversation started from one question will go on as long as it has to. So, tell me about the last time you used a map. Do your friends like maps? I did before breakfast yesterday.
10. 8 th RULE: If you’re the only one interviewing, then you HAVE to use a recorder to capture!
11.
Notas do Editor
It is important that you ‘view slideshow’ for this slide deck to work. Clicking forward with the arrow key or mouse button will ensure a proper progression through each slide. The original Fight Club rules: 1 st RULE: You do not talk about fight club. 2 nd RULE: You DO NOT talk about fight club. 3 rd RULE: If someone says “STOP” or goes limp or taps out, the fight is over. 4 th RULE: Only two guys to a fight. 5 th RULE: One fight at a time. 6 th RULE: No shirts, no shoes. 7 th RULE: Fights will go on as long as they have to. 8 th RULE: If this is your first night at fight club, you HAVE to fight.
Students often ask subjects about what they USUALLY do. This is a bad habit that will lead to general answers rather than the rich and descriptive answers of what they did yesterday or the day before. Specifics = juicy details. Original question = When do you usually use maps? To make this a better question, Ed Norton should ask Brad Pitt, “Tell me about the last time you used a map.”
It’s good to emphasize the importance of not saying ‘usually’ when interviewing someone. Original question = Where do you usually use maps? Ed Norton should change this to “Where did you last look at a map?”
One of the mistakes that interviewers most often make is not identifying when the subject states a belief and missing a potentially ‘juicy’ area to dig into. Make students aware of ‘beliefs’ floating out there. They can lead to powerful stories and/or rationale of why they behave a certain why. In this example, when Brad Pitt states that “Maps have the connotation of being lost,’ it is important that Ed Norton follows up with WHY. “Why does that matter to you?”
The longer the question is, the more likely that a subject will either not be able to follow, or will be swayed into responding a certain way. In this particular example, Ed Norton first sets up a scenario that may or may not be familiar to Brad Pitt. Maybe he hasn’t experienced this—then how can he comment or say how he feels about this. Maybe there are other travel scenarios that Brad Pitt has in mind when he thinks “maps+travel,” rather than swaying Brad into thinking solely about airplanes. Ed’s second question is much more precise and ends with the golden “why”?
It can be very tempting for designers to simply ask the user the same prompt that was given to them as their project. Avoid this because it is very broad, and the user probably won’t have anything to say. Break the problem down into smaller pieces. Starting with a way to get the story about the last time the user experienced this subject (i.e. Tell me about the last time you used a map) works well.
These are two rules combined into one. First of all, don’t ask yes/no questions. If you do ask a yes/no question, don’t forget to ask WHY. Also, don’t lead the user by inserting your own opinion into the question. For example, describing maps as heavy, probably sways the subject into responding that it is better not to have to carry maps. Instead of asking when do you usually use maps, or when should maps be used, find out specifically about the last time they used a map. Follow up with what they did before and after using the map, and what was the outcome. This gets away from the language of strictly ‘mapping from point A to point B’ and could lead to interesting responses about eating 5 meals/day.
Although it is a good idea to have a field guide which you can make beforehand and take time to think about thoughtful questions, don’t think of that field guide as a checklist. Think of it more as a guide to what subjects you want to talk about, and how you might talk about them. You probably won’t get to everything. That’s ok. Be sure to listen to the user and ask follow-up questions in response to interesting answers, such as looking at a map before breakfast.
This goes back to the mindset of ‘Engage’ rather than ‘interview.’ Think of your engagements as conversations, not a survey. Therefore, you might want to experiment with different ways to record the responses that you are hearing.