The Secret to Receiving Meaningful Answers is… Silence
Look at what people do, not at what they say — this is common knowledge in the product development industry. That said, listening to what people say might also be beneficial — properly conducted user interviews can be a valuable tool for every researcher. Answering the question “Who are the users?” can be game-changing, especially when it comes to the design of value propositions.
I conduct user interviews to supplement testing tools. Over numerous interviews, I have learnt many surprising facts that later became crucial in product development. Asking the right questions and showing a participant that you are willing to listen helps get the right flow going. Interviews are the foundation of every method of user research. (Un)surprisingly, the most difficult part of interviews is keeping your mouth shut…
Chit-chat vs. interview
Small talk is pretty much what keeps a casual conversation going. When people interact with each other, they often fail to listen to what the other person has to say. They tend to focus on how they want to present themselves and try to find ways to entertain each other in order to avoid awkward silences. With such expectations about everyday conversations, the users interviewed might think that interviews don’t differ much, and they’re just casual chit-chat.
Although this is a valid point, an interview has its own specific formula, and very few rules from real life can be applied here. Transferring the habits and thinking patterns from everyday conversations to user interviews is a terrible mistake, especially if you are the researcher.
A user interview has its own specific formula, and very few rules from real life can be applied there.
Researchers that are new to this trade can easily make the fundamental mistake of not shutting up, because they are too afraid of letting the interview go silent and descend into awkwardness. In such case, wouldn’t you get the impression that the person interviewed ends up talking only about themselves?
The situation becomes even worse if your interviewees are also your colleagues, as it happened with 10Clouds’ own product: timeION.
Two scenarios
Imagine someone asks you: “What does your morning look like?” Even such a simple question requires some thinking before you can answer. To break the silence, the interviewer will more often than not end up adding guidelines such as: “You know, what you eat for breakfast and when you go out to work.” This way the interviewee loses focus and provides answers based on the new suggestions, assuming that this is what matters to the researcher.
There are two situations a researcher might ruin the interview by speaking too much.
Scenario 1. The interviewer doesn’t know how to engage in the conversational rhythm with the person interviewed because they aren’t familiar with each other. As a result, they try to recognize each other’s reactions. As I described above, it is also tempting to suppress silence while the interviewee is processing a question, because the sheer thought of staying silent while waiting for an answer can be nerve-wracking.
Scenario 2. This one happens when the interviewee finishes answering the question and looks at the interviewer. S/he stares back and a few long seconds pass in silence. This is when the researcher probably thinks: “Bingo! Now I will ask my next question!” These moments taught me the tremendous impact of the signals my body sends, especially when my interviewee starts to
look at me with desperate eyes. As a matter of fact, this is still the most challenging part for me.
Accept the awkwardness, because it is a natural element of a user interview.
If it hadn’t been for a book by Steve Portigal that once fell into my hands, I would have been unaware for ages. The author wrote something extremely simple, yet it changed my point of view entirely. “Accept the awkwardness”, because it is a natural element of a user interview. There is no need to fight it. With that knowledge in mind, and a few trials, you can finally make your interviews more effective.
Silence is good, awkwardness is even better
The first scenario shows that people need time to process a question when they are asked. The trick is to know that processing information manifests differently in different people. For example, a person may look intensely at the wall, frown or stare at you with no expression.
Be sure the participant knows it is experiences that are under scrutiny, not the people.
You need to remain concise, ask your question and give the interviewee ample time to answer it. Just do not speak. If the interviewee is lost, s/he will ask you to repeat or explain the question. Just be sure the participant knows it is experiences that are under scrutiny, not the people. Otherwise, s/he might feel insecure and give dishonest answers.
The second scenario shows another important factor for any interview: people talk in paragraphs. After concluding one part, they need to pause, take a deep breath and put their thoughts together. Some people may take longer to do this and if so, just let them do it their way. If you rush with your questions, you risk losing crucial information. Even when you think that a full answer was given, bite your tongue and wait for a few more seconds. It is very often the moment when you can gain some very important insights.
Remember, let the chips fall where they may
Interviews are challenging for both parties. Our natural conversational behaviours are raring to take over. However, an interview has its own rules: silence is crucial and awkwardness is inevitable. Hold your horses and let the interview be about the interview. It is you, the researcher, who conducts the meeting, and you need to reassure the other person that everything is under control and will go as planned.
Agnieszka works as a UX designer at 10Clouds.
