Over the past two years, I have participated in interviews with users from different fields: from large bank managers to football fans. The interview helps to get to know the users better and to confirm or disprove hypotheses. Here are a few principles that help me in this.
Facts, not interpretations
The user is not a designer, so there is no need to force him to do someone else's work. You should only be interested in the facts, not their interpretation. Don't ask the user, "Would you be comfortable using this feature? It is better to collect and analyze the information and then offer your solution.
The average person relies on patterns seen in other products, so their ideas are not suitable for new challenges. The designer is able to create new ways of interacting with the interface for a specific task.
Context
Interviews should be conducted where a person uses the product. This gives a lot of additional information. For example, after spending half an hour at the logistics desk, we found a sticker with an order number. Stickers are convenient to make notes on, but not convenient to understand later. They are also lost. Having seen this problem, we added a field with the order number to the order form and saved the user from unnecessary work.
Logistics workstation
Sometimes you have to meet the user out of context. When developing the application for the football arena, we did not bother people during the match and invited them to the office. This is not as effective, but it is equally valuable.
Forget that you are a designer
Put yourself in the position of a student and be genuinely interested in the intricacies of the user's work. It's not every day that people come to him or her who are interested in his or her experience. Much more often, they are colleagues with new tasks or problems. Don't be afraid to ask naive questions, listen carefully and you will see that people are happy to act as an expert. This is what you need.
The designer is not a journalist
First, understand what you need to know, and then prepare a questionnaire. This way, even if you forget your questions, you won't get lost in the conversation. If you sit in front of a person with questions on an A4 sheet like Vladimir Pozner, or with open notes like Doud, the person will feel uncomfortable.
Your goal is not to expose the politician and not to find out how much Mikhalkov earns. You need to build a comfortable dialogue and learn more about the user's work.
It is good when you two work together. One person can ask questions and the other can take notes.
What questions to ask
The questions should be open-ended and cannot be answered "yes" or "no". Encourage stories. It is good when the person gives concrete examples from work experience. You can ask about this on purpose.
A few universal questions:
What kind of working day can you consider a successful one? What kind of a bad day?
What is the most important thing in the work?
What kind of work takes a lot of time?
What information helps to make decisions?
What problems arise in the work? How do you cope with them?
What similar services have you used? What is convenient and uncomfortable about them?
In addition to general questions, there may be specialized questions in your field. For example, for truck drivers, I have prepared questions about road navigation, rest and entertainment on the road.
Three stages of working with the user
Usually work with the user is carried out in three stages:
Information collection. The first stage of the interview is when you are a student and are trying to learn more about the human profession.
Clarification. At this stage, you already have ideas that you want to confirm with additional questions. Additional difficulties are often found here.
Confirmation. You offer a concrete solution, ideally using a working prototype as an example, and gather admiring feedback.
About people
The designer must love people, otherwise, it is impossible to create a product that cares about the user. It is good when your product helps to work more efficiently. Even better - when your product makes you smile and increases your job satisfaction.
The designer has the opportunity to make people's lives better. Don't neglect it.
