Conducting Interview and Deal With Our Users
Everything you need to know about conducting our user
Creating a product based on your needs is easy, because you don’t need to talk to anyone else. The problem is creating a product for non-tech savvy users. How do you create a product for users who don’t know much information about technology and users who don’t understand technology like millennials users now?
Our typical users are store owner, are between 35 to 55 years old, and are not too tech savvy. It’s hard for us to create a good design if we don’t understand our users habits and behavior. In order for us to understand and create the products for them, we must meet with the users to observe their behaviors.
So these are my personal thoughts about interviewing and interacting with the users.
1. Give a big smile and warm welcome
When you meet the user for the first time, try to create a good atmosphere. Always provide your interviewee with a helpful introduction. Initiate friendly small talk before starting your interview. When you have a positive attitude, the users will feel comfortable.
2. Don’t interview but build conversation
When I talk to the users, I make a conversation instead of interviewing them. Start the session with simple questions. When you make the conversation interesting and light, the users will explain more.
Example:
- “What do you do in the morning?”
- “How many customers came today?”
Be persistent to achieve the objective. Prepare to provide the answers to the user questions, and help out the users if they have trouble understanding what we said.
3. Adjust your language to them
A conversation depends on who you are talking to. In this case, I will know how to communicate to the user by finding out where he lives and how he interacts with people around him. Let them speak while you listen, and then try to help them with what they don’t understand.
4. Give a direct example
When a participant is confused with what we say, we can help them by giving an example that’s related to their life or adjusts the conversation to what they usually understand. This will help us to communicate to them exactly what we want to say — especially when we do the Usability Test.
5. Be extra patient
With every question we ask, sometimes participants can’t explain their answer well. They might answer you vaguely or even leave the question unanswered. This is why we need to explain everything more than once. We will need to wait a while for them to answer, maybe you can try to ask the question again.
The most important thing is to be patient.
If you don’t talk to your customers, how will you know how to talk to your customers? — Will Evans, Design Thinker in Residence @ NYU Stern
At PAYFAZZ we try to understand our users, so we can try to make our products better for our users.
