H.U.M.A.N.S — A comprehensive framework for validative user research
What does a Product Manager bring to the table, which any developer cannot? Answer is very simple — User Perspective.
The user perspective is any Product Manager’s bread and butter, all the decisions and prioritizations are based on the user pain points & the strength of a pain point.
There are many tools in a PM arsenal to develop this user perspective — data analysis of product usage, surveys and user interviews.
Conducting a good user interview, is a skill because in a limited window of time, mostly < 30 min you need to extract the maximum perspective from the user.
Even though it’s called an “interview” the key thing to remember is it should not feel to the user that they are being interviewed. In 1981, Steve Jobs created a new strategy to recruit the right candidate. He would take them to a room with a Mac prototype covered with a cloth and unveil it dramatically. He would then observe how the candidate interacted with it, if they got excited and began clicking and exploring with the mouse, he would hire them. He wanted to gauge their excitement and passion for the product. This is exactly how a user interview should be, with the slight difference of the object of judgement here being the product or feature rather than the candidate.
In my first few months as a PM, I struggled quite a bit in conducting successful user interviews. To help me create a checklist and also extract maximum value I came up with a simple framework:
H.U.M.A.N.S — Hypothesis, User Selection, Mockup Scenarios, Assessment Rubric, Navigational Prototype, Synthesis
Hypothesis: The foundation of any successful user interview lies in a well-defined hypothesis. Before diving into interviews, it’s essential to have a clear idea of what you want to validate or invalidate. This hypothesis should be based on informed assumptions about your product or feature. Going in blind can lead to ambiguous results, so take the time to outline your expectations. Having this hypothesis sets a clear focus for your research, guiding your questions and the overall direction of the interviews.
User Selection: Selecting the right participants for your study is crucial. Your chosen users should align with your target segment to provide relevant insights. Sometimes, however, interviewing users slightly outside your target segment can reveal unexpected, valuable insights. The key is to ensure your user profile is well-defined and relevant to your hypothesis.
Mockup Scenarios: Once you’ve identified your participants, the next step is to create scenarios. These scenarios should reflect the Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) with your product or feature. Designing scenarios around real-life tasks helps users engage more naturally with the prototype. These scenarios should be closely aligned with your hypothesis, enabling you to observe how users interact with the feature in a context that mirrors actual use cases. I also usually keep a discussion guide handy, with all the scenarios and the questions to be asked as the user navigates through each scenario.
Assessment Rubric: To complement your qualitative observations, incorporating an assessment rubric can provide a quantitative dimension to your research. Define the parameters you want the user to judge your feature on. A simple Likert scale can help quantify user satisfaction and engagement with specific aspects of your prototype. For example, you might ask users to rate their ease of navigation on a scale from 1 to 5. This quantitative data can help identify patterns and compare user experiences more systematically. Moreover, a rubric makes it easier to summarize and communicate findings to stakeholders, offering a clear snapshot of user responses.
Navigational Prototype: A key aspect of validative user research is the use of a prototype. Rather than relying solely on verbal feedback, give users a prototype to interact with. Even if it’s a basic version, a prototype allows users to experience the product hands-on. This interaction can reveal whether users understand the intended interactions and if they find the product exciting or useful. Take a page from Steve Job’s book, this step transforms the interview from a Q&A session into an experiential exploration, yielding richer insights.
Synthesis: After conducting your interviews, the next step is synthesis. This involves summarizing your findings and making them as generic as possible while highlighting key observations. Your report should include both the main insights and any additional observations that emerged during the interviews. Importantly, the synthesis should also offer follow-up feature ideas or tweaks based on the user feedback. For example, if users struggled with a particular feature, suggest potential improvements in your report. This not only provides a clear summary of your findings but also actionable recommendations for your development team.
Conducting user interviews, is an extremely valuable skill and also a very powerful tool for Product Managers. By applying the “H.U.M.A.N.S” framework, and structuring your user interviews it will help you uncover the true needs and preferences of your users, leading to better product decisions and ultimately, a more successful product.
