User Research Introduction Session

Sample Agenda & Prompts

1. Write the agenda on the whiteboard or shared digital workspace:

   • Types (10 min)
   • Roles (10 min)
   • Flow (10 min)
   • Dos & Don’ts (10 min)
   • Role Play (25 min)

2. First, describe the three main types of research by drawing/showing a three part Venn diagram, complete with a squiggly line representing time beneath it, and explaining how they relate to one another.

   • Exploratory — what are the problems?
   • Validation — is this solution valuable?
   • Usability — is this solution easy to use?

   

3. Next, describe the main roles involved in research, writing each on the board:

   Critical:

   • Lead Interviewer — facilitates interview
   • Note-taker(s) — ideally 1 primary & 1 secondary to help ensure good coverage

   Optional:

   • Co-Pilot — supports Lead Interviewer
   • Media Wrangler — handles recording
   • Transcriber — types up interview as it unfolds

4. With roles covered, describe the general flow of research by breaking it into discrete steps:

   Recruit & Schedule

   • Pick days for research
   • Reach out to users
   • Schedule slots

   Prep

   • Goals
   • Assumptions
   • Questions
   • Design artifacts (if necessary)

   Conduct Interviews

   • Facilitate!
   • Take notes in an appropriate manner (e.g. sticky notes, transcription, etc.) in voice of user, capturing sentiment using smiley faces
   • Record aspects of the session that matter (e.g. audio, video, etc.)

   Synthesize Findings

   • All types: group like comments across users to find trends
   • Usability only: create pass/fail table to quickly see which aspects of the design worked and which did not
   • See Research Synthesis for more information
   Tip: Drawing these four steps on the board showing a progression can be really helpful to visualize how they flow together

5. Share biases to be aware of and key “dos” and “don’ts” when conducting research by printing out or projecting this User Research Dos & Don’ts Guide.

6. Finally, spend the remaining time role playing to get a feel for what actual research will be like:

   Option 1: Pair Role Play

   • Break into pairs, giving each person a “Pause” card
   • Identify who will be playing each role (Interviewee, Interviewer)
   • Interviewer uses one of the team’s discussion guides to ask questions of Interviewee
   • Conduct the interview for 10 minutes, pausing whenever one of the pairs shows the “Pause” card to discuss specific feedback
   • Reflect on the experience using a plus/delta format

   Option 2: Group Role Play

   • Identify who will be playing each role (Interviewee, Note-takers, Interviewer)
   • Interviewer uses one of the team’s discussion guides to ask questions of Interviewee while Note-takers take notes that, to the extent possible, mimic “real” notes
   • Conduct the interview for 10 minutes
   • Reflect on the experience using a plus/delta format

Success/Expected Outcomes

You’ve succeeded when the team feels like they’re confident they can conduct research in a way that the team can garner usable information.

Facilitator Notes & Tips

You can make as many or as few visual aids ahead of time as you like to support this session, depending on your preference. It can be equally successful printing/hanging things you want to focus on as it is drawing them as you talk.

If the team feels like they want more practice conducting research before they do it with actual users, don’t hesitate to schedule a follow-up session or two. Role playing can do wonders to prep people who haven’t done a lot of research before but are excited to learn how.

Read through and use the User Research Dos & Don’ts Guide.

Real World Examples

Recommended Reading

Lean UX by Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden

UX For Lean Startup by Eric Ries