Doing research and keeping human
Over the past 2 years I have worked on a project to redesign the experience of leaving care for young people. Before I joined Leaving Well I had no experience of doing user research. All I had was experience working with young people, and an anthropology degree. I realised both of these things were useful, and I learned as I went a long.
I have read a lot about user research. I have worked with the amazing team at Pivotal Act. I have also learned a lot from doing. This blog is about my battles balancing ethical, reliable and reasonable research. This is important when working with vulnerable groups of people. I haven’t cracked it, but I hope this starts some discussion.
I have asked myself the following questions over the past few months. I don’t have the answers but I am trying to work some things out.
How do I show I am a nice human whilst doing research?
“Good user researchers don’t ask leading questions”. We want to understand what the user is thinking themselves. I have learned to ask questions that probe deeper, like ‘what do you mean by that’. But sometimes this can damage the relationship that I have built in the interview. If someone is telling me that they have not been able to get hold of their social worker for 6 months then want to say ‘that is shit’. The young person wants to hear that. So I have learned to say it. We need to remain human in these conversations.
How much do I let people fail?
To test your product you have to let people try and fail. I get this. But when people are giving up time to talk to you (even if there are cash incentives it is still their time) it is hard to let them struggle. This can seem unproductive and embarrassing. Some people might have low confidence or find it hard to build trust with you as the researcher. As much as you explain what you are doing and how failing is fine, it can still be painful.
Think about how much you need to see the person fail, and how much of the product you are trying to test. It is about understanding how the person feels and being sensitive to that. If you need to do an extra interview to get that supporting information then do it!
I think sometimes group discussions can be useful, is that wrong?
Group discussions can be a nightmare. They are not the best way to get reliable information for research. But sometimes the local authorities I have worked with are excited to give me a room of young people to chat to. Sometimes a social worker comes in and starts answering on behalf of the young person. But I have learned this is OK. The sentiment captured in these discussions is useful in itself. Watching the dynamic in the room as can be insightful. Hearing people bounce off each other and go off on a tangent can show collective opinions. We should learn from this too.
How do I maintain momentum when I have a limited amount of research subjects
I work with brilliant social workers and personal advisers. But I have also over used them. Before each session think about what the participant will get from it. If you are not sure, then don’t do it.
We need to be human. Research participants respond better to this. Sometimes you might need to go off script. Sometimes you might need to sacrifice an interview for the sake of being a listening ear. But this is fine so long as we are learning.
