Thanks for joining our research team in the field. Your participation in this part of the process will benefit the overall results of our collaboration.
- Sign up via the Google Doc for the interviews you plan to attend. If something changes, please let us know and arrange for someone else on your team to cover!
- Add your mobile phone info to the Google Doc; this is essential if someone is late, lost, or some other last-minute issue arises.
- Make note of the details (interview location, parking suggestion, pre-meeting time and location, participant details, etc.). If something changes with the participant’s availability, we will let you know.
- Bring a digital camera and/or a non-digital way to take notes (no laptops please)
- Use the pre-meeting location as last minute chance to eat, drink, or go to the bathroom.
- Casual dress; no logos (clothes, backpacks, luggage tags, notebooks, etc.) that suggest an employer
- No phone calls, texting, etc. during interview. Step outside if you have an emergency!
While fieldwork may appear on the surface to be a straightforward conversation, you will soon see that a lot more is going on. We don’t expect you to be an expert interviewer, although you’ll find that you get better with practice. Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your experience, and help us work better together:
- One of us will be the lead interviewer. You will be second interviewer. (Kind of like “second chair” on Law and Order, where the lawyer sits next to the “first chair,” observing and strategizing without conducting any examination) The lead interviewer runs the interview. They also coordinate the participation of the second interviewer.
- Stay engaged! Even if you are not asking questions, listen actively. That means thinking about what you are hearing, making eye contact, nodding affirmatively, and taking notes. You aren’t just a “fly on the wall”; you are participating.
- Interviews are different from conversation. We’ll use a relaxed tone, but we are purposefully guiding the interaction, often thinking several questions ahead. Although you may not see the path the lead interviewer is on, as the second interview it’s important not to interject in a way that can interrupt the flow.
- Write down and hold your questions for the appropriate time. Interviews unfold like the chapters of a book. Your questions need to stay within those chapters. It’s the job of the lead interviewer to move the interview from one chapter to the next. The lead interviewer will make opportunities – usually at the ends of these chapters – for you to ask questions.
- We aren’t the experts. The people we are interviewing are the experts. We want to gather their stories and opinions, and to hear what they have to say without influencing them. Use their language and terminology. If they refer to a product, brand, or feature inaccurately, don’t correct them explicitly or implicitly.
- Use open-ended questions. Don’t presume what you think the answer should be. Less Good: “What are three things you liked about using the bus?” Good: “Can you tell me about your experience using the bus?” We don’t know that they liked anything about their experience on the bus!
Leave some time afterwards to debrief, probably around food nearby. We’ll talk about our thoughts, what surprised us, and other observations. While one interview doesn’t reveal a theme or a pattern, as the study proceeds we may start to discuss what is coming up. We can get any images or other files from you during this debrief, as well. At the end of each day or thereabouts, we’ll send out highlights for each of the interviews so everyone can hear a little bit about what’s been happening. If you want to add your own thoughts to the thread, we’d love that!
Note: For much more, see Steve Portigal's Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights
Note: Shared here with permission. Original source