Trust — A User Researcher’s Kryptonite
As a user researcher your job is to figure out the unbiased truth behind any problem(why, when, how). And in order to get it, winning the trust of your research participants is paramount. Winning a strangers trust might seem very difficult but the fact is it is not.
Trust is one of the most important survival instincts we as humans possess. It is also one of the most difficult to earn. It is this nature of “trust” that helped humans survive the harsh wilderness from the threat of animals and invaders. The concept of trust is ingrained in us to such an extent that we are hard wired to see anyone or anything new with skepticism. We measure the success of any relationship, be it with other fellow humans, brands or institutions by the presence or absence of trust.
But then why am I rambling away about trust?
Well that is because relationships are transactional . Their expiry dates are determined by the balance of benefits each side gets. If the balance is tipped to only one side, the relationship breaks. In such a scenario how can you get an honest feedback or opinion from someone during an user interview? Couple that with the limited time you might get to build this relationship, it just looks impossible.
Like always, it is your greatest adversary that becomes your closest ally. It is the same transactional mindset can be leveraged for getting feedback. Compensating participants for their feedback is one of the most used ways
“I will pay you to talk to me”.
However this does not necessarily always warrant feedback that might be honest. Because what you pay for is the participants time and not their honesty. If the participant is not in the right frame of mind or gets bored by the questions, chances are that they will start looking at their watch half way through the conversation.
So how can you win their trust and make in-roads into truth?
Breaking down Kryptonite
Winning someones trust is not rocket science. The transactional behaviour is the result of the absence of trust and the latent fear of ending up giving too much for too little. This can be quickly manoeuvred around by following a few simple steps.
- Be Honest - Make you agenda clear before you start
When recruiting participants for an interview session make sure to explain what is it that you are calling them for. Explain your intent and your expectation from them, very clearly and ask them for their consent before they signup. This is of great help for three reasons.
One, it clearly explains to people what they are signing up for and you will end up getting the right set of people for your interviews.
Two, the fact that you were upfront with them will create a positive impression in people and will lay down the foundations for building trust.
Three, having agreed (read committed) to your requirements the chances of them being willing (read remain consistent to the commitment) to share information will be more.
2. Be Vulnerable - Nobody is perfect, including you
How many of you are comfortable to openly say you don’t know something? The fear of being judged almost always makes people share only the things that will incite a positive reaction from society. To say
“I don’t know anything about this, can you help me understand this?”
can seem extremely difficult when you think that the people in front of you expect you to know it. However, as a user researcher, this might be the question that will start off a deep, long, meaningful conversation. Your vulnerability will make them comfortable to share theirs. And in order to make someone open up to you and share their inadequacies and shortcomings show genuine interest in what they do.
3. Share your feelings not your judgements
When a participant is sharing his/her experience interject the conversation with how you feel. For instance, when someone says
“My day starts at 9 am and ends by 8 pm”
you can ask them how they manage such long work hours, what do they do to keep themselves from not burning out. Such careful but meaningful interjections can take the conversation from the mundane to a more personal and insightful one.
4. Knowing the subject
It is always good to know the nature of the work that your participant does. It helps you to bring their attention to things they might miss out in the conversation. But more than that they might also feel that they are talking to someone from their own world. And people often tend to open up more to others with commonalities.
Conclusion
Bringing genuinity into a conversation is important for building trust and thereby having a successful user interview session. However trust is not the only important element for a meaningful conversation.
As a user researcher it is also equally important for you to win the trust of the stakeholders you work with, because if we don’t have it your kryptonite will just lose its shine.
If you found this article useful, don’t forget to clap for it and share it with your friends. It will help others like yourself to discover it.
Check out some of my other articles.
User Research — A good-to-have or a necessity?
Demystifying User Interviews — A guide to meaningful conversations with your users
