User Research is Human
The Energy
When I started off on this research I was clear about who the users would be. For the scope of this project, the users are professional women from Black and Minoritised Ethnic (BME) backgrounds.
I believe for this project to be successful we need to hear the voices of the women who will be our users. I contacted women I know in the community to reach out to their friends and colleagues. I also put a call out for users to participate in this research. I met some of them in a cafe, we had cake and coffee. Vouchers were received with a smile. So far so good.
I was buzzing like a crazy happy bee.
The Elusive Interviewee
Four interviews were done swiftly! Only one more to go, how hard can it really be? An interview was scheduled. I waited on Zoom for the interviewee to join. No show. I messaged her “Are you OK?” worrying for her safety. No reply. An hour later I got a message saying she had forgotten.
What??? How can anyone forget they have the opportunity to participate in this amazing research project that is going to change the opportunities a fellow BME woman is going to experience, heck even change the place of all BME women in the labour market! Gosh, that blew my mind.
Back to the interview planning. Thankfully I had a few more women who were interested. I reached out to them. And scheduled a couple of interviews.
Guess what? Yup, no-shows again.
The Acceptance
The women had legitimate reasons - family crises, of course, take priority. Family crises from a family member needing a lift to the shops to getting a protection order for her cousin against a violent partner.
But isn’t that the reality of women? Especially everyday BME women? They run their households, manage family crises, and anything that has to do with their needs, their careers are always put on the back burner. I should know that.
They are not forced to do it. They do it because it is their duty as a woman of the family — as a daughter, a wife, a sister, a mother, a daughter-in-law…once they have completed their obligations in all these roles, can they begin to think about their career. If you look at BME women who are successful professionally, they are either unmarried (still caring for their parents/ siblings) or divorced (still caring for parents/ in-laws/ children in some if not all combinations) or ostracised from the family. I’ve also come across successful BME women in the workplace only because their husbands don’t work.
There are exceptions but they are a minority in a minority.
I am grateful for the elusive interviewee.
