5 Effective Tricks for UXR & CusDev Interviews
Little time to get the maximum outcome. That is the challenge faced by nearly every interviewer — no matter if conducting UX research, customer development interviews or ethnographic fieldwork.
To solve this challenge I have created a small playbook for myself through trial and error. Here are the first 5 tried and tested anthropological tricks to get the most out of your customer development and user research interviews.
Content
- Look at the feet
- Structure your interview on moods
- Use meta-communication to control the ramble
- Don’t just play dumb — be dumb
- Sush and keep the mic on
1. Look at the feet
Yes, I know, this one sounds a little ridiculous. Why the feet? When trying to relate to your interviewee isn’t it the eyes, face and hands what you should be focusing on? Yes and no.
You can gain a lot of valuable information on the overall non-verbal communication of a person — but the feet are especially revealing.
Even in the most nerve-wracking interview situation, most people are fairly good at hiding their nervous ticks and controlling their hands from shaking. Yet, we are not good at controlling our feet. We tense them when we are nervous, wiggle them when we are fidgety, and often, according to research, also point them toward the people in the room we feel most comfortable with.
So next time in a room with a research participant, take note: are your interviewee's feet telling the same story as they are?
2. Structure your interview on moods
Going into an interview, the checklist of must-ask and nice-to-have questions is often very, very long. An average field guide I am used to working with at ReD Associates tends to be above 2+ pages per interviewee type. So how do I know which questions to ask and when?
My top tip is to orchestrate interviews around specific modes of being — or moods as I like to call them.
First, when you meet, you are in a “getting a feeling for it”- mood and the questions often reflect that. Introductions, small talk and basics to be covered. But then comes the hard part, where to go next?
In general, I tend to prefer the journey of “begin happy —stay with vulnerable — end with hope”.
First I go to my interviewees’ happy place with questions on their strengths, and things they enjoy. Ideally, we share a few laughs. Once the trust is established, I switch to more difficult or sensitive topics that they may feel vulnerable sharing. This often creates an associate gateway where the interviewees themselves start to open up about their intimate reflections: learnings, opportunities for development, and possibilities for change in the future. Rarely do I have to prompt to get there, as talking of hardships brings people naturally to reflect on change.
So when planning your next interview, remember to ask yourself what moods am I evoking in the interviewee with the themes and questions I have set out? How could I use those to drive the interview?
3. Use meta-communication to control the ramble
One of my first-ever anthropological interviews lasted for 45 minutes, during which I only asked one question. Yes, only a single question got me through the whole thing and most of my field guide.
But the magic was not in the question. In all honesty, it was probably just a standard opening of “Could you tell me about when you started” that got it all going.
The magic, however, was to realize that the interviewee responded to the most minute meta-communicative suggestions.
Every time I nodded and leaned forward, the interviewee kept going on the same topic. When I looked down or away from them, they changed to another topic. When I wrote something down (or at least pretended to) they would give me further enriching details.
Needless to say, not every interviewee is as responsive to suggestive non-verbal signage. But if you ever meet a person who loves to talk.. I highly recommend trying out at least how they respond to different intonations of “hmm..”.
4. Don’t just play dumb — be dumb
Number one advice all qualitative researchers hear is: play dumb. I.e. do not assume, do not take for granted and always ask for clarification.
But in my experience, it is so much easier to actually be dumb, than to play dumb. And it does make a huge difference in the relationship between you and your interviewee too!
Not only do I come into interviews acting like I do not know stuff, but I also allow myself to really not know things (that I maybe should know). This approach does harm my ego, but it also benefits my data.
Case in point: When I was conducting field research with kids, I had to play a lot of video games. A lot of games I did not know how to play, at all. And I have rarely been as embarrassed as when an 8-year-old almost chokes on their coke with “You have never played Roblox?? Do you even know how to *insert vocabulary only true gamers know* with Minecraft?” and then proceeds to share this funny incident with her group of friends. #street-cred
Though mortifying at the time, this encounter meant that I found a new way into deeper levels of data: A whole group of girls wanted to teach me their ways of gaming and being together. Suddenly I was the learner and they were the experts teaching me their ways. Not just because I asked them to. But actually because they wanted to be the ones who showed me the ropes.
5. Sush and keep the mic on
Have you watched any red-carpet interviews lately? Have you noticed, journalists keep the mick on the celebrity until they give a satisfactory answer to their question? This is the trick you could also be using.
It seems simple in action to stay silent but takes plenty of self-restraint from the interviewer. Trust me, I know what I am talking about.
It’s not once or twice I’ve been cursing in my head for staying silent for what seems like an eternity, thinking I have just ruined what could have been a great interview. Until. There is that “Hmm, and actually.. no, well..” and the quotes covered in pure gold start to pour out.
This is literally how journalists get their headline quotes: by equally demanding an answer by their demeanor but also giving the respondent enough time to gather their thoughts.
So next time you are not entirely sure the first answer your interviewee gave was exactly on point, give them a bit more time. If they are truly done, they will tell you. Literally: “Yeah, so, amm, that was it really.”
Here you go, first tried and true tricks from my research playbook. If you have any questions about the points covered here, please do not hesitate to reach out to me on LinkedIn.
Hey you! Do you have a burning question on qualitative research or corporate venturing? I am always happy to get suggestions on content I should cover here or my LinkedIn. Please do drop me a line if you got something in mind.
