User Researchers stink
I’ve just spent the better part of the last two weeks with Mimi, one of our Senior UX Researchers, out and about in Melbourne talking to jobseekers in their homes about the job seeking process. I’ve had a lot of fun, I’ve learnt more than I could have imagined, and I’ve been reminded just how tiring and time consuming in-context research can be. I’ve also been reminded of a heap of tips and tricks that veteran researchers know and take for granted that others may not know…
When you’re hitting the road like this there’s generally a handy checklist somewhere to make sure you’re all organised.
Do you have a phone charger? Coins for parking? The participant incentives? Confidentiality & consent forms? Have you printed off the interview guide? Any questionnaires. Most researchers have this part down pat, and if you don’t, a quick google search will no doubt quickly help fill the void.
However there’s another side to conducting user research in people’s homes or offices that very rarely gets discussed. I’m going to share with you 10 learnings I’ve gained over the past 15+ years of conducting research of this type.
10 things no one ever thinks to tell you about conducting UX Research in users’ homes
#1 A cuppa can take forever to make
A courteous host may well offer you a cup of tea or a coffee when you enter their home. Brewing the perfect tea or coffee is an art form for some people, and you never know how pedantic your participant may be about their beverage of choice.
In general, you’ve got a finite amount of time to get into someone’s home, find out what it is you’ve come to find out, and get out of there before outstaying your welcome and/or missing your next session. If you come across a tea/coffee pedant, you could easily find yourself wasting the first precious 15 minutes.
So, the correct response to an offer of a cuppa is “just a water thanks” but…
#2 You’re gonna need to use their toilet
Look, you’ve really got a couple of options here. You either don’t drink enough for the day (likely to happen anyway) and end up with a splitting headache, you hold on and/or plan your trip between participant premises via shops with bathrooms, or you bite the bullet and you ask politely if you can use the bathroom of the complete stranger that you just met 5 minutes ago.
In my recent experience, it seems nothing breaks the tension of having a couple of strangers turn up at your house like one of them asking to use your bathroom as soon as they walk through the front door.
#3 If you have an allergy, it will be exposed
Allergic to cats? Dogs? Axolotyls? One of your participants will have one (or all) of them. You can’t do anything about this. In the past fortnight we’ve had cats chew our shoes and bags, we’ve been left alone in a room with a mastiff x ridgeback, and one of us was goosed by a poodle!
If you’re in someone else’s home, you’re there to understand the context in which they usually complete the activities you are interested in… and all the menagerie that goes along with it. Be mentally prepared, medicated in advance, and carry an anti-histamine with you at all times — and preferably be an animal person.
#4 Your tummy will rumble
Whether you’ve just eaten, or haven’t yet eaten, if you conduct an interview around lunchtime your tummy will rumble. And not at times when you are in the middle of the participant talking, oh no. It will rumble, loudly, when there is a moment’s silence. Or when you are hovering over the participant’s shoulder while they show you a key workflow.
And don’t think you can fool your tummy by wolfing down a large meal between research sessions… your tummy will not be fooled that easily! Be prepared for the rumbles, it’s gonna happen.
#5 You’re going to feel a little creepy and voyeuristic at times
Taking photos of participants is always awkward, asking them to show you where they usually conduct a key activity can be awkward too — but it is why you are there so ask (and snap) away.
“If possible we’d like to observe you in the place where you usually do that?”
“I usually do that while I’m on the toilet, first thing in the morning.”
“Great — can you take us in there and show us?”…
#6 Your pen will run out — or more likely, be stolen
It’s inevitable. The participant is opening up, they’re giving you real insight into their emotions at this very part of the process. Quotable quote after quotable quote is rolling off their tongue… and your pen runs out. You look frantically over at your fellow researcher for help, but they’re maintaining eye contact with the participant and using an open body posture and clever paraphrasing to ensure the participant continues to expand on their answer. Oh well, I guess you’d better mentally mark this point in time to go back over the audio recording #sigh.
And even if your pen doesn’t run out, at the end of the session when you get the participant to fill out the paperwork, that pen will mysteriously disappear… make sure you grab a box of pens before you leave the office — maybe two boxes.
#7 You will stink before the end of the day
You know what? It’s a long day. You’re rushing from interview to interview with barely a moment’s rest in between. You’re sitting outside and waiting in a stuffy car, or sweating nervously in the participant’s house while a mastiff x ridgeback glares menacingly at you from the other side of the room. You might be a little nervous, anxious, or excited. In all of these cases, you’re gonna sweat.
By the end of a day’s interviewing, you’re likely to smell like you’ve just run 10km. There is not much more likely to distract you from paying full attention to your participant than the smell of your own underarms… or feet — unless it’s the smell of your research partner’s armpits or feet.
This could be the most important piece of advice I’ll ever give a budding UX Researcher… bring a spare tee, socks, some deodorant, and wear shoes that breathe… for all our sakes.
#8 You quickly lose your own filter
You’re on the road conducting research with a partner in crime (Product Manager/UX Designer/User Researcher…) all day, every day for days in a row. You’re likely travelling together to participants’ homes. You’re interviewing together, debriefing together, eating and drinking together. You’re in a situation where participants are opening up and telling you everything they know about the topic you’re interested in. This quickly creates an environment of sharing.. and then the oversharing begins.
Here’s a real-ish example.
Me “My wife and I had a fight last night, we always fight over the most stupid things”
Mimi “That’s dreadful. What were you fighting about?”
Me “We were having a stupid argument over, of all things, whether or not these shorts are green or blue”
Mimi “That is stupid, anyone can see that they’re blue”…
Me “Green”
Mimi “No, they’re blue”
Me “Green”…
#9 Be prepared for disappointment
Someone will always miss the brief/not answer the door/go off an irretrievable tangent. It happens. It can be a massive let down emotionally. You’re all geared up for a another interview, you’ve made some minor tweaks to the interview guide, you’ve dashed across town in the pouring rain, arrived 30 minutes early, sat in the car sharing way too much personal information, and when the time arrives to get going you ring the doorbell only to have no one answer. You call the phone number you’ve been given — no answer. You check your paperwork to make sure you’ve got day, location, and time correct, then call your recruitment company to double check. The recruitment company hangs up and tries the participant themselves, then calls back to say they got no answer either. You decide to give them 10 minutes then try again, then give them another 5 minutes. You begin to unwind, “this session’s not going to happen now” you think, “we can continue that conversation about my shorts instead!”. As soon as you relax though, the participant will show up and you’ll need to switch back on.
#10 You may very well cry (and that’s OK)
If you’re reading this, and if you’re a UX Researcher or Designer, chances are your empathy levels are dialled up as high as they can go. When you head out to talk with people, irrespective of the particular product or service space you are researching, you are asking people to share their joys, their frustrations, their anger, their pain points, and their heartbreaks. You’re trying to uncover their needs and desires, and as they share these some participants may get a little emotional — it is likely you will too. Be prepared and accept it if it happens. If the participant is angry and worked up, give them a moment to compose themselves. If they’re upset and you feel their pain, have a little cry. It won’t affect the results of your study. It will only show you’re human too.
