Let’s talk about Inclusivity in customer interviews

As researchers, we interview a lot of people. We talk to people of different age groups, gender, cultural backgrounds, languages and economic backgrounds. While other researchers you work with might lay some ground rules on what a typical interview discussion guide should look like, no one talks about the human side of things — the things you may say to a participant in good intent but which are actually insensitive.

What you can and cannot say to people when you interview them to get their feedback on a product or service

As humans, we tend to make assumptions about people by the way they talk, or going by the demographic information we have gathered. We tend to make assumptions about them based on the color of their skin or where they come from, the way they speak, the tone they use. But as researchers, we have a responsibility to be inclusive of all people in interviews. And this can be achieved if we try a little bit harder to filter out pre-existing biases. As I keep getting better at conducting customer interviews, I have put together a list of common assumptions we tend to make about people, and how rude they may sound in an interview.

Age-related assumptions

• Never assume that a man or a woman of a certain age has a partner. It’s important that we build a good rapport with participants in the beginning of a session, to ensure they are comfortable enough to share their honest feedback with us. In that spirit, going ahead and asking “It was such a beautiful sunny day…did you do anything with your partner?” is wrong unless they have already mentioned their partner. Try to keep your questions very generic, and focused purely on the participant — “what did you do this weekend?”.
• Never assume that a woman of a certain age has kids. “I am sorry if I caught you at the wrong time. It is school pick up time after all..” Strict no. Unless they mention that they have kids, don’t bring it up. Don’t even ask, “So do you have kids?” It’s none of your business. If you want to speak to a cohort of participants who have children, then you already have that information from recruitment screening.
• Don’t assume that an old person is retired. Some research projects require that we speak to an aged cohort. Doesn’t mean they are retired — Those in their 80s or 90s still work because it gives them independence, freedom. And please don’t think all old people are lonely. “Your grandchildren visiting over the weekend must have been a welcome change!” NO.

Gender-related mistakes

• Never refer to a male participant’s partner as she/her or a female participant’s partner as he/him. Come on, we know better than that. Partners can be of any gender. Wait for the participant to refer to their partner with pronouns, and then use the same pronouns. If they don’t refer to their partner at all…refer to the first bullet point.

• Stop referring to someone’s pet as “it”. While our intentions are good when we say “Aww it’s so cute”, pet owners sometimes don’t like it when you dehumanize the pet (I genuinely wasn’t sure what word to use instead of “dehumanize” when referring to animals). But you get my point. To pet owners, their dogs or cats are like their babies so don’t make their pet a “thing”.

Ability-based assumptions

• Don’t assume that participants have equal access. Participant: “I travelled to Melbourne by bus over the weekend and I am pretty exhausted.” Moderator: “Flights are more convenient — saves you a lot of time.” Maybe they travelled by bus because they just like buses. Or maybe it was cheaper. Either way, they must have made a decision by evaluating multiple options.
• You may be interviewing someone who is intellectually disabled. But they still deserve as much respect as you give other participants. Assuming that they wouldn’t understand something, or that it’s too “complex” to explain to them only means that we are limited in our own capability to explain to a diverse range of people. Telling someone who is physically disabled: “It must be hard to commute in a wheelchair” is rude, while you may only be trying to sympathize with them.

Inclusivity in recruiting participants for research

The other aspect of inclusivity in customer interviews is recruiting participants. I don’t know about other countries but Australia, especially Sydney and Melbourne are a cultural melting pot. However, when we recruit participants for a study, we typically get white male/female, professional, English-speaking. Please keep in mind that you’re designing and you’re creating for a group of very diverse individuals. And it is your responsibility as a researcher to include that level of diversity when you recruit, wherever possible.

If you have ever participated in customer interviews before, what are some assumptions researchers have made about you? I can always learn more on this subject :)