Remote Design Research & Synthesis, Pt 2
A continued look at how we’re managing our holistic, human-centered design processes digitally during COVID-19.
Lockdown has us looking at all of our processes holistically, and for opportunities to help everyone get through these uncertain times. Part one of this two-part series takes a look at how we’re modifying our recruiting and participant preparation process at Handsome, in light of the necessary shift to managing workflows and processes remotely.
In this second part, we’ll review how we’re adapting research activities, facilitating interviews, and managing research synthesis virtually. The tips and pointers are written to help anyone managing design teams and research processes reduce any impact caused by remote work.
Step 4: Adapting Your Protocol & Discussion Guide
When creating your research discussion guide, you’ll need to bake-in extra time for “unknowns.” Your participant might not be on time or may have trouble with the conference software you’re using. If they enter their meeting frazzled or stiff, extra ‘small talk’ time will help them get comfortable. Extra check-in time is also useful for both parties to take a collective deep breath before diving into an interview — especially helpful in these uncertain times.
Research Activities
Participatory activities are possible during remote interviews. Depending on your goals and your participants, you’ll need to consider in advance whether the user will control the activity or your researcher will drive the activity, acting as the user’s proxy.
For activities that are user-controlled, make sure you’ve already introduced the tool and expectations of the activity in pre-interview communication (as mentioned in part one).
Regardless of who is driving, make sure your activity is as simple as possible. Have a visual explanation of the activity prior to starting, and make sure your participant feels comfortable with it before moving into the activity. Ask them a few times if they have questions, to make sure they understand before starting. Extra time built-in here for them to try the activity out before starting might also be helpful.
Step 5: Tips for Video Interviews
- Record! This might be obvious, but if the participant is a few minutes late, it might throw off your session and without an actual audio recorder in your hard, it’s easy to forget. Make sure your discussion guide clearly states when to confirm that you’ll be recording so the participant is aware once it starts.
💭Tool Tip: Zoom records a transcript for cloud recordings, which you can change in the settings under Settings > Recordings.
- Don’t be afraid of the silence! Give people space to think and answer questions. It can be much harder to stop yourself from filling the silence on a call rather than in person. It’s ok if no one is talking.
- Be present! It’s easy for your mind to wander during any conference call. You might also be stressed about how they are doing or start analyzing how they are answering questions. Try to stay in the moment so you can show you’re actively listening and so you can capture the best notes.
- Capture the space. In your prep email to the participant, give them tasks to capture their space through photos or video walkthroughs. This can also be done during the interview if the participant is joining on their laptop and has a phone available to document and send you photos on the fly.
Step 6: Research Synthesis
As is the case with in-person interviews, your transcript and notes taken during the interview are extremely important. While you can use a collaboration tool, good ‘ole spreadsheets also do the job. It’s helpful to note at which point in any activity certain quotes took place, the timestamp, the exact quote, and the question that lead to the quote. Make sure to include time for mini-synthesis after each session to capture highlights while they are fresh.
Then, start creating insights and categorizing the nature of the quote. This can be done as a team, or divided-up and conquered. Create a code of conduct when you divide the work up so each person is clear about what makes a useful insight, and what types of categories you should use. Zoom working sessions are also helpful so you can bounce ideas off each other more quickly. Light non-lyric music in the background can help keep a team’s working flow through longer Zoom working sessions.
After categorizing your insights, affinity map them to form How Might We statements. This can be done in a spreadsheet, on a separate collaboration whiteboard, or even in-person if you have wall space and Post-Its available. If someone is building a board in person, make sure other researchers can see the board and take photos for sharing.
Bonus Step: Accessibility & Inclusion Considerations
Addressing accessibility constraints and needs of your participants should always be top of mind in any research project, but these considerations are even more crucial in remote interviews. As you recruit participants, start to gauge what their individual needs are to help make communication as successful as possible.
Consider the following:
- Do your participants have visual, auditory, or speech impairments?
For auditory disabilities, make sure your video is on and clear. For visual impairments, be sure to describe what you are sharing. For those with speech disabilities, make sure your conference software works with whatever software they might be using.
- Does anyone have an accent or ESL (English as a second language)?
Ask people to repeat themselves when needed. They would rather repeat it and have you understand than for you to not grasp what they said.
- Will your participant have access to a computer and/or smartphone?
What can be done over the phone? Can your participatory activity be done without a screen share? Make sure to accommodate any device constraints your participants might have.
In general, consider ways to make your research process as inclusive and accessible as possible. Add “other” option when possible to your surveys (i.e. gender, race, etc.). Pronounce names correctly. Again, ask the person to repeat the pronunciation and write it phonetically in your notes. Check yourself and your fellow researchers when assumptions around participants creep in. ABC — Always bias check.
The Opportunities Ahead
While we don’t have the same relationship established with in-person interviews, our subjects are more likely to give us more detailed information via a remote interview. They have the safety net of a barrier that phones and computers create for more sincere and truthful answers. The raw data we acquire offsets the non-verbal notes we capture during the interview.
Remote research takes extra preparation and carries unique risks. Often, we try to cram a lot into research. However, remote sessions offer a good opportunity to simplify your goals and research objectives. By pairing down how much we load into the session, we are able to uncover the true focus and problem statements to drive our design decisions.
