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3 Commandments of User Interviews That I Don’t Always Follow
I’m still a young UX designer, but I’ve learned a lot in the last two years. I have a diverse professional background covering everything from social media, to retail, to arts administration. I have always been interested in people’s behavior with relation to products and culture, and design was an area where I felt I could thrive. I knew I had a lot to learn, but felt I was up to the challenge.
In the first project of my immersive program, we were supposed to create a product or service for a classmate based on an existing problem they had. Our task was to interview our classmate, plus four additional people on the subject matter. Easy enough, right? For someone who essentially talks and solicits feedback for a living, I felt like interviews would be a breeze. But I quickly found that some “rules” of an established practice, like interviewing, just aren’t true. Here are three things I was told to do when conducting user interviews, and how I turn them on their head to get better results.
“Interviews should always be face to face.”
In theory, this seems like a great idea. When someone is in front of you, you not only get the answers to your questions, but the rest of the picture as well. You can assess facial expressions, tone of voice and mannerisms. But, I’ve encountered more than one…
