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How should I structure and write a User Research case study?

A sample UX Research case study.

Source

By far, the most frequent question I get asked is, “how should I write a user research case study?” The second most frequent question I get asked is, “what should I include in my case study?”

Case studies are difficult and stressful. I have spent hours sweating and crying while putting together a case study. To this day, despite my years of experience and confidence in the field, I still hate the process.

However, I want to provide an example of how I structure and write a case study in the hopes that it will make your journey better.

What is a user research case study?

A user research case study is your way to demonstrate the value you provide to an organization. It is a story about a project you have accomplished and gives your audience a step-by-step understanding of how you approached it.

Case studies are at the heart of an interview and an integral piece to making it through to the next step during the interview process. If you tell a compelling and clear story of projects, you are more likely to get more interviews and further the interview process. Additionally, you will feel more confident during the interview process and with any next steps.

I promise you it is worth the time and effort to invest in your case studies.

What should be in a user research case study?

When you write a user research case study, there are areas you should include. However, always use your judgment. If a particular project did not cover one of these topics, you don’t have to make something up or force information into it. Use these topics as guidelines.

As a hiring manager, I always look for the following in user research case studies:

  1. Context
  2. Your role
  3. Timeline
  4. Research statement and goals
  5. Research methodology
  6. Recruitment criteria and process
  7. Sample questions asked or usability tasks
  8. Analysis and synthesis process
  9. Outputs/deliverables
  10. Impact
  11. Next steps and recommendations
  12. Reflections

Optional:

  1. Your/team biases and assumptions

Check out my user research case study template!

The Example

This example is based on a fictional problem and company. As much as I would like to use a real-life example, it is tough to do this. I did my best to simulate a real project and fill this out as if I was creating a real case study.

In this example, I was previously working at a food delivery company (think: Seamless, Liefrando, Deliveroo). The fictional name of this company is Tasty Delivery. I was a user researcher at Tasty Delivered.

I don’t include any photos since this is a fake company and project, but I highly recommend including this information whenever possible.

Context and background

Hi, I’m Nikki! I worked at Tasty Delivery, which is a food delivery app. The app's goal is to connect people with all the restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores, bakeries, and coffee shops in their area. All they need to do is order, and tastiness will be delivered straight to their door. The company was founded in 2015, and we are available on the East Coast of the United States and in the UK, Denmark, and Germany. As a researcher, I work on the company's B2C side, but there is also a relevant B2B aspect.

And just some context outside of my work. In 2015, I started to learn how to cook, and now I can make complex vegan meals! In the years, I also picked up other hobbies, like table tennis, hiking, and listening to podcasts.

Today, I will talk to you about a project we did to better understand the personas on our platform and their top usability issues.

My role

I am a user researcher at Tasty Delivery, and during this project, I was the only qualitative user researcher. I lead all of the interviews, and the end-to-end process, such as recruitment, synthesis, and workshops.

I was fortunate enough to work with an amazing team that included two designers, a product manager, and a few developers. They were present in almost all of the research sessions (notetakers!) and the synthesis and related workshops. Although I did some synthesis on my own, they helped me with putting the main themes together. At the end of the project, we had some relevant findings to the marketing team, so I worked with them on workshops as well.

The project had come from a road mapping session the product team had done. I was part of that session, so I had a lot of background knowledge. However, I had them fill out a research request template. This helped me prioritize the project against other requests coming in, as it was a company priority.

Timeline

Overall, the project took a total of one and a half months. Of course, we are still iterating on the personas, but the deliverables were created and shared within that timeframe.

  • Discussing the project: 1 week
  • Recruitment: 2 weeks
  • Conducting research: 2.5 weeks
  • Survey: 1 week
  • Analysis: 1.5 weeks
  • Report: 1 week

Research statement and goals

We wanted to understand better how users think about ordering food online and how they interact with our product to improve our app's experience.

What were the goals of the research project?

  1. Discover user’s mental models on how and why they order food online (agnostic of Tasty Delivery)
  2. Uncover the different products people are using to order food online, and their experience with these products
  3. Evaluate how people are using Tasty Delivery to surface the top pain points

Research methodology

For this project, we decided on two different methods to fit the timeline:

  • One-on-one generative interviews
  • A follow-up survey

We decided on “walk the store” style interviews for the one-on-one generative interviews, which meant we had a 90-minute conversation. The first thirty minutes focused on their day-to-day and how ordering food online fits into their days. We also discussed competitors and other products. The latter 60 minutes was spent doing a complete walkthrough of the product, based on how they generally use it. This portion of the interview was a mix of interviewing and contextual inquiry. I observed them using the app, as they thought aloud, and then asked clarifying questions whenever necessary. I chose this method because it allowed us to understand people’s mental models of online food delivery and see how people interacted with our app. With this interaction, I could pinpoint the top pain points for the teams to focus on. Overall, we held 17 of these interviews.

We then did a follow-up survey in which we quantified the findings. Since the team would use this information for a future roadmap, I wanted to make sure the findings were as reliable and valid as possible. In this case, we used the insights we found of the top pain points and surveyed over 1,000 users on each pain point's importance and current satisfaction. We then calculated the opportunity gap (the level of importance of the pain point minus the current satisfaction level).

The stakeholders (product managers, designers, and developers) joined most of the research sessions as observers and as notetakers.

Recruitment criteria and process

For this study, we were looking for a mixture of users and non-users. We did this because we wanted to make sure we got a fresh perspective of the app and see how first-time users respond to our flow and experience. This helped us ensure we weren’t just looking at power users that were “used to” our flows.

Some of our recruitment criteria were:

  • Have ordered food online at least once in the past month
  • Has used an online food delivery app
  • Age: 25–45
  • Geography: the US only
  • Language: English

We used the following tools for recruitment:

  • HotJar pop-up on the app and website
  • Emailing newsletter subscribers

We used a 20% discount voucher on their next order as an incentive for this study to recruit as quickly as possible.

Sample questions or usability tasks

Here is a link to the moderation guide.

During the interview sessions, I used very open-ended questions. To ensure this was the case, I used the TEDW approach to frame most of my questions. This led to an extremely open conversation, which allowed us to understand mental models and pain points without leading them.

When it came to the walkthrough portion of the interview, we had users walk us through the last order they made (whether it was on our platform) and then prompted the participants to talk through each step in detail.

Analysis and synthesis process

After each session, I hold a 30-minute debrief session with the team to discuss key takeaways, pain points, and surprises. This helps the team reflect on the session and starts building us up to the larger synthesis.

I synthesize research sessions by listening to each session 24 hours afterward and transcribing the session directly into an excel spreadsheet. I then code the data with common tags (such as pain points, needs, goals, tools). I also use this opportunity to highlight relevant quotes.

After eight interviews (halfway through), I held a mini synthesis session. Every stakeholder took three interviews, listened to them, and tagged the data. In the session, we did affinity mapping of the most common trends. Since we were hyper-focused on pain points for this study, we looked into those and goals, needs, and other products participants were using. The reason I did this mini-synthesis is that I know 17 sessions can feel overwhelming. This split up the sessions and made it more digestible.

I then held another session at the end of the project, where we tackled the remaining interviews. We then layered the mapping from the previous session and found the overarching trends. We discussed the top themes using the RICE method (reach, impact, confidence, effort) and did some dot voting to find the top three action items.

I also held a few workshops with marketing once we found some content insights.

Outputs and deliverables

After synthesizing each session, I put together a report for the session. I called this a research snapshot as it gives a high-level overview of what happened in that particular session. It is beneficial for teams to have this information at-a-glance because they ingest it more easily and take action.

After the mini-synthesis, I put together a report. In this report, I summarized the key takeaways and pain points we were finding. In this report, I included videos and links to more information. I did this as well after the final synthesis.

Other deliverables included two new personas and the first iteration of a customer journey map (which needs to be validated later). We chose personas because, before this project, the teams had little understanding of who was using our product and why. These personas enabled them to anchor decision-making, and what should be prioritized next.

In addition to the deliverables, we presented the results to several teams, including marketing, sales, and the C-level. These presentations were taken very well, and the teams felt empowered to use the insights across the organization.

Impact

This research helped the entire organization understand how customers move across our product and the most painful experiences they encounter. Teams could better work together on the holistic experience, making it more seamless for our users. During the quarterly planning, the insights and the personas were used in the prioritization and planning process — the pain points were highlighted and are being tackled through ideation, prototyping, and more research.

At a larger level, the marketing team was able to iterate on their content strategy, including how they reached out to customers, which increased our overall conversion rate and the number of orders per newsletter subscriber.

We have been working on improving the pain points, which has led to an increase in revenue per user.

Finally, our culture shifted in that the organization moved to a more user-centric mindset and is now more excited to do research.

Next steps and recommendations

Many pain points came out of the research. We are now following-up on these pain points with ideation and usability testing:

  • The checkout flow was long and difficult to get through
  • It was hard for users to know where they were (grocery store, restaurant, coffee shop)
  • There was little reason for users to return and stay loyal to us

We shipped an MVP of a loyalty program, which has an increased retention rate by 5%. We also iterated on the checkout flow, making it more concise and straightforward. This increased click-thru rate by 15%

We will continue to iterate on the personas as we learn more. We also will validate the customer journey map with more interviews.

Reflections

What went well:

  • People actually used the research!
  • The methodology allowed us to reach all of our goals
  • Stakeholders participated in the research
  • The mindset of the organization shifted towards more user-centricity

Challenges:

  • Recruitment took a very long time -> I will target better next time on more focused recruitment criteria
  • It took a while to get buy-in ->I will educate more on the value of research
  • The scope of the project changed a lot -> I will send an intake document sooner to have everything documented
  • There were some last-minute participant no shows, so we had to scramble for back-ups -> I will find a way to include back-ups in recruitment

(Optional) Your/teams assumptions and biases

Biases/assumptions:

  • People order food because they are lazy
  • People want to order food from many different places (ex: grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants, bakeries)
  • People don’t know what they want before they open the app (more browsing)

What we validated:

  • People want the ability to order food from many places but tend to have a few favorites

What we disproved:

People don’t order food because they are lazy; they order because:

  • Something went wrong with dinner (ex: forgot to pick up something, groceries went off)
  • Stress (ex: too much to do)
  • Fun (ex: a relaxing night in)
  • People have an idea of what they want before even opening the app

I truly hope this walk-through of my approach has helped you and can guide you through your next case study! Don’t forget to check out my template!

Interested in all things user research? Sign up for my newsletter and join the slack community! And check out User Research Academy for freebies, courses, and more!

The UX Collective donates US$1 for each article published in our platform. This story contributed to Bay Area Black Designers: a professional development community for Black people who are digital designers and researchers in the San Francisco Bay Area. By joining together in community, members share inspiration, connection, peer mentorship, professional development, resources, feedback, support, and resilience. Silence against systemic racism is not an option. Build the design community you believe in.
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How I bombed my first generative research interview

And how I recovered.

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I had just joined my second full-time job in user research at a company called Olapic. I was bushy-eyed and excited. A few weeks in, I was doing a good job learning and absorbing all the information I could. I was proud to have recently learned how to write research plans in a new way. I was also delving into the subject of discovery research, of which I had almost no experience.

I observed a few research sessions run by my manager. I tried to pay attention to the questions he was asking. I noticed he was entirely improvising his questions, following a loose guide of topics. He based his questions on what the participant had just said.

We had our weekly catch-up after one of these sessions. A few more interview sessions were coming up. I distinctly remember my manager facing me and saying, “Nikki, you’ll run the next generative research session. What do you think?”

I. Was. Terrified. But, of course, I agreed. The week between that meeting and the next interview was the fastest week of my life.

The day came. I remember standing by the printer, waiting for my discussion guide to print, and listening to the audible thumping of my heart. I grabbed my paper with trembling hands, and my heart climbed further up my throat as I sat in front of my computer. My heart galloped along as more people joined in observing.

I dialed in and started the call. My voice was so high-pitched and shaky as I spoke about the weather; I’m surprised the glass in the room didn’t shatter. Right from the start, the participant mentioned a specific feature I was not familiar with. It took me over five minutes of asking the same question before I could comprehend what she was explaining. The participant was frustrated, and I wanted to go home to cry.

I bumbled on but kept drawing blanks or misunderstanding what the participant was saying. About 15 minutes into our scheduled 90-minute call, I gave up. I was too flustered and embarrassed to form a coherent question. My manager stepped in and finished the rest of the interview as I sat and stared vacantly at the wall.

As soon as the 90 minutes finished, I mumbled sorry and ran to the bathroom. I cried for ten minutes straight. Later on, at home, I continued to cry. I woke up the next morning not wanting to go into work. I questioned my right to be a user researcher. I wondered whether this was the right job for me, or if I could be a good user researcher. I considered quitting and going into a role where I didn’t have to talk to anyone — I envied developers. I was defeated and demotivated.

How I recovered:

My manager sat me down after about two weeks. He asked me what was wrong and why I was avoiding research like it was the plague. I covered my face and admitted to him the feelings of imposter syndrome and the doubts I was facing. He told me we all make mistakes and that it wasn’t a big deal. He pointed me to a few resources on generative research, such as Indi Young’s website.

For the next two weeks, I scoured the internet for discovery research guides, talks, webinars, videos, and books. I read countless articles and watched as many videos as I could find. I wrote down many different questions I wanted to ask participants and used open-ended phrasing. I also took the time to have several people walk me through the product, and experienced it from a user’s perspective.

I got my curiosity back. That was the key. I was eager to learn by doing, instead of trying to be perfect at something I had barely practiced. A few weeks later, I went into the next generative research session. It wasn’t perfect, but I spent the whole 90 minutes asking questions. Some might have been leading, and some might have confused the participant, but it was a significant improvement.

I realized that it happens. We all have to start somewhere, and we can’t be perfect with everything. I had to relinquish my control if I was to be successful as a user researcher. I let go of the need to know and plan everything and allowed the participant to lead the conversation where they needed. I was living the phrase, “go with the flow.”

How to prepare:

  • Know the in’s and out’s of the product you are testing. That way, if a participant brings up how they are using a product, you will understand what they are talking about. You also won’t have to ask them to explain irrelevant details. Still have them show you how they are using the product, of course!
  • Understand any product-related or industry jargon the participant may use, so you aren’t asking clarifying questions on terms. Knowing the jargon also helps you keep up and relate to the participant on a deeper level
  • Write a discussion guide with prompting questions if it helps you. I ended up having to do this.
  • Use TEDW to foster open-ended conversations, and to write any questions beforehand
  • Practice on a colleague (we always have dry runs for people who are learning)!
  • Observe others conducting similar interviews and ask them how they prepare
  • Assess your previous interviews to derive action items on how you might improve next time (check out my freebie here)
  • Continue your curiosity and passion for learning. Seek out courses, podcasts, webinars, books, or blog posts on the topic and use them!
  • Try an improv class! These classes help you to think on your feet and go with the flow
  • Share your fears, doubts, or concerns with your manager, mentor, or colleague. Just voicing these thoughts helps you through them, and the person may have valuable resources to share

I hope this story does either, or both, of the following:

  • Helps someone prepare for their first generative research interviews
  • Shows someone that they are not alone in feeling like an imposter, or feeling inadequate in their role

After so many years of being in this field, I still fail and make mistakes. The other day, I overcommitted to a project the team could not support. I failed my stakeholders. I still wanted to crawl into bed, but I called them the next morning, explained my mistake, and mentioned other ways to support them. I am less likely to make that mistake again.

We have all failed, and we have all made mistakes. Failure and making mistakes are the best places from which you can grow. The beauty is, you will never stop making mistakes. And you will never stop growing and learning.

Interested in all things user research? Sign up to my newsletter and join the slack community! And check out User Research Academy for freebies, courses, and more!

The UX Collective donates US$1 for each article published in our platform. This story contributed to UX Para Minas Pretas (UX For Black Women), a Brazilian organization focused on promoting equity of Black women in the tech industry through initiatives of action, empowerment, and knowledge sharing. Silence against systemic racism is not an option. Build the design community you believe in.
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Freelance or in-house… where to go next in user research?

Which user research track should you choose?

Dilbert comic on freelancing
Source

There is no right way to get into user research or one perfect next step on the journey. Whether you are just starting or have been in the field for years, there is no “correct” place for a given level of experience. There is no template for the perfect career path. We are user researchers, and we come from a large variety of backgrounds. Our paths will be just as varied.

I have questioned this next step frequently, to be honest. I am a classic “grass-is-always-greener” case. When I am an in-house researcher, I long for the days of freelance, and when I’m a freelancer, I wish for a stable 9–5. I transitioned between these two roles in the past seven years and, I must say, I love both for their reasons. The choice depends so much on:

  • What your goals are
  • What you want out of your role
  • Your level of experience
  • How comfortable you are in different environments

I will talk about the pros/cons of both sides. This article talks about my experience I have had in both roles. I want to provide as much guidance as possible for those who are asking themselves this question. However, my experience may be very different from yours, or you might disagree. In that case, go for it! Try new things and report back!

In-house researcher

I, personally, have come to love being an in-house user researcher. Creating your schedule and working for yourself is fun. However, I love the distinct impact of working in-house. Here are my favorite parts of working in a company as a full-time user researcher:

  • Working consistently with the same product. Although some may see this concept as a con (which I explain below), I love it. I love watching the product I’m working on evolving. When I am in-house, I can see my direct impact on this product, which is why I became a user researcher. I watch the pain points of users melt away as we improve. It is very gratifying to see how you have helped shape a product through research.
  • Develop in-depth knowledge of an industry. Learning about an industry is fantastic as it allows you to understand your users deeply. You can generate profound insights about who uses your product and what the motivations might be. I loved becoming an expert on hospitality, social media management (SaaS), and e-commerce. It helped me contextualize my learnings from research into an enormous scope.
  • Learning how to work on and impact a team. You can learn how to work on a team and how to help that team along with user research. Working with others helps you learn how to pitch the value of user research to different roles. Your process becomes your own as you work through how to integrate user research into an organization. You can also try new and creative methods of introducing and reporting on research.
  • Mentorship. Mentorship and proper management aren’t a given, but you are likely to find a manager to guide you. When you have someone to help you, you can learn and develop much more than on your own. They will teach you how to navigate the world of user research properly. A built-in mentor (through a manager)is hands down the biggest pro of being an in-house researcher
  • Receiving a stable paycheck. I love getting paid. I also love getting paid the same amount at the same time every single month. I know how much I will get and when it will drop into my bank account. I can count on my paycheck. Even if it isn’t “enough,” I still know it will be there and how to budget around it.

And, of course, there is the other side of the coin. Here are the cons of having an in-house research role:

  • Getting stuck in company politics. There is nothing more that I hate than getting sucked into company politics. This can happen if you are working in the same company long-term. It creates tunnel vision. You can no longer see things for what they are but, instead, through a lens of who said what, who was upset, and who pissed someone else off.
  • No set working schedule. There are days when I wake up early, ready to work by 7 am. And there are days when I couldn’t be bothered to open my email until after lunch. Some days I don’t want to talk to or see another human. Having to be at work during certain hours can be a drag.
  • Same sh*t, different day. The same job with the same people can sometimes be monotonous. You can feel like you are getting nowhere despite the work you are putting in and can get boring.

As a junior, I would recommend an agency or in-house with a user research team and a strong user research manager. These positions will help you develop your skills much faster and further than on your working through freelance.

Freelance researcher

Freelancing can be a lot of fun, and something is alluring about being a freelancer. Although I did freelance for some time in New York City, and I did love it, I default to in-house. Here are some of the things I loved about freelancing:

  • Variety of projects. With freelancing, you hop between different projects. You get three months in one place, maybe six months at another, and others might only need you for a few weeks. You are continually working on new ideas and products. This feeling can be refreshing and exciting.
  • Seeing how different organizations operate. It is incredible to see how various organizations structure themselves and how they integrate user research. You get to see a variety of teams and their ways of working. Having these experiences can help you apply user research to a diverse set of situations.
  • Understanding different industries. Jumping around projects also means jumping around sectors. You can spend a few weeks in e-commerce, a few months in academia, and then some in payments. You will see B2C, B2B, B2B2C companies and understand how user research fits into the puzzle of these.
  • Flexible working. You don’t have to be in an office at a specific time every day of the working week. I loved being able to get groceries on a Monday when everyone was at work. Working for yourself means setting your schedule and “unlimited” vacation.

And cons to consider:

  • Dealing with health insurance and taxes. I hate paperwork. And I loathe paperwork that I don’t understand. When you are freelancing, there is a lot of paperwork that isn’t easy to understand. You have to deal with your health insurance and taxes, which can get complicated. It is time-consuming and arduous.
  • Not a stable source of income. Not having a guaranteed paycheck is one of the hardest parts of being a freelancer. Contracts and jobs can fall through at the last minute, and people can ghost you. Nothing is ever as secure as you would find in an in-house role. Also, you may have to chase people to pay you for work you did.
  • Unsure of your impact. Since you are jumping around different projects and companies, you never know if your work will be used. You might put a lot of effort into research to never see the changes come through on the company’s side. You leave a lot up to them, which can feel frustrating.
  • Marketing yourself constantly. To get work, you have to market yourself through networking events, reaching out to recruiters, and talking to others in the field. During these times, it can be hard to have a normal conversation since you are selling yourself all the time. This constant search for another contract or temporary role can get exhausting.
  • Blurry work/life balance. When I was freelancing, I would do a lot of work from home. This meant that I sometimes turned on the TV at 2 pm, making me wildly unproductive. Or, other days, I would be working late into the night. Like we are all facing with remote work now, it can be hard to find a balance when you are working from home.
  • It can be lonely. This experience might be me, but I could feel quite isolated. There were days when I didn’t speak to another human. There was no chit chat by the coffee machine or shared lunches. I couldn’t make “work friends.” This feeling wore down on me.

Looking for freelance user research work? Guess what! It’s the same as looking for a full-time job. You have to apply different search criteria. Here are a few ways I recommend:

  • Job boards (ex: LinkedIn) and use the filters for contact or temporary work
  • Slack channels
  • Networking and word-of-mouth

A note on agency life
Agency lifestyle means you will be working on different projects, brands, and teams, which is attractive in gathering a lot of experience. However, agencies are less likely to do in-depth discovery research, and you aren’t as likely to follow through with the product/brand to make sure the analysis is actioned on or continued. Sometimes an agency is a happy medium between in-house and freelance!

My biggest advice for those just starting is to go in-house or agency. A lot of freelance roles will be for mid-level or senior user researchers because they have to come into a company and do things pretty quickly. Often, you won’t get a lot of guidance, and the company will be in a difficult spot with user research. This is super hard for someone junior to tackle!

Don’t force or rush into any of these if they don’t feel right. I promise you will have the opportunity to try all of them throughout your career if you’d like. Overall, the path is up to you!


The UX Collective donates US$1 for each article published in our platform. This story contributed to UX Para Minas Pretas (UX For Black Women), a Brazilian organization focused on promoting equity of Black women in the tech industry through initiatives of action, empowerment, and knowledge sharing. Silence against systemic racism is not an option. Build the design community you believe in.
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Using mindfulness to improve research sessions

A Case for Single-Tasking

Photo by Josh Power on Unsplash

Mindfulness is a popular buzzword these days, ranging from its roots in Buddhism to meditation to work/life balance. There are many scientific studies demonstrating how mindfulness positively impacts your health in a variety of ways, such as reducing blood pressure, anxiety, depression and stress. By focusing our attention and awareness on the present moment, including any thoughts or feelings that arise, we are able to be more mindful of what is happening in a given moment. To me, one way I describe mindfulness is “single-tasking.”

What does this have to do with user research?

Before I begin a research session, I close my eyes, take a few deep breaths and focus my attention on my breathing. I get a sense of thoughts bouncing around my head, such as needing to write an email or thinking about what I’m eating for dinner. I will write down thoughts (usually a to-do list), such as writing the email, in my notebook so they don’t continue to pester me while I’m trying to conduct a session, and I will gently acknowledge and let go of any additional thoughts and feelings. This is similar to (and sometimes combined with) another exercise where I write down my assumptions and potential biases before a session.

I try to walk into every research session with a relatively blank mind. This doesn’t mean I am an emotionless black hole of a human, but, instead of being swept away to the magical realm of rumination, I am focused on the users and their ruminations. This process allows me to “single-task,” which increases my ability to empathize with users, in the moment, and fosters a better environment for deep understanding.

5 ways practicing mindfulness can impact your research sessions:

  1. Allowing you to listening deeply: By letting go of your thoughts, you are able to focus on what the user is saying. Instead of being caught up thinking about an email you forgot to write earlier, you are more able to direct your attention to what is being said and understanding the why behind user’s thoughts and feelings.
  2. Being in the present moment: I believe one of the greatest gifts we can give someone is our undivided attention. Being in the moment means focusing on the here and now, and paying really close attention to what is being said. We are really understanding what users are saying as opposed to forming our next thought or question while the person is still talking. This skill is essential in building true empathy and compassion.
  3. More easily understanding others: You, as the researcher, have a responsibility to understand what is being said by a user. One really great way to test this is to try to reiterate what’s being said to you, in their language. If a user is speaking with you about a complex subject, or they simply lost you, instead of nodding and agreeing, you can say, “Okay, you mentioned X and I’m not sure I understand, could you explain that again?” In order to do this, you will need to ensure you are paying attention and practicing deep listening.
  4. Coming from a place of non-judgment/bias: Most researchers know part of their job is to remove bias and judgment from research sessions, but bias and judgment can, often, sit more deeply in the subconscious. Mindfulness allows us to be more aware of these thoughts, which prompts us to write them down on paper before we walk into the session, essentially, clearing our mind. Even if a user’s needs or goals seems small, they could be that person’s entire world, and we will avoid trivializing or glossing over these potential insights.
  5. Not taking it personally: Who cares if users hate the product? You shouldn’t. By being mindful of our reactions, we are able to stop ourselves from shutting down during a session, or avoiding certain areas, because a user said something less than ideal. Not only will it be easier to receive feedback, but it will also improve your ability to share insights without skewing the message.

So, before stepping into your next user research interview: close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, let go of those thoughts swirling in your mind, write down your to-do list, record your biases/assumptions and be mindful of your user. Single-task.

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