IMPRINT

Imprint
© 2015 Smashing Magazine GmbH, Freiburg, Germany
ISBN (PDF): 978-3-945749-20-3
Cover Design: Veerle Pieters
eBook Strategy and Editing: Vitaly Friedman
Technical Editing: Cosima Mielke
Planning and Quality Control: Vitaly Friedman, Iris Lješnjanin
Tools: Elja Friedman
Idea & Concept: Smashing Magazine GmbH

2
About This Book
User research is an effective strategy to gain a deeper un-
derstanding of your target audience — a crucial step in
order to choose efficient design solutions and build smart
products. But what has to be considered when conducting
user research? What methods have proven themselves in
practice? And how do you finally integrate your findings
into the design process? With this eBook, you will learn
to take the guesswork out of your design decisions and
base them on real-life experiences and user needs instead.
To get you started, we’ll consider various research
methods and techniques, but we will also tackle the more
practical aspects (and difficulties) which face-to-face re-
search brings along. Learning to identify potential re-
search partners and finding the right questions to ask
during an interview thus is part of this eBook — as well as
presenting your findings und using them to iterate on
your products’ designs. If you feel that you and your team
make a lot of decisions based on assumptions, then this
eBook is your jump start into a more user-centered de-
sign process. Find the techniques that fit into your work-
flow and start to discover the actual problems — and un-
met needs — of potential users firsthand.

— Cosima Mielke, Smashing eBook Producer

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 IMPRINT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A Five Step Process For Conducting User Research............ 5

A Closer Look At Personas: What They Are And How
They Work .......................................................................................26
A Closer Look At Personas: A Guide To Developing The
Right Ones ...................................................................................... 48
All You Need To Know About Customer Journey
Mapping ........................................................................................... 71
Facing Your Fears: Approaching People For Research ..... 81
Considerations When Conducting User Research In
Other Countries: A Brazilian Case Study..............................101
How To Run User Tests At A Conference.............................119
About The Authors ...................................................................... 139

4
A Five Step Process For
Conducting User Research
BY DAVID SHERWIN ❧

Imagine that this is what you know about me: I am a

college-educated male between the ages of 35 and 45. I
own a MacBook Pro and an iPhone 5, on which I browse
the Internet via the Google Chrome browser. I tweet and
blog publicly, where you can discover that I like chocolate
and corgis. I’m married. I drive a Toyota Corolla. I have
brown hair and brown eyes. My credit-card statement
shows where I’ve booked my most recent hotel reserva-
tions and where I like to dine out.
If your financial services client provided you with this
data, could you tell them why I’ve just decided to move
my checking and savings accounts from it to a new bank?
This scenario might seem implausible when laid out like
this, but you’ve likely been in similar situations as an in-
teractive designer, working with just demographics or
website usage metrics.
We can discern plenty of valuable information about a
customer from this data, based on what they do and when
they do it. That data, however, doesn’t answer the ques-
tion of why they do it, and how we can design more effec-
tive solutions to their problems through our clients’ web-
sites, products and services. We need more context. User
research helps to provide that context.
User research helps us to understand how other peo-
ple live their lives, so that we can respond more effective-
ly to their needs with informed and inspired design solu-

5
 A FIVE STEP PROCESS FOR CONDUCTING USER RESEARCH

tions. User research also helps us to avoid our own biases,

because we frequently have to create design solutions for
people who aren’t like us.
So, how does one do user research? Let me share with
you a process we use at Frog1 to plan and conduct user re-
search. It’s called the “research learning spiral.” The spiral
was created by Erin Sanders, one of our senior interaction
designers and design researchers. It has five distinct
steps, which you go through when gathering information
from people to fill a gap in your knowledge.

The research learning spiral is a five-step process for conducting user re-
search, originated by Erin Sanders at Frog.

“The spiral is based on a process of learning and need-

finding,” Sanders says. “It is built to be replicable and can
fit into any part of the design process. It is used to help
designers answer questions and overcome obstacles

1. http://www.frogdesign.com/

6
 when trying to understand what direction to take when
creating or moving a design forward.”
The first three steps of the spiral are about formulat-
ing and answering questions, so that you know what you
need to learn during your research:

1. Objectives
These are the questions we are trying to answer. What do
we need to know at this point in the design process?
What are the knowledge gaps we need to fill?

2. Hypotheses
These are what we believe we already know. What are
our team’s assumptions? What do we think we under-
stand about our users, in terms of both their behaviors
and our potential solutions to their needs?

3. Methods
These address how we plan to fill the gaps in our knowl-
edge. Based on the time and people available, what meth-
ods should we select?

Once you’ve answered the questions above and factored

them into a one-page research plan that you can present
to stakeholders2, you can start gathering the knowledge
you need through the selected research methods:

4. Conduct
Gather data through the methods we’ve selected.

2. http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2012/01/26/ux-research-plan-stakeholders-
love/

7
 A FIVE STEP PROCESS FOR CONDUCTING USER RESEARCH

5. Synthesize
Answer our research questions, and prove or disprove our
hypotheses. Make sense of the data we’ve gathered to dis-
cover what opportunities and implications exist for our
design efforts.

You already use this process when interacting with peo-

ple, whether you are consciously conducting research or
not. Imagine meeting a group of 12 clients who you have
never worked with. You wonder if any of them has done
user research before. You believe that only one or two of
them have conducted as much user research as you and
your team have. You decide to take a quick poll to get an
answer to your question, asking everyone in the room to
raise their hand if they’ve ever conducted user research.
Five of them raise their hands. You ask them to share
what types of user research they’ve conducted, jotting
down notes on what they’ve done. You then factor this in-
formation into your project plan going forward.
In a matter of a few minutes, you’ve gone through the
spiral to answer a single question. However, when you’re
planning and conducting user research for an interactive
project or product, each step you take through the spiral
will require more time and energy, based on the depth
and quantity of questions you need to answer. So, let’s
take an in-depth spin through the research learning spi-
ral. At each step of the spiral, I’ll share some of the activi-
ties and tools I use to aid my teams in managing the com-
plexity of planning and conducting user research. I’ll also
include a sample project to illustrate how those tools can
support your team’s user research efforts.

8
I like to write my research-framing questions on sticky notes, so that I can
better prioritize and cluster them. The most important questions are
translated into my research objective and captured in my research plan.

1. Objectives: The Questions We Are Trying

To Answer
Imagine that you’re in the middle of creating a next-gen-
eration program guide for TV viewers in Western Europe.
Your team is debating whether to incorporate functionali-
ty for tablet and mobile users that would enable them to
share brief clips from shows that they’re watching to so-
cial networks, along with their comments.
“Show clip sharing,” as the team calls it, sounds cool,
but you aren’t exactly sure who this feature is for, or why
users would want to use it.
Step back from the wireframing and coding, sit down
with your team, and quickly discuss what you already

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 A FIVE STEP PROCESS FOR CONDUCTING USER RESEARCH

know and understand about the product’s goal. To facili-

tate this discussion, ask your team to generate a series of
framing questions to help them identify which gaps in
knowledge they need to fill. They would write these ques-
tions down on sticky notes, one question per note, to be
easily arranged and discussed.
These framing questions would take a “5 Ws and an
H” structure, similar to the questions a reporter would
need to answer when writing the lede of a newspaper sto-
ry:

• “Who?” questions help you to determine prospective au-

diences for your design work, defining their demograph-
ics and psychographics and your baseline recruiting crite-
ria.

• “What?” questions clarify what people might be doing, as

well as what they’re using in your website, application or
product.

• “When?” questions help you to determine the points in

time when people might use particular products or tech-
nologies, as well as daily routines and rhythms of behav-
ior that might need to be explored.

• “Where?” questions help you to determine contexts of use

— physical locations where people perform certain tasks
or use key technologies — as well as potential destina-
tions on the Internet or devices that a user might want to
access.

10
• “Why?” questions help you to explain the underlying
emotional and rational drivers of what a person is doing,
and the root reasons for that behavior.

• “How?” questions help you go into detail on what explicit

actions or steps people take in order to perform tasks or
reach their goals.

In less than an hour, you and your team can generate a

variety of framing questions, such as:

• “Who would share program clips?”

• “How frequently would viewers share clips?”

• “Why would people choose to share clips?”

Debate which questions need to be answered right away

and which would be valuable to consider further down
the road. “Now is your time to ask the more ‘out there’
questions,” says Lauren Serota, an associate creative di-
rector at Frog. “Why are people watching television in the
first place? You can always narrow the focus of your
questions before you start research… However, the exer-
cise of going lateral and broad is good exercise for your
brain and your team.”
When you have a good set of framing questions, you
can prioritize and cluster the most important questions,
translating them into research objectives. Note that re-
search objectives are not questions. Rather, they are sim-
ple statements, such as: “Understand how people in
Western Europe who watch at least 20 hours of TV a
week choose to share their favorite TV moments.” These

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 A FIVE STEP PROCESS FOR CONDUCTING USER RESEARCH

research objectives will put up guardrails around your re-

search and appear in your one-page research plan.
Don’t overreach in your objectives. The type of ques-
tions you want to answer, and how you phrase them as
your research objective, will serve as the scope for your
team’s research efforts. A tightly scoped research objec-
tive might focus on a specific set of tasks or goals for the
users of a given product (“Determine how infrequent TV
viewers in Germany decide which programs to record for
later viewing”), while a more open-ended research objec-
tive might focus more on user attitudes and behaviors, in-
dependent of a particular product (“Discover how French
students decide how to spend their free time”). You need
to be able to reach that objective in the time frame you
have alloted for the research.

In some projects, hypotheses may be expressed as written statements,

which would then be taken into account when selecting methods. Howev-
er, sometimes you’ll need to generate hypotheses in the form of design
sketches, which would then be pulled into the research planning process
and be used as stimuli in your design methods.

12
 2. Hypotheses: What We Believe We
Already Know
You’ve established the objectives of your research, and
your head is already swimming with potential design so-
lutions, which your team has discussed. Can’t you just go
execute those ideas and ship them?
If you feel this way, you’re not alone. All designers
have early ideas and assumptions about their product.
Some clients may have initial hypotheses that they would
like “tested” as well.
“Your hypotheses often constitute how you think and
feel about the problem you’ve been asked to solve, and
they fuel the early stages of work,” says Jon Freach, a de-
sign research director at Frog. Don’t be afraid to address
these hypotheses and, when appropriate, integrate them
into your research process to help you prove or disprove
their merit. Here’s why:

• Externalizing your hypotheses is important to becoming

aware of and minimizing the influence of your team’s
and client’s biases.

• Being aware of your hypotheses will help you select the

right methods to fulfill your research objective.

• You can use your early hypotheses to help communicate

what you’ve discovered through the research process.
(“We believed that [insert hypothesis], but we discovered
that [insert finding from research].”)

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 A FIVE STEP PROCESS FOR CONDUCTING USER RESEARCH

Generating research hypotheses is easy. Take your fram-

ing questions from when you formulated the objective
and, as a team, spend five to eight minutes individually
sketching answers to them, whether by writing out your
ideas on sticky notes, sketching designs and so forth. For
example, when thinking about the clip-sharing feature
for your next-generation TV program guide, your team
members would put their heads together and generate
hypotheses such as these:

• Attitude-related hypothesis
“TV watchers who use social networks like to hear about
their friends’ favorite TV shows.”

• Behavior-related hypothesis
“TV watchers only want to share clips from shows they
watch most frequently.”

• Feature-related hypothesis
“TV watchers are more likely to share a highlight from a
show if it’s popular with other viewers as well.”

3. Methods: How We Plan To Fill The Gaps

In Our Knowledge
Once you have a defined research objective and a pile of
design hypotheses, you’re ready to consider which re-
search methods are most appropriate to achieving your
objective. Usually, I’ll combine methods from more than
one of the following categories to achieve my research
objective. (People have written whole books about this

14
subject. See the end of this article for further reading on
user research methods and processes.)

Methods such as contextual inquiry, whereby you spend time with people
where they live and work, help you build a strong foundational under-
standing of how they live and of potentially unmet needs.

BUILDING A FOUNDATION
Methods in this area could include surveys, observational
or contextual interviews, and market and trend explora-
tions. Use these methods when you don’t have a good un-
derstanding of the people you are designing for, whether
they’re a niche community or a user segment whose be-
haviors shift rapidly. If you have unanswered questions
about your user base — where they go, what they do and
why — then you’ll probably have to draw upon methods
from this area first.

15
 A FIVE STEP PROCESS FOR CONDUCTING USER RESEARCH

Methods such as card sorting can help you understand how people orga-
nize and prioritize different types of information that’s important to them
— as well as help you generate new ideas and concepts that could prove
critical in your interactive designs.

GENERATING INSPIRATION AND IDEAS

Methods in this area could include diary studies, card
sorting, paper prototyping and other participatory design
activities. Once I understand my audience’s expertise and
beliefs well, I’m ready to delve deeper into what content,
functionality or products would best meet their needs.
This can be done by generating potential design solutions
in close collaboration with research participants, as well
as by receiving their feedback on early design hypothe-
ses.
Specifically, we can do this by generating or co-creat-
ing sketches, collages, rough interface examples, dia-
grams and other types of stimuli, as well as by sorting
and prioritizing information. These activities will help us

16
understand how our audience views the world and what
solutions we can create to fit that view (i.e. “mental mod-
els”). This helps to answer our “What,” “Where,” “When”
and “How” framing questions. Feedback at this point is
not meant to refine any tight design concepts or code pro-
totypes. Instead, it opens up new possibilities.

Methods such as usability testing can help us refine and improve existing
design ideas and website or application designs, as well as uncover gaps in
knowledge that we may not have considered. While what’s shown above is
a formal usability testing lab set-up, there are many ways to conduct simi-
lar tests3 with a wide range of tools, both on site and remotely.

EVALUATING AND INFORMING DESIGN

Methods in this area could include usability testing,
heuristic evaluations, cognitive walkthroughs and paper
prototyping. Once we’ve identified the functionality or

3. http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/10/20/comprehensive-review-
usability-user-experience-testing-tools/

17
 A FIVE STEP PROCESS FOR CONDUCTING USER RESEARCH

content that’s appropriate for a user, how do we present it

to them in a manner that’s useful and delightful? I use
methods in this area to refine design comps, simulations
and code prototypes. This helps us to answer questions
about how users would want to use a product or to per-
form a key task. This feedback is critical and, as part of an
iterative design process, enables us to refine and advance
concepts to better meet user needs.
Let’s go back to our hypothetical example, so that you
can see how your research objective and hypotheses de-
termine which methods your team will select. Take all of
your hypotheses — I like to start with at least 100 hy-
potheses — and arrange them on a continuum:

I like to write all of my research hypotheses on sticky notes, and cluster

them to identify how they may be proved or disproved through different
research methods.

On the left, place hypotheses related to who your users

are, where they live and work, their goals, their needs and
so forth. On the right, place hypotheses that have to do
with explicit functionality or design solutions you want
to test with users. In the center, place hypotheses related
to the types of content or functionality that you think

18
might be relevant to users. This point of this activity is
not to create an absolute scale or arrangement of hy-
potheses that you’ve created so far. The point is for your
team to cluster the hypotheses, finding important themes
or affinities that will help you to select particular meth-
ods. Serota says:

Choosing and refining your methods and approach is a

design project within itself. It takes iteration, practice
and time. Test things out on your friends and coworkers
to see what works and the best way to ask open-ended
questions.

Back to our clip-sharing research effort. When your team

looks at all of the hypotheses you’ve created to date, it will
realize that using two research methods would be most
valuable. The first method will be a participatory design
activity, in which you’ll create with users a timeline of
where and when they share their favorite TV moments
with others. This will give your team foundational knowl-
edge of situations in which clips might be shared, as well
as generate opportunities for clip-sharing that you can
discuss with users.
The second method will be an evaluative paper-proto-
typing activity, in which you will present higher-fidelity
paper prototypes of ideas on how people can share TV
clips. This method will help you address your hypotheses
on what solutions make the most sense in sharing situa-
tions. (Using two methods is best because mixing and
matching hypotheses across different categories within a
research session could confuse research participants.)

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 A FIVE STEP PROCESS FOR CONDUCTING USER RESEARCH

You can conduct multiple methods when meeting with users. My prefer-
ence is to conduct at least two different methods, moving from hearing
people share stories about their lives to encouraging them to be creative in
participatory activities.

4. Conduct: Gather Data Through The

Methods We’ve Selected
The research plan is done, and you have laid out your ear-
ly hypotheses on the table. Now you get to conduct the
appropriate research methods. Your team will recruit
eight users to meet with for one hour each over three
evenings, which will allow you to speak with people
when they’re most likely to be watching TV. Develop an
interview guide and stimuli, and test draft versions of
your activities on coworkers. Then, go into the field to
conduct your research.
When you do this, it’s essential that you facilitate the
research sessions properly, capturing and analyzing the

20
 notes, photos, videos and other materials that you collect
as you go.
Serota also recommends thinking on your feet: “It’s all
right to change course or switch something up in the
field. You wouldn’t be learning if you didn’t have to shift
at least a little bit.” Ask yourself, “Am I discovering what I
need to learn in order to reach my objective? Or am I
gathering information that I already know?” If you’re not
gaining new knowledge, then one of the following is
probably the reason why:

• You’ve already answered your research questions but

haven’t taken the time to formulate new questions and
hypotheses in order to dig deeper (otherwise, you could
stop conducting research and move immediately into
synthesis).

• The people who you believed were the target audience

are, in fact, not. You’ll need to change the recruitment
process (and the demographics or psychographics by
which you selected them).

• Your early design hypotheses are a poor fit. So, consider

improving them or generating more.

• The methods you’ve selected are not appropriate. So,

adapt or change them.

• You are spending all of your time in research sessions

with users, rather than balancing research sessions with
analysis of what you’ve discovered.

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 A FIVE STEP PROCESS FOR CONDUCTING USER RESEARCH

Our research teams prefer to externalize all of the data we’ve collected
throughout the research process. This helps us to find fresh connections
and patterns, which often lead to more powerful research findings.

5. Synthesis: Answer Our Research

Questions, And Prove Or Disprove Our
Hypotheses
Now that you’ve gathered research data, it’s time to cap-
ture the knowledge required to answer your research
questions and to advance your design goals. “In synthe-
sis, you’re trying to find meaning in your data,” says Sero-
ta. “This is often a messy process — and can mean read-
ing between the lines and not taking a quote or some-
thing observed at face value. The why behind a piece of
data is always more important than the what.”
The more time you have for synthesis, the more mean-
ing you can extract from the research data. In the synthe-
sis stage, regularly ask yourself and your team the follow-
ing questions:

22
• “What am I learning?”

• “Does what I’ve learned change how we should frame the

original research objective?”

• “Did we prove or disprove our hypotheses?”

• “Is there a pattern in the data that suggests new design

considerations?”

• “What are the implications of what I’m designing?”

• “What outputs are most important for communicating

what we’ve discovered?”

• “Do I need to change what design activities I plan to do

next?”

• “What gaps in knowledge have I uncovered and might

need to research at a later date?”

So, what did your team discover from your research into
sharing TV clips? TV watchers do want to share clips
from their favorite programs, but they are also just as
likely to share clips from programs they don’t watch fre-
quently if they find the clips humorous. They do want to
share TV clips with friends in their social networks, but
they don’t want to continually spam everyone in their
Facebook or Twitter feed. They want to target family,
close friends or individuals with certain clips that they,
the user believes, would find particularly interesting.
Your team should assemble concise, actionable findin-
gs and revise its wireframes to reflect the necessary
changes, based on the answers you’ve gathered. Now

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 A FIVE STEP PROCESS FOR CONDUCTING USER RESEARCH

your team will have more confidence in the solution, and

when your designs for the feature have been coded, you’ll
take another spin through the research learning spiral to
evaluate whether you got it right.

Further Reading On User-Research

Practices And Methods
The spiral makes it clear that user research is not simply
about card sorting, paper prototyping, usability studies
and contextual interviews, per se. Those are just methods
that researchers use to find answers to critical questions
— answers that fuel their design efforts. Still, understand-
ing what methods are available to you, and mastering
those methods, can take some time. Below are some
books and websites that will help you dive deeper into the
user-research process and methods as part of your profes-
sional practice.

• Observing the User Experience, Second Edition: A Practitioner’s

Guide to User Research4, Elizabeth Goodman, Mike Kuni-
avsky and Andrea Moed
A comprehensive guide to user research. Goes deep into
many of the methods mentioned in this article.

• Universal Methods of Design5, Bruce Hanington and Bella

Martin
A comprehensive overview of 100 methods that can be

4. http://www.amazon.com/Observing-User-Experience-Second-Edition/dp/
0123848695/
5. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592537561

24
 employed at various points in the user-research and de-
sign process.

• 101 Design Methods: A Structured Approach for Driving Innova-

tion in Your Organization6, Vijay Kumar
Places the user research process in the context of product
and service innovation.

• Design Library7, Austin Center for Design (AC4D)

An in-depth series of PDFs and worksheets that cover
processes related to user-research planning, methods and
synthesis. ❧

6. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1118083466
7. http://library.ac4d.com/

25
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: WHAT THEY ARE AND HOW THEY WORK

A Closer Look At Personas:

What They Are And How
They Work
BY SHLOMO GOLTZ ❧

In my experience as an interaction designer, I have come

across many strategies and approaches to increase the
quality and consistency of my work, but none more effec-
tive than the persona. Personas have been in use since the
mid-’90s and since then have gained widespread aware-
ness within the design community.
For every designer who uses personas, I have found
even more who strongly oppose the technique. I once also
viewed personas with disdain, seeing them as a silly dis-
traction from the real work at hand — that is, until I wit-
nessed them being used properly and to their full poten-
tial.
Once I understood why personas were valuable and
how they could be put into action, I started using them in
my own work, and then something interesting happened:
My process became more efficient and fun, while the
fruits of my labor became more impactful and useful to
others. Never before had I seen such a boost in clarity,
productivity and success in my own work. Personas will
supercharge your work, too, and help you take your de-
signs to the next level.
I hope that those who are unfamiliar with personas
will read this series of articles, divided into two parts, and
give them a try and that those who are opposed to their

26
use will reconsider their position. Where the use of per-
sonas has generated uncertainty and even controversy, I
have leaned in with curiosity and a critical eye, question-
ing the tenants of my discipline to determine what works
for me — and I’m all the better for it. Perhaps what I’ve
learned will help others in their journey to hone their
work as well.

What Is A Persona?

A persona document should clearly communicate and summarize research

data. (Image: Elizabeth Bacon8) (View large version9)

8. http://www.slideshare.net/ebacon/death-to-personas-long-live-personas-
presentation
9. http://media.mediatemple.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/
01-devise-opt.jpg

27
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: WHAT THEY ARE AND HOW THEY WORK

A persona is a way to model, summarize and communi-

cate research about people who have been observed or re-
searched in some way. A persona is depicted as a specific
person but is not a real individual; rather, it is synthesized
from observations of many people. Each persona repre-
sents a significant portion of people in the real world and
enables the designer to focus on a manageable and mem-
orable cast of characters, instead of focusing on thou-
sands of individuals. Personas aid designers to create dif-
ferent designs for different kinds of people and to design
for a specific somebody, rather than a generic everybody.

What Does A Persona Look Like?

While a persona is usually presented as a one-pager docu-
ment, it is more than just a deliverable — it is a way to
communicate and summarize research trends and pat-
terns to others. This fundamental understanding of users
is what’s important, not the document itself.
I emphasize this distinction because many people
think of a persona and the document that captures essen-
tial elements of the persona as the same thing — they are
not. It is all too easy for novice practitioners of goal-di-
rected design to fixate on the “best way” to make a per-
sona document and to lose sight of the bigger picture,
which is to fully understand a user and then simply share
the top-level information with others.

28
 The main elements presented here are the key goals and the “Day in the
Life,” which are common to all well-made persona documents. Other ele-
ments, such as the “Quick Take on Fred” are included because of team and/
or project requirements. Each project will dictate a certain approach to
producing persona documents. (Image: Interaction Design10)
(View large version11)

For designers looking for a jump start on creating per-

sona documents, I highly recommend the persona poster
template12 by Creative Companion. This poster organizes
and formats all of the important information that a de-
signer would need to create an amazing one-page deliver-
able.

10. http://www.user.com
11. http://media.mediatemple.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/
02-cook-opt.jpg
12. http://creativecompanion.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/the-persona-core-poster/

29
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: WHAT THEY ARE AND HOW THEY WORK

Where Does The Concept Of Personas

Come From?
Understanding the historical context and what personas
meant to their progenitor will help us understand what
personas can mean to us designers. Personas were infor-
mally developed by Alan Cooper13 in the early ’80s as a
way to empathize with and internalize the mindset of
people who would eventually use the software he was de-
signing.
Alan Cooper interviewed several people among the in-
tended audience of a project he was working on and got
to know them so well that he pretended to be them as a
way of brainstorming and evaluating ideas from their
perspective. This method-acting technique allowed Coop-
er to put users front and center in the design process as
he created software. As Cooper moved from creating soft-
ware himself to consulting, he quickly discovered that, to
be successful, he needed a way to help clients see the
world from his perspective, which was informed directly
by a sample set of intended users.
This need to inform and persuade clients led him to
formalize personas into a concrete deliverable that com-
municates one’s user-centered knowledge to those who
did not do the research themselves. The process of devel-
oping personas and the way in which they are used today
have evolved since then, but the premise remains the
same: Deeply understanding users is fundamental to cre-
ating exceptional software.

13. http://www.cooper.com/journal/2008/05/the_origin_of_personas

30
Personas are an essential part of goal-directed design. Each group of users
researched is represented by a persona, which in turn is represented by a
document. Several personas are not uncommon in a typical project.
(Image: Gemma MacNaught14) (View large version15)

How Do Personas Fit In The Design

Process?
Since its humble origin, Alan Cooper’s design methodolo-
gy has evolved into a subset of user-centered design,
which he has branded goal-directed design16. Goal-direct-
ed design combines new and old methodologies from
ethnography, market research and strategic planning,

14. http://www.slideshare.net/GemmaMacNaught/gemma-macnaught-
simplifying-personas-final-2
15. http://media.mediatemple.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/
03-persona-pile-opt.jpg
16. http://www.dubberly.com/articles/alan-cooper-and-the-goal-directed-design-
process.html

31
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: WHAT THEY ARE AND HOW THEY WORK

among other fields, in a way to simultaneously address

business needs, technological requirements (and limita-
tions) and user goals. Personas are a core component of
goal-directed design. I have found that understanding the
fundamentals of this goal-directed approach to design
first will help the designer understand and properly use
personas.
In the summer of 2011, I was fortunate enough to be-
come an intern at Cooper, which is where I learned
(among other things) how to use personas. At Cooper, I
found that, while personas are easy to understand con-
ceptually, mastering their use with finesse and precision
would take me many months. There, I witnessed every-
one on the team (and even the clients) referring to per-
sonas by name in almost every discussion, critique and
work session we had. Personas weren’t just created and
then forgotten — they were living, breathing characters
that permeated all that we did.
I learned that personas are an essential part of what
constitutes the goal-directed process. I learned that per-
sonas, though important, are never used in isolation, but
rather are implemented in conjunction with other
processes, concepts and methods that support and aug-
ment their use.

COMPONENTS OF GOAL-DIRECTED DESIGN

THAT SUPPORT PERSONAS

• End goal(s)
This is an objective that a persona wants or needs to ful-
fill by using software. The software would aid the per-

32
 sona to accomplish their end goal(s) by enabling them to
accomplish their tasks via certain features.

• Scenario(s)
This is a narrative that describes how a persona would in-
teract with software in a particular context to achieve
their end goal(s). Scenarios are written from the persona’s
perspective, at a high level, and articulate use cases that
will likely happen in the future.

The three parts of goal-directed design are most effective when used to-
gether. For instance, in order for a sprinter to reach their potential, they
need a place to run and a finish line to cross. Without a scenario or end
goal, the sprinter would have nothing to do or strive for.
(View large version17)

17. http://media.mediatemple.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/
04-running-persona-opt.jpg

33
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: WHAT THEY ARE AND HOW THEY WORK

Personas, end goals and scenarios relate to one another in

the same way that the main character in a novel or movie
goes on a journey to accomplish an objective. The classic
“hero’s journey” narrative device and its accompanying
constructs have been appropriated for the purpose of de-
signing better software.

How Are Personas Created?

Personas can be created in a myriad of ways, but design-
ers are recommended to follow this general formula:

1. Interview and/or observe an adequate number of people.

2. Find patterns in the interviewees’ responses and actions,

and use those to group similar people together.

3. Create archetypical models of those groups, based on the

patterns found.

4. Drawing from that understanding of users and the model

of that understanding, create user-centered designs.

5. Share those models with other team members and stake-

holders.

Step-by-step instructions on how to create a persona is

beyond the scope of this article, but we’ll cover this in the
second article in this series.

34
 What Are Personas Used For?
Personas can and should be used throughout the creative
process, and they can be used by all members of the soft-
ware development and design team and even by the en-
tire company. Here are some of the uses they can be put
to:

• Build empathy
When a designer creates a persona, they are crafting the
lens through which they will see the world. With those
glasses on, it is possible to gain a perspective similar to
the user’s. From this vantage point, when a designer
makes a decision, they do so having internalized the per-
sona’s goals, needs and wants.

• Develop focus
Personas help us to define who the software is being cre-
ated for and who not to focus on. Having a clear target is
important. For projects with more than one user type, a
list of personas will help you to prioritize which users are
more important than others. Simply defining who your
users are makes it more apparent that you can’t design
for everyone, or at least not for everyone at once — or else
you risk designing for no one. This will help you to avoid
the “elastic user,” which is one body that morphs as the
designer’s perspective changes.

• Communicate and form consensus

More often than not, designers work on multidisciplinary
teams with people with vastly different expertise, knowl-
edge, experience and perspectives. As a deliverable, the

35
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: WHAT THEY ARE AND HOW THEY WORK

personas document helps to communicate research find-

ings to people who were not able to be a part of the inter-
views with users. Establishing a medium for shared
knowledge brings all members of a team on the same
page. When all members share the same understanding
of their users, then building consensus on important is-
sues becomes that much easier as well.

• Make and defend decisions

Just as personas help to prioritize who to design for, they
also help to determine what to design for them. When
you see the world from your user’s perspective, then de-
termining what is useful and what is an edge case be-
comes a lot easier. When a design choice is brought into
question, defending it based on real data and research on
users (as represented by a persona) is the best way to
show others the logical and user-focused reasoning be-
hind the decision.

• Measure effectiveness
Personas can be stand-in proxies for users when the bud-
get or time does not allow for an iterative process. Vari-
ous implementations of a design can be “tested” by pair-
ing a persona with a scenario, similar to how we test de-
signs with real users. If someone who is play-acting a per-
sona cannot figure out how to use a feature or gets frus-
trated, then the users they represent will probably have a
difficult time as well.

36
Are Personas Effective?
If you still aren’t convinced that personas are useful, you
are not alone. Many prominent and outspoken members
of the design community, including Steve Portigal and Ja-
son Fried, feel that personas are not to be used. They
make compelling arguments, but they all rule out the use
of personas entirely, which I feel is much too strong. (A
nuanced analysis of their anti-persona perspectives is be-
yond the scope of this article but is definitely worth fur-
ther reading. Links to writings about these perspectives
can be found in the “Additional Resources” section at the
end of this article.)
Like any other tool in the designer’s belt, personas are
extremely powerful in the right time and place, while oth-
er times are simply not warranted; the trick is knowing
when to use which tool and then using it effectively.
Any tool can be used for good or evil, and personas are
no different. If used improperly, as when personas are
not based on research (with the exception of provisional
personas, which are based on anecdotal, secondhand in-
formation or which are used as a precursor or supple-
ment to firsthand research), or if made up of fluffy infor-
mation that is not pertinent to the design problem at
hand, or if based solely on market research (as opposed to
ethnographic research), then personas will impart an in-
accurate understanding of users and provide a false sense
of security in the user-centered design process.
As far as I can tell, only two scientifically rigorous aca-
demic studies on the effectiveness of personas have been
conducted: the first by Christopher N. Chapman in 2008,

37
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: WHAT THEY ARE AND HOW THEY WORK

and the second by Frank Long in 2009. Though small,

both concluded that using personas as part of the design
process aided in producing higher-quality and more suc-
cessful designs.
These studies join a growing body of peer-reviewed
work that supports the use of personas, including studies
by Kim Goodwin, Jeff Patton, David Hussman and even
Donald Norman. The anecdotal evidence from these and
many other writers has shown how personas can have a
profoundly positive impact on the design process.

An excerpt from Frank Long’s study of the effectiveness of personas. De-

signs created by students who used personas and scenarios (pink and
blue) scored higher than the designs of those who used neither (gray) in a
type of usability test called a heuristic analysis.

How And Why Do Personas Work?

Personas are effective because they leverage and stimu-
late several innate human abilities:

• Narrative practice
This is the ability to create, share and hear stories.

38
• Long-term memory
This is the ability to acquire and maintain memories of
the past (wisdom) from our own life experiences, which
can be brought to bear on problems that other people
face.

• Concrete thinking
This is the tendency for people to better relate to and re-
member tangible examples, rather than abstractions.

• Theory of mind (folk psychology)

This is the ability to predict another person’s behavior by
understanding their mental state.

• Empathy
This is the ability to understand, relate to and even share
the feelings of other specific people.

• Experience-taking
This is the ability to have the “emotions, thoughts, beliefs
and internal responses” of a fictional character when
reading or watching a story.

Personas, goals and scenarios tap into our humanity be-

cause they anthropomorphize research findings. When
hundreds or even thousands of users are represented by a
persona, imagining what they would do is a lot easier
than pouring over cold, hard, abstract data. By using per-
sonas, goals and personas together in what Cooper calls a
“harmonious whole,” one is able to work in a more mind-
ful way, keeping the user at the heart of everything one
does.

39
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: WHAT THEY ARE AND HOW THEY WORK

If a designer truly understands and internalizes the

user and their needs and how they could potentially ful-
fill those needs, then seeing potential solutions in the
mind’s eye becomes much easier; rich and vivid ideas
from the user’s perspective seem to percolate to the top of
mind more rapidly and frequently. These ideas are more
likely to turn into a successful design than by using other
methods because the designer has adopted the user’s fil-
ter or frame as their own.
This potent combination of personas, goals and sce-
narios help the designer to avoid thinking in the abstract
and to focus on how software could be used in an ideal-
ized yet more concrete and humanistic future.

Do I Really Need To Use Personas?

To determine whether personas would be appropriate, a
designer must first step back and determine who they are
designing for. Determining the audience for a design is
deceptively simple, yet many people never think to take
the time to explicitly figure this out.
The fundamental premise of user-centered design is
that as knowledge of the user increases, so too does the
likelihood of creating an effective design for them. If a
designer designs for themselves, then they wouldn’t need
to use personas because they are the user — they would
simply create what they need or want.
Designers do design for themselves from time to time,
but professionally most design for others. If they are do-
ing it for others, then they could be designing for only
two possible kinds of people: those who are like them and

40
those who are not like them. If they are designing for peo-
ple like them, then they could probably get away without
personas, although personas might help. Usually, though,
designers design for people unlike themselves, in which
case getting to know as much as possible about the users
by using personas is recommended.

Treat different people differently. Anything else is a com-

promise.
– Seth Godin

Personas help to prevent self-referential thinking, where-

by a designer designs as if they are making the software
only for themselves, when in fact the audience is quite
unlike them. This is how most designers actually work:
according to what they like or think is the right way to do
things. Even a seasoned designer can go only so far on in-
tuition. This is one of the biggest mistakes one can make
when designing software (or anything else, for that mat-
ter).

Conclusion
As human beings, designers are all biased and can only
see the world through their own eyes — however, they
can keep that in mind when designing from now on. De-
signers must strive to the best of their ability to keep
their biases and, dare I say, egos in check.
Designers don’t always know what is best — but some-
times users do and that is what personas are for: to stand
up and represent real users, since real users can’t be there
when the design process takes place. In your next project,

41
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: WHAT THEY ARE AND HOW THEY WORK

there will come a time when you must decide what is in

your user’s best interest. Just like in the movies, picture a
devil and angel on your shoulders, where the devil tries to
coax you to design something that pleases only your own
sensibilities, and the angel is the persona who cries out in
defence of their own needs. Who will you listen to?
Granted, not even the most disciplined user-centered
and goal-directed designer can be completely unbiased.
As professionals, we all use our best judgment to make
decisions (based on knowledge of the field, knowledge of
competitive markets and work experience), but some peo-
ple’s perspective is more self-centered than others. Per-
sonas help to keep a designer honest and to become
mindful of when they are truly designing for others and
when they are just designing for themselves. If you are
going to design for someone unlike yourself, then do
your users a solid and use a persona.
We’ll discuss the process of creating personas from
ethnographic research in part 2 of this series.

Additional Resources

PRESENTATIONS AND POSTERS

• “Presentation Deck: Personas Demystified18,” Shlomo

Goltz
Kick off a persona-creation project with your team.

18. http://www.slideshare.net/TheConartist/what-are-personas-and-how-to-use-
them-a-presentation-by-shlomo-goltz

42
• “Presentation Deck: Provisional Persona Workshop19,”
Shlomo Goltz
Create provisional personas with stakeholders.

• “Persona Poster Template20,” Creative Companion

A great way to get a jumpstart on creating a persona one-
pager.

BOOKS

• The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High-Tech Products

Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity21, Alan Cooper

• About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design22, Alan

Cooper

• Designing for the Digital Age: How to Create Human-Centered

Products and Services23, Kim Goodwin

• The Essential Persona Lifecycle: Your Guide to Building and Us-

ing Personas24, Tamara Adlin and John Pruitt

• The User Is Always Right: A Practical Guide to Creating and Us-

ing Personas for the Web25, Steve Mulder

19. http://www.slideshare.net/TheConartist/provisional-persona-workshop-10
20. http://creativecompanion.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/the-persona-core-poster/
21. http://www.amazon.com/Inmates-Are-Running-Asylum-Products/dp/
0672326140/
22. http://www.amazon.com/About-Face-Essentials-Interaction-Design/dp/
0470084111/
23. http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Digital-Age-Human-Centered-Products/
dp/0470229101/
24. http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Persona-Lifecycle-Building-Personas/dp/
0123814189/
25. http://www.amazon.com/User-Always-Right-Practical-Creating/dp/0321434536/

43
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: WHAT THEY ARE AND HOW THEY WORK

GOAL-DIRECTED DESIGN

• “Goal-Directed Design: An Interview With Kim Good-

win26,” Christine Perfetti, User Interface Engineering

• “Designing With Scenarios: Putting Personas to Work27”

(PDF slidedeck), Kim Goodwin

DEFINING PERSONAS

• “Perfecting Your Personas28,” Kim Goodwin, Cooper

Journal

• “Getting From Research to Personas: Harnessing the

Power of Data29,” Kim Goodwin, Cooper Journal

• “7 Core Ideas About Personas And The User Experience30,”

Jeff Sauro, Measuring Usability

• “Explaining Personas Used in UX Design,” Part 131, Part

232, Ben Melbourne

• Personas33 (white paper), W5

26. http://www.uie.com/articles/goal_directed_design/
27. http://rtsnance.com/ui15/pdfs/day-one/goodwin-wksp.pdf
28. http://www.cooper.com/journal/2008/05/perfecting_your_personas
29. http://www.cooper.com/journal/2008/05/getting_from_research_to_perso
30. https://www.measuringusability.com/blog/personas-ux.php
31. http://asinthecity.com/2011/05/13/explaining-personas-used-in-ux-design-
%E2%80%93-part-1/
32. http://asinthecity.com/2011/05/13/explaining-personas-used-in-ux-design-
%E2%80%93-part-2/
33. http://www.greenbook.org/marketing-research/w5-on-personas-06410

44
• “The Power of Personas34,” Charles B. Kreitzberg and Am-
brose Little, MSDN Magazine

• “Personas: Putting the Focus Back on the User35,” James

Costa, UX Booth

• “The Origin of Personas36,” Alan Cooper, Cooper Journal

• “Death to Personas! Long Live Personas!37” (slidedeck)

Elizabeth Bacon and Steve Calde, Catalyze

• “Personas38,” Lene Nielsen, Interaction Design Founda-

tion

HOW AND WHY PERSONAS WORK

• “The Narrative Practice Hypothesis: Clarifications and

Implications39,” Daniel D. Hutto, Academia.edu

• “Ad-Hoc Personas and Empathetic Focus40,” Donald

Norman

• “Personas and the Advantage of Designing for Yourself41,”

Joshua Porter

34. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd569755.aspx
35. http://www.uxbooth.com/articles/personas-putting-the-focus-back-on-the-
user/
36. http://www.cooper.com/journal/2008/05/the_origin_of_personas
37. http://www.slideshare.net/ebacon/death-to-personas-long-live-personas-
presentation?type=powerpoint
38. http://www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/personas.html
39. http://www.academia.edu/217619/The_Narrative_Practice_Hypothesis_
Clarifications_and_Implications
40. http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/adhoc_personas_em.html
41. http://bokardo.com/archives/personas-and-the-advantage-of-designing-for-
yourself/

45
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: WHAT THEY ARE AND HOW THEY WORK

• “Personas: Practice and Theory42” (PDF), John Pruitt and

Jonathan Grudin, Microsoft

• The Persona Lifecycle: Keeping People in Mind Throughout Prod-

uct Design43, John Pruitt and Tamara Adlin

• “Losing Yourself in a Fictional Character Can Affect Your

Real Life44,” Jeff Grabmeier, Ohio State University

EFFECTIVENESS OF PERSONAS

• “Real or Imaginary: The Effectiveness of Using Personas

in Product Design45,” Frank Long, Frontend

• “The Personas’ New Clothes: Methodological and Practi-

cal Arguments Against a Popular Method46” (PDF),
Christopher N. Chapman and Russell P. Milham, Mi-
crosoft

• “Putting Personas Under the Microscope47,” Suzy Thomp-

son, Cooper Journal

42. http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/groups/coet/grudin/
personas/old versions/pruitt-grudinold.pdf
43. http://www.amazon.com/Persona-Lifecycle-Throughout-Interactive-
Technologies-ebook/dp/B006OM89KQ/
44. http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/exptaking.htm
45. http://www.frontend.com/the-effectiveness-of-using-personas-in-product-
design.html
46. http://cnchapman.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/chapman-milham-personas-
hfes2006-0139-0330.pdf
47. http://www.cooper.com/journal/2009/06/measuring_the_effectiveness_of

46
• “Quantitative Evaluation of Personas as Information48”
(PDF), Christopher N. Chapman ❧

48. http://www.userphilosophy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/reprint-
hfes08-chapman-love-milham-elrif-alford.pdf

47
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: A GUIDE TO DEVELOPING THE RIGHT ONES

A Closer Look At Personas:

A Guide To Developing The
Right Ones
BY SHLOMO GOLTZ ❧

How can designers create experiences that are custom

tailored to people who are unlike themselves? As ex-
plained in part 1 of this series, an effective way to gain
knowledge of, build empathy for and sharpen focus on
users is to use a persona. This final part of the series will
explain an effective method of creating a persona.
There are myriad ways to integrate user-centered
thinking into the creative process of UX design, and per-
sonas are one of the most effective ways to empathize
with and analyze users. There is no one right way to de-
velop a persona, but the method I will share here is based
on processes developed, field-tested and refined over the
years at the interaction design agency Cooper49. This
process follows a logical order that begins with knowing
nothing (or very little) about users and ends with a re-
fined and nuanced perspective of users that can be shared
with others.

1. Identify Your Users

Before you can learn from people, you need to decide
whom to learn from. You could create a screener based on

49. http://www.cooper.com/

48
demographics and psychographics to determine who to
observe and talk to and who not to.

There are many ways to filter out people and focus on those who are rele-
vant to a project. A combination of factors usually determines the criteria
of a screener. (Image: Steamfeed50) (View large version51)

Traditional research on market segmentation is a good

place to start. If a user base is already established, then
you might have a source of data on demographics; if
there is no such source, then you could send out surveys
to current users to obtain more information. If you have
no user base (which will be the case if your company is
new), then find out more about the users of your competi-
tors or of similar companies or products.

2. Decide What To Ask

The most common way to learn from users is to inter-
view and/or observe them. An interview script or research

50. http://www.steamfeed.com
51. http://media.mediatemple.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/
01-segmentation-opt.jpg

49
A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: A GUIDE TO DEVELOPING THE RIGHT ONES

protocol will ensure that you obtain the same informa-

tion from all research subjects, so that the data set is ho-
mogeneous. The process of developing a script or proto-
col forces you to think about what you will need to learn
from research participants. Interviews and observation
aren’t just about acquiring raw data, but about gaining a
thorough understanding of participants and their per-
spectives.
Learning everything about participants is impossible
within the limited time available for interviews and ob-
servation, so try to ask the most advantageous questions
and observe the most relevant behavior. To determine
what information is most needed, think of your knowl-
edge gaps, which details would best inform your design
decisions, what your team members are curious about,
and what would give the team a common frame of refer-
ence regarding the participants’ needs and goals.
The questions and areas of observation need not be ex-
haustive at this stage, because the goal is to gain a funda-
mental understanding of users, from which the team can
extrapolate in future and answer new questions on their
own. By thoroughly understanding users, team members
should be able to put on the persona’s shoes and walk in
uncharted territory. Users won’t have a seat at the table
during the product’s development, but a persona created
from the right kind of information is the best proxy. By
capturing the essence of their perspectives from asking
the right questions, you will be able to create a persona
that brings their voice into the conversation.
The exact questions you ask will vary according to the
project’s goals, the types of people being interviewed or

50
 observed, and the time constraints. No matter what you
ask, though, keep the following in mind:

• Ask primarily open-ended questions.

• Ask participants to show more than tell.

• When possible, ask for specific stories, especially about

anything you cannot observe.

Ask roughly the same questions of all research participants. A script will
help with consistency. (Image: Sam Sweitz52)

Don’t be afraid to ask seemingly naïve questions either

because you’ll want to find out as much as possible.
(Naïve questions are never stupid; they show an eager-
ness to learn, and they establish a non-authoritative tone

52. http://www.samsweitz.com/research/

51
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: A GUIDE TO DEVELOPING THE RIGHT ONES

in the interview, which is great for building rapport with

participants.) Following these guidelines will result in a
rich set of answers and a firm foundation on which to
build a persona.
You could create your own interview script from the
following template, which I have used in many enterprise
software design projects. I have found it quite useful as a
jumping-off point in new projects.

OVERVIEW

• Give us a little background on your job.

• How and why did you take on this job?

• How long have you been working in this capacity?

• Why do you work for this company and not another?

• Tell me a bit about your industry and your role in it.

DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE

• What skills are required to do your job?

• How do you stay up to date and get information on your

industry and profession?

GOALS

• What are your responsibilities in your job?

• How do you define progress or success in your job?

52
• How do you measure progress or success?

ATTITUDES AND MOTIVATIONS

• What are the most enjoyable parts of your job?

• What do you value most?

• Do you have any external (i.e. extrinsic) or internal (i.e. in-

trinsic) motivations for doing a good job (such as re-
wards, promotions, perks)?

PROCESSES

• Describe a typical workday. What do you do when you

first get into the office? What do you do next?

• How do you do [a certain task]?

◦ How long does this task typically take?

◦ Where would you start?

◦ What would you do next?

◦ Can you show me how you do that?

• What activities take up most of your time?

• What activities are most important to your success?

• Of the things you do during a typical workday, are any of

those processes or tasks mandated by your company or
industry?

53
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: A GUIDE TO DEVELOPING THE RIGHT ONES

• What processes have you developed on your own?

• Have you learned to work better from your colleagues?

ENVIRONMENT

• How is your office organized to help you accomplish your

tasks or goals?

• Show me how you use your office to accomplish your

tasks or goals?

PAIN POINTS

• What are the most difficult, challenging, annoying or

frustrating aspects of your job?

• After a typical workday, what about your job (if anything)

is still on your mind? (In other words, what issues keep
you up at night?)

TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY

• What traditional (i.e. analogue) tools do you use to ac-

complish tasks in your job?

• What digital tools do you use to accomplish tasks in your

job?

• Where do any of your tools fall short? (What do you need

them to do that they don’t do or don’t do well?)

54
 MENTAL MODELS

• What kinds of people do well in your position? Why?

• Describe a process and how it has changed or not

changed over time.

RELATIONSHIPS AND ORGANIZATIONAL

STRUCTURE

• Besides clients and customers, who else do you interact

with in your work?

• Who do you report to?

• Who reports to you?

• How often do you collaborate with others?

• How do you collaborate?

PROJECTING INTO THE FUTURE

• If we came back in [x number of] years to have this con-

versation again, what would be different?

• If you could build your ideal experience, what would it

be?

WRAPPING UP

• Have we missed anything?

• Is there anything you want to tell us?

55
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: A GUIDE TO DEVELOPING THE RIGHT ONES

• Is there anything you want to ask us?

3. Get Access To Users

This step will largely determine how effective your per-
sonas are. Finding an adequate number of people will de-
termine whether your personas are an accurate and use-
ful representation of the research participants. Experts
recommend finding anywhere from just 5 to around 30
participants per role. The exact number isn’t important,
as long as trends and patterns emerge. These number
might seem too small to be of any reliable use, but the da-
ta set isn’t intended for statistical analysis, but rather for
qualitative analysis that will inform the design process.
Trends are often observable from just five people.
Build on that to gain a deeper understanding. The num-
ber of participants does not matter as much as whether
you gain new information from interviews and observa-
tion. The law of diminishing returns applies here; at a cer-
tain point, new interviews or further observation will
elicit little to no new information because all relevant pat-
terns have been unearthed and the researcher has
reached a level of understanding known to ethnogra-
phers as “verstehen53.” At this point, no more research is
needed.
The benefit of observation in addition to interviews is
that a relatively small number of participants is needed
for it. If you can’t find enough people on your own or

53. http://copernicusconsulting.net/the-essence-of-qualitative-research-verstehen/

56
with help from people you know, then consider a recruit-
ing agency.

4. Gain An Understanding Of Users

The majority of the process of creating personas is usual-
ly spent interviewing and observing people. Collaborate
with another team member so that they capture anything
in the interview or observation session that you might
miss. You and your colleague should be physically pre-
sent with the research participants, in a location that
makes the most sense for the project. In a suitable loca-
tion, participants tend to provide more detailed and accu-
rate information and are less likely to behave unnaturally.

57
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: A GUIDE TO DEVELOPING THE RIGHT ONES

Observing and interviewing in person and in a location relevant to the

project will yield the most useful data. Also, capturing information in mul-
tiple ways, such as by taking notes and recording audio, will ensure accu-
racy. (Image: Interactions54)

Direct, unfiltered interaction with participants is critical

at this stage in order to gain empathy with the people you
will be designing for. Being there in person is not always
feasible, but try to do it whenever possible. If you can’t do
that, then consider the next best thing: interviewing peo-
ple who have had direct interaction with users. Personas
created from secondhand information are called provi-
sional personas55. The perspectives will be secondhand,
filtered and biased, but they’re better than nothing and
you’ll have somewhere to start your research.

54. http://interactions.acm.org/blog/view/designers-toolkit-a-primer-on-capturing-
research
55. http://www.slideshare.net/TheConartist/provisional-persona-workshop-10

58
 Empathy is important to understanding users holisti-
cally, and direct interaction is the only way to inform the
heart as well as the mind. I’m not one to get touchy-feely
for its own sake, but when you are able to empathize with
users firsthand, then you’re better able to tap into their
intuition and act on inklings that you otherwise would
not have. Firsthand exposure is paramount.

5. Analyze The Data

The analysis stage is the most complicated because you
must compare multiple variables of behavior and atti-
tudes among many research participants. It requires
some practice, and it gets much easier with experience.
To find out more in depth, look at the descriptions in the
Fluid project56, or consider reading Designing for the Digital
Age57.
After learning about research participants directly or
indirectly, you will need to make sense of it all by finding
patterns in the data. In short, for each group of partici-
pants with the same role (for example, a group of doc-
tors), you would rank each participant against a number
of attributes of behavior and attitude, determining which
participants have similar attribute rankings in order to
discover common traits among them. Each group of simi-
lar participants would then serve as the source of a per-
sona.

56. http://wiki.fluidproject.org/display/fluid/Persona+Creation
57. http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Digital-Age-Human-Centered-Products/
dp/0470229101

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A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: A GUIDE TO DEVELOPING THE RIGHT ONES

Personas are not just “roles,” although they might

seem to be at first. Roles are great for segmenting and
grouping similar users together for analysis, but roles are
not personas. Roles are defined largely by the tasks peo-
ple perform, rather than by how they perform those tasks
or how they feel about accomplishing the tasks. Usually,
two or more personas are required to represent the range
of behavior within a role.
For instance, if you are designing medical software to
be used by doctors, nurses, technicians and patients, then
you would want to interview people in all four roles; how-
ever, when analyzing their responses, you would com-
pare doctors to doctors, not doctors to technicians. Their
roles might overlap somewhat, but don’t muddy the wa-
ter by combining data from multiple roles. Compare par-
ticipants with the same role; otherwise, large differences
will obscure smaller differences between participants.
You can represent most of the observed behaviors and
attitudes as a spectrum (for example, from low to high or
sad to happy). Each spectrum should be discrete and di-
vided into four levels.

In this sample spectrum, low and negative attributes are on the left, and
high and positive attributes are on the right.

On each spectrum, participants can be given a score of 1,

2, 3 or 4 (similar to the Likert scale58). The even number
prevents a neutral score (for example, a score of 3 out of 5
would provide little value in creating a persona). Some

60
variables are difficult or impossible to represent on a
spectrum; in this case, don’t force it, and instead express
the variable as a multiple-choice question.

To determine how many spectra to analyze, go over the

responses to the interview questions and note any dis-
tinct behavior or differences in attitude. Fewer than 5
spectra is usually too few, and over 20 is too many, so aim
for somewhere in between. If you have trouble deciding
which spectra to use, look back at the categories of ques-
tions in the interview script shown earlier, and determine
which categories most effectively group and differentiate
research participants. Motivations and goals, frequency
and duration of tasks, and attitudes towards tasks are
good places to start.
After you’ve listed 5 to 20 variables for a role, place
each research participant on each spectrum, as shown on
the next page.

58. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Likert_scale

61
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: A GUIDE TO DEVELOPING THE RIGHT ONES

When placing each participant on a spectrum, keep in

mind that the data is all relative at this point. The fact that
Whitney does more surgeries than Doug, who does fewer
than Elliot, is more important than who is a 2 rather than
a 3 or 4 on the scale.
Once you’ve mapped all research participants on the
spectra, it is time to identify patterns. This part might
seem overwhelming, especially if you have researched
many people. Start small by finding two people who tend
to have the same scores on various spectra. This pattern
analysis is similar to that of a semantic differential59 or a
multivariate affinity diagram60.
Of the five spectra (see image on the next page) that
describe the doctors interviewed, Tiffany and Sam appear
in the same place three times, in similar places one time,
and in disparate places one time. As far as we’re con-
cerned, Tiffany and Sam are similar people and should be
represented by one persona. Looking further, Dan and El-
liot also have similar or the same placement on the spec-
tra, too, but their placement differs from that of Tiffany
and Sam. Dan and Elliot should be represented by a dif-
ferent persona from Tiffany and Sam.

59. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_differential
60. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affinity_diagram

62
 (View large version61)

This researcher has created five variables to compare the

doctors who were interviewed and has mapped all of the
participants to those spectra. If Tiffany and Sam tend to
appear in the same or similar places in a lot of the spectra,
then they probably constitute a pattern that will eventual-
ly help to describe a persona. Most of the time, the pat-
terns that you find among participants will not apply to
every single one of the spectra, because almost all pat-
terns are imperfect.

61. images/09-spectra-patterns-opt.jpg

63
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: A GUIDE TO DEVELOPING THE RIGHT ONES

This is not a problem; as long as participants match on

a majority of the spectra, the pattern is valid. Repeat this
process until you have discovered all of the patterns that
represent groups of similar users. If done correctly, you
will have compared a lot of the participants to each other,
and the result should look something like the graph
above (the color blue denotes the first pattern found).

Grouping similar participants together can be laborious, but it is worth

every minute. Consider collaborating with other researchers to benefit
from multiple perspectives and to discuss points of ambiguity or confu-
sion. (Image: Vijay Kumar62)

62. http://www.amazon.com/101-Design-Methods-Structured-Organization/dp/
1118083466/

64
This is where the difference between roles and personas
comes into play. Even though the researcher interviewed
many people who had the role of doctor, the participants
had distinct patterns of responses, which will result in
multiple personas with the role of doctor. Each unique
pattern of behaviors and attitudes among participants
should be represented by a unique persona.

6. Synthesize A Model Of Users

Now that you have groups of research participants who
can be represented by different personas, decide how to
describe those personas. During the interview and obser-
vation process, you might have heard responses or no-
ticed behaviors that meaningfully characterize each re-
search group. These common, average or dominant traits
need to be captured in each persona.

These personas are characterized by only a few key attributes derived from
interviews or observation. This deliverable conveys a clear and concise vi-
sion of the designer’s users. (Image: Bolt | Peters63) (View large version64)

65
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: A GUIDE TO DEVELOPING THE RIGHT ONES

7. Produce A Document For Others

There is no one right way to create a persona document,
but essential elements will need to be included. An effec-
tive persona document that communicates a model of
users to others typically consists of the following:

• name,

• demographic,

• descriptive title,

• photograph,

• quote,

• a day-in-the-life narrative,

• end goals (explicit and tacit).

The persona document on the next page clearly summa-

rizes the research data. The main elements are the “Key
Goals” and the “Day in the Life,” which are common to all
well-made persona documents. Other elements, such as
the “Quick Take on Fred” were included because of pro-
ject requirements. Each project you work on will dictate a
certain approach to producing persona documents.

63. http://boltpeters.com/clients/dolby/
64. http://media.mediatemple.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/
11-sketch-opt.jpg

66
 (Image: krizzeldibi65) (View large version66)

A robust persona really only needs seven pieces to help

everyone on the team understand the essentials about a
user. Other elements are usually added to a document to
paint an even more vivid picture, such as needs and
wants, responsibilities, motivations, attitudes, pain points
(i.e. problems, frustrations or road blocks), notable behav-
ior, and design imperatives (i.e. things that a design must
do to satisfy this user).
You could add a myriad of other things to a persona
document, but more isn’t always better. The document is
usually one page, a limitation that forces you to focus on

65. http://krizzeldibi.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/personas/
66. http://media.mediatemple.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/
02-cook-opt.jpg

67
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: A GUIDE TO DEVELOPING THE RIGHT ONES

the essential elements, without distraction or fluff. If you

can’t fit everything on one page, then consider a supple-
mental document of some sort. Just remember that, while
you’ve been immersed in the data, others will usually on-
ly see the one page. If it’s much longer, people probably
won’t read it all, let alone remember the information.
Keep things as brief as possible, and focus on the most
salient points.
If you’re looking for a jumpstart on creating persona
documents, I highly recommend the persona poster by
Christof Zürn67. The poster organizes and formats all of
the important information that you’ll need to create an
amazing one-page deliverable.

8. Socialize The Personas

By sharing the persona documents with others, you’re
disseminating the knowledge that you’ve gained
throughout this whole process. Consider presenting the
personas to others in an engaging way, and give everyone
the one-pager as a takeaway after the presentation.

67. http://creativecompanion.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/the-persona-core-poster/

68
 Though low in information-density, these engaging posters are a great re-
minder of who the personas are and what they are like.
(Image: MailChimp68)

The process outlined in this article is thorough and rigor-

ous. It is based on years of refinement at Cooper and
tweaked to my purposes. That being said, feel free to cus-
tomize the process to fit your needs. Some parts can be
simplified and even skipped after you’ve gained some ex-
perience. This is not the only way to create personas, but
it is a great place to start. I hope you’ve found the process
helpful.

68. http://blog.mailchimp.com/new-mailchimp-user-persona-research/

69
 A CLOSER LOOK AT PERSONAS: A GUIDE TO DEVELOPING THE RIGHT ONES

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• “Understanding Your Users: Developing Personas69”

(slidedeck), Shlomo Goltz
Use these presentation slides to kick off a persona cre-
ation project.

• “Provisional Personas: Workshop70” (slidedeck), Shlomo

Goltz
This guide walks through the process of creating provi-
sional personas.

• “The Persona Core Poster: A Service Design Tool71,”

Christof Zürn
This template can be used to create a one-page deliver-
able. ❧

69. http://www.slideshare.net/TheConartist/what-are-personas-and-how-to-use-
them-a-presentation-by-shlomo-goltz
70. http://www.slideshare.net/TheConartist/provisional-persona-workshop-10
71. http://creativecompanion.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/the-persona-core-poster/

70
All You Need To Know
About Customer Journey
Mapping
BY PAUL BOAG ❧

Stories have defined our world. They have been with us

since the dawn of communication, from cave walls to
the tall tales recounted around fires. They have contin-
ued to evolve, with their purpose remaining the same: to
entertain, to share common experiences, to teach and to
pass on traditions.

Francisco Inchauste wrote those words72 on this website

back in 2010. His post is just one of many on this website
that talk about the power of storytelling to engage users.
But storytelling is not just a tool to engage users. It is
also a powerful way to teach organizations more about
their customers.
Most organizations are reasonably good at gathering
data on their users. But data often fails to communicate
the frustrations and experiences of customers. A story
can do that, and one of the best storytelling tools in busi-
ness is the customer journey map.

72. http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/01/29/better-user-experience-using-
storytelling-part-one/

71
 ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAPPING

What Is A Customer Journey Map?

A customer journey map tells the story of the customer’s
experience: from initial contact, through the process of
engagement and into a long-term relationship.
It may focus on a particular part of the story or give an
overview of the entire experience. What it always does is
identify key interactions that the customer has with the
organization. It talks about the user’s feelings, motiva-
tions and questions for each of these touchpoints.
It often provides a sense of the customer’s greater mo-
tivation. What do they wish to achieve, and what are their
expectations of the organization?
A customer journey map takes many forms but typi-
cally appears as some type of infographic. Whatever its
form, the goal is the same: to teach organizations more
about their customers.

A customer journey map takes many forms but typically appears as an in-
fographic. (Image: Effective UI73) (View large version74)

72
 It will come as no surprise that marketers often use cus-
tomer journey maps. But more and more digital profes-
sionals are adopting them, too.

Why You Should Create Customer Journey

Maps
A customer journey map is a powerful tool.
If you are a designer, it will help you to understand the
context of users. You will gain a clear picture of where
the user has come from and what they are trying to
achieve.
If you write copy, it will help you to understand what
questions users have and how they are feeling.
It gives managers an overview of the customer’s expe-
rience. They will see how customers move through the
sales funnel. This will help them to identify opportunities
to enhance the experience. The map will show how en-
hanced customer service can differentiate the organiza-
tion’s digital experience.
For the user experience designer, a customer journey
map helps to identify gaps, points in the customer experi-
ence that are disjointed or painful. These might be:

• gaps between devices, when a user moves from one de-

vice to another;

73. http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2011/09/the-value-of-customer-
journey-maps-a-ux-designers-personal-journey.php
74. http://media.mediatemple.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/
1-broadband-provider-journey-large-opt.jpg

73
 ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAPPING

• gaps between departments, where the user might get

frustrated.

• gaps between channels (for example, where the experi-

ence of going from social media to the website could be
better).

Most of all, a customer journey map puts the user front

and center in the organization’s thinking. It shows how
mobile, social media and the web have changed customer
behavior. It demonstrates the need for the entire organi-
zation to adapt.
It encourages people across the organization to con-
sider the user’s feelings, questions and needs. This is es-
pecially important with digital products and services.

Even the process of creating a customer journey map will help people to fo-
cus on the needs of users. (Image: Adaptive Path75)

75. http://mappingexperiences.com

74
With so many benefits, a customer journey map makes a
lot of sense. But where do you start?

How To Research A Customer Journey

Map
The process of creating a customer journey map has to
begin with getting to know users.
Many organizations already have some information
about users. In fact, you might meet resistance from
those who feel that repeating this exercise would be a
waste of time. This is why gathering existing research is a
good start. Often, this research will be out of date or
buried in a drawer somewhere.
By gathering existing research, you will see what the
organization knows and how relevant that information is.
This will placate those who are resistant, while potential-
ly saving you some research effort.
There are two types of research: analytical and anecdo-
tal.

Analytical Research
You can turn to many sources for data about users. The
most obvious is website analytics, which provide a lot of
information on where users have come from and what
they are trying to achieve. It will also help you to identify
points in the process where they have given up.
But be careful. Analytics are easy to read wrong. For
example, don’t presume that a lot of clicks or long dwell

75
 ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAPPING

times are a sign of a happy user. They could indicate that

they are lost or confused.
Social media are also a useful source of data. Tools
such as SocialMention76 tracks mentions of a brand and
whether those mentions are positive or negative.

Tools such as SocialMention help you gather data about how the brand is
perceived. (View large version77)

Search data also provides valuable insight into what users

are looking for, revealing whether your existing website
is providing the right information.
Finally, consider running a survey. This will help you
build a more detailed picture of users’ questions, feelings
and motivations.

76. http://www.socialmention.com
77. http://media.mediatemple.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/
3-socialmention-example-large-opt.jpg

76
Anecdotal Research
Although data can build a compelling case, it does not tell
a story by itself. For that, you need anecdotes of user ex-
periences. You can get these by speaking to users in inter-
views or on social media.
You will also discover that users volunteer experiences
by posting them to social media. Be sure to collect these
mentions because they will be a useful reference point in
your final map.
Speaking to front-line staff who interact with cus-
tomers daily, such as those in support and sales, is anoth-
er useful way to understand customer needs.
The detail of the research will be constrained by your
time and budget. If your organization has many different
user groups, then creating detailed customer journeys for
each might be hard. Therefore, focus the research on pri-
mary audiences.
You can make educated guesses about the customer
journeys for secondary audiences. Do this by workshop-
ping solutions with front-line staff and other internal
stakeholders. Although this “quick and dirty” approach
will not be as accurate, it is still better than nothing.
Be careful to make clear what has research behind it
and what does not. Making many decisions based on as-
sumptions is dangerous. Once management sees the ben-
efits of research, they will be willing to spend more time
on it.
With your research complete, it is time to create the
map.

77
 ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAPPING

Presenting Your Customer Journey Map

As mentioned, there is no right or wrong way to produce
a customer journey map. Normally, it will be some form
of infographic with a timeline of the user’s experience.
But it could just as easily be a storyboard or even a video.

A customer journey map has no set form. Use whatever form most clearly
communicates the story. (Image: Jonathan Lupo78) (View large version79)

The goal is to ensure that the user’s story remains front

and center in people’s minds. Get a designer to produce
the graphic to ensure it is as clear as possible and grabs
people’s attention.
Whatever its form, the map should contain both sta-
tistical and anecdotal evidence. It should highlight users’

78. http://visual.ly/mobile-commerce-strategy-tactics?utm_source=visually_embed
79. http://media.mediatemple.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/
4-mobile-commerce-strategy-large-opt.jpg

78
needs, questions and feelings throughout their interac-
tion with the organization.

Producing a clear map is a design job. Work with a designer to find the
right approach. (Image: Philips80)

Don’t make it too complex. It is easy to get caught up in

the multiple routes a user might take. This will just mud-
dy the story.
The graphic is not meant to map every aspect of the
customer’s experience. Rather, it should tell a simple sto-
ry to focus people’s attention on the customer’s needs.
Think of the customer journey map as a poster pinned
to the office wall. At a glance, people should be able to see
the key touchpoints that a user passes through. It should

80. http://www.design.philips.com/philips/sites/philipsdesign/about/design/
aboutus/Experience-Flows.page

79
 ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAPPING

remind them that the customer’s needs must always be at

the forefront of their thinking.

The map should be clear and simple, something you could pin to the office
wall.

There are so many ways to approach the customer jour-

ney map. I would love to hear of any good examples you
have seen. ❧

80
Facing Your Fears:
Approaching People For
Research
BY CAROLYN CHANDLER ❧

When working on a project, have you ever felt that you

and the rest of the team were making a lot of decisions
based on assumptions? Having to make choices with lim-
ited information is not unusual — especially in complex
projects or with brand new products.
Phrases like “We think people will use this feature be-
cause of X” or “We believe user group Y will switch to this
product” become part of the early deliberation on what to
develop and how to prioritize. At some point, though,
these phrases start to feel like pure guesses and the
ground under your feet feels shaky. What can you do
about it?
Regardless of your role in the project, one activity in
particular will help your whole team build a solid founda-
tion for product strategy and design: that is, approaching
potential users for research, such as interviews and us-
ability tests.
Such research is an important aspect of user-centered
design. It helps you build products that are rooted in a
deep understanding of the target audience. Among other
benefits, interviewing potential users helps you achieve
the following:

81
 FACING YOUR FEARS: APPROACHING PEOPLE FOR RESEARCH

• more precisely define who the target audience is (and

isn’t),

• face and challenge your assumptions,

• uncover unmet needs,

• discover the behaviors and attitudes of potential users

firsthand.

You can conduct informal yet valuable user research

yourself with practice and with guidance from great
sources like Steve Portigal’s Interviewing Users and Steve
Krug’s Rocket Surgery Made Easy. One thing that stops a lot
of people from trying their hand at research isn’t just lack
of experience, but a fear of approaching people and ask-
ing for their time. This obstacle is greater than many
would care to admit.

The Difficulty Of “Face To Face”

I was teaching an experience design class in high school
when it really hit me. Students were engaged in the de-
sign process until they were told that they had to request
interviews from strangers. The anxiety levels went
through the roof! A look of shock covered their faces.
Shortly after, two of the students asked to receive a fail-
ing grade on the activity rather than have to face
strangers (a request that was not granted)!
This was no longer a case of time, opportunities, re-
sources or priorities. The interviews were a part of the
class and were considered essential. The students were
presented with a clear set of expectations, provided with

82
aid in planning and writing questions, and taken to the
location (a college) to conduct the interviews.
When all of the usual obstacles were removed, what
was laid bare? A strong fear of approaching strangers,
made even stronger by the fact that so many interactions
nowadays are done online, rather than face to face. Ask
someone to create an online survey and they’re all over it
— ask that same person to pose those same questions to a
stranger face to face and they’ll freeze up.
One might assume that the problem afflicts only those
in high school, but such a deep-seated reaction is felt by
many working adults who are suddenly responsible for
requesting something from strangers — even when the
thing being requested is a relatively low commitment,
like 10 minutes for an interview.
Are you at the point in a project when you would bene-
fit from insights gained from face-to-face discussions
with potential users but find yourself blocked by a fear of
asking? Read on for techniques to help you approach peo-
ple for research, the first step to gaining the knowledge
you need.

“I’m Afraid I’ll Be Bothering People.”

I’m sure you’ve been approached by a stranger at one
time or another. The negative occasions stand out the
most, when you were annoyed or felt guilty because you
didn’t want to say no to a request for money or personal
information or a signature.
When a stranger approaches, the person being ap-
proached has several concerns at once:

83
 FACING YOUR FEARS: APPROACHING PEOPLE FOR RESEARCH

• “Who is this person?”

• “Are they trying to scam me?”

• “Are they going to ask me for money?”

• “Are they going to ask me to sign something that I don’t

agree with?”

• “Am I going to have to figure out how to get rid of them?”

• “How long is this going to take?”

Your memories of being approached could make you un-

comfortable if you’re the one approaching others.
The good news is that approaching people for inter-
views can be a lot easier than requesting a donation. If
you make it clear quickly that their time is voluntary and
that you won’t ask for anything they don’t want to give,
then you’ll generally get a positive response. After all,
you’re not asking people for money, just for their time
and attention. Time is valuable, but its value varies ac-
cording to the person’s situation at that moment — and
you can do certain things to communicate the value of
agreeing to your request.

INCREASE THE VALUE OF PARTICIPATION

Interview requests are accepted when participation is
perceived to be as or more valuable than what the person
is doing at the time. People calculate that value in their
heads when you ask for their time.

84
 People calculate that value in their heads when you ask for their time.
(Large version81)

Below are some of the factors that can swing the calcula-
tion in your favor.

FIND THE RIGHT TIME

If someone is in a rush to get somewhere, then making
your research seem more valuable than their desire to get
to their destination will probably be difficult. Someone
who is walking briskly, looking tense and not making eye
contact is not the ideal candidate.
Approach people who appear to be one or more of the
following:

• Between tasks
If you’re asking about a particular activity, go to areas
where people tend to be finishing up that activity, and

81. http://media.mediatemple.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Value-
opt.jpg

85
 FACING YOUR FEARS: APPROACHING PEOPLE FOR RESEARCH

talk to them as soon as they’re done with it. You’ll get a

fresh perspective on the whole experience, and they likely
won’t be in a rush to get to their next activity. For exam-
ple, if you want to interview runners, wander the finish
line of a race. Look for runners who are cooling down and
checking out their swag but not yet heading home.

• Bored
Waiting in line, waiting for a bus or waiting for an eleva-
tor — if someone seems to be idly swiping their phone or
staring off into space, they might actually welcome a dis-
traction.

• Procrastinating
Some activities take a long time. The human brain needs
a change of focus every now and then, and your research
could be just the thing. If your target audience is stu-
dents, visit a study area. When a student comes up for air,
ask for some time. They might need the mental break!

Regardless of whom you approach, give them an idea of

how long the interview will take (about 10 minutes, for
example), so that they can do the mental math of calculat-
ing the value of saying yes.

BE AWARE OF BODY LANGUAGE

As mentioned, pay attention to the candidate’s body lan-
guage. Do they seem tense? Are they frowning at their
phone? Are they power-walking? They might be late for a
meeting, so the timing would be wrong. Someone gazing
around or strolling casually is a better bet. People on
phones are a bit harder to read because many check their

86
phone when bored or procrastinating — still, their facial
expression might tell you whether they’re open to being
interrupted for something more interesting.
Your own body language is important, too. Planting
yourself in the middle of a person’s path and facing them
squarely will come off as aggressive, likely triggering a
negative reaction. They might feel like they’d have a hard
time getting rid of you if they’re not comfortable with
your request.

Being aware of your own body language and the body langauge of others
is important.

Approach within clear view, but from the side. Also, try
angling your body slightly away from the person. You
want to seem engaged but also make them feel like they

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 FACING YOUR FEARS: APPROACHING PEOPLE FOR RESEARCH

could end the conversation if desired. This will give them

a greater sense of control and increase the likelihood that
they’ll give you those precious seconds you need to make
your request.

FOSTERING INTEREST
The feeling one gets from participating in research can be
rewarding in itself. Interest is one positive feeling that
leads people to say yes to research, which you can empha-
size when approaching strangers.
Mention early on that you’re conducting research,
which makes clear that you’re not asking for money and
tends to generate interest.
Being approached to participate in research is fairly
unusual for most people. The fact that you’re conducting
a study might inspire a healthy curiosity. People will of-
ten be curious about what topic is being researched, what
kinds of questions might be asked, and what they might
find out about themselves in answering. The prevalence
of quizzes and personality tests online is a good indica-
tion of this interest; those researchers are gathering data
from the tests, but many of the respondents feel like they
are learning about themselves (and potentially others) by
considering the questions being asked.

88
 People will often be curious about what topic is being researched, and
what they might find out about themselves in answering.
(Image: Personal DNA82) (View large version83)

The person might not be expecting to learn whether

they’re a “benevolent inventor” or an ENFP84 by the end
of the interview, but they might still find your questions
interesting to consider.

82. http://personaldna.com/tests.php
83. http://media.mediatemple.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/
Personaldna-opt.jpg
84. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENFP

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 FACING YOUR FEARS: APPROACHING PEOPLE FOR RESEARCH

Will the interviewees be shown something that others

don’t have access to yet, like a new product or campaign?
If so, bring that up quickly. It really boosts curiosity!
Furthermore, people might be flattered that you’re in-
terested in their thoughts and opinion. Build on that! If
there’s a reason you approached that person, share it. If
you’re interviewing people about healthy food choices
near a health food store and you stop someone who has
just purchased something at the store, you could mention
that their interest in health is one reason you approached
them. Stick to obvious observations — you don’t want to
come across as creepy!

FOSTERING GOODWILL
Donating to a cause feels good, and volunteering time for
research is no different. If your efforts are for a worthy
result, like making texting easier for the elderly, share
that benefit.
Another magic phrase? “I’m a student.” If you are, say
so quickly to allay the person’s suspicion about your mo-
tive. Your effort on the path of learning will appeal to
their goodwill.
If you’re not a student and your topic doesn’t sound
particularly socially relevant, people might still be willing
to help out if they connect with you. If you’re friendly
and enthusiastic about the topic, then they’re more likely
to say yes.
To keep the goodwill flowing, express your gratitude
for their time and thoughts. Let them know before and af-

90
ter the interview that their time will have a great impact
on the success of the research.

OFFER INCENTIVES
This one might seem the most obvious: You can increase
the value of participation by offering an incentive. A $10
or $20 gift card from a popular vendor like Amazon or
Starbucks can incline someone to accept a 15 to 30 minute
interview. As the inconvenience to the participant in-
creases, so should the incentive — whether that inconve-
nience is the length of the interview, the location or the
time of day.
The incentive doesn’t have to be monetary. Be creative
in what you offer. It could be access to a service that most
people don’t have or a fun gadget that’s related to your
topic (like a pedometer if the topic is health).
Offering an incentive can be useful, but don’t let it
turn into a crutch. The point is to get comfortable with
approaching people; associating a cost with that adds
pressure that you don’t need. Learning to request partici-
pation without an incentive — and learning to increase
the perceived value of participation without one — will
take the cost out of the equation. Nevertheless, if you’re
conducting formal research with a specific audience for a
lengthy period of time, offering an incentive is definitely
a best practice.

“I’m Afraid Of Rejection.”

Rejection is people’s number one fear when approaching
strangers. Hearing no has always been difficult, whether

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 FACING YOUR FEARS: APPROACHING PEOPLE FOR RESEARCH

it’s a polite no or an angry no followed by a rant. Either

way, it stings. Your response to that sting, though, is
what matters. How do you explain the rejection to your-
self, and does your explanation help or hurt you?
Martin Seligman, one of the originators of positive
psychology, conducted a study in the ’70s that gives in-
sight into the types of mindsets that make people feel
helpless. Seligman found that those who exhibit long-
term “learned helplessness” tend to view negative events
as being personal, pervasive and permanent. In other
words, if a person is rejected, they might rationalize that
the rejection is a result of their own failing, that everyone
else is likely to reject them as well, and that they can do
nothing to lessen the likelihood of rejection.

Your mindset is important. (Image: Leathers Milligan85)

85. http://www.leathersmilligan.com/2011/your-explanatory-style-explains-your-
success-the-choice-is-yours/

92
When you prepare to approach someone, consider in-
stead that, if they say no, they aren’t really rejecting you,
but rather rejecting your request. It’s not personal. Maybe
they’re in the middle of something, or maybe they’re just
not in the mood to talk. The rejection is fleeting, and the
next person might be perfectly happy to participate.
Even knowing this, your first attempt will be the most
difficult. Think of it like jumping into a pool: The initial
shock is certain, but you’ll quickly get used to the water
and will be swimming in no time!

TURN IT INTO A GAME

When my brother was in college, he had a friend — let’s
call him Bob — who had been single for a long time. Bob
wanted to develop his ability to approach a woman and
strike up a conversation, but he constantly froze up be-
cause of his fear of rejection.
One night at a lively bar, the two of them decided to
make a game of it. If an approach led to a conversation —
fantastic! He got 1 point. If the approach led to rejection,
he still got 1 point for making the attempt. This turned
failure into a small win and encouraged Bob to try and try
again. The person with the most points at the end of the
night won a free drink from the other. This shifted the fo-
cus and value onto the attempt, not the result.
Try this technique with someone who also wants to
practice approaching people for research. Award a point
for each approach, and reward the winner. Choose a prize
that you both value but that doesn’t outweigh the good
feeling of a successful approach. Not that you want to be

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 FACING YOUR FEARS: APPROACHING PEOPLE FOR RESEARCH

turned down, but it helps to have a reward for plucking

up the courage to try.

VARIATION: FOOTBALL RULES

If you find the incentive to approach is still not enough,
award a field goal (3 points) for every unsuccessful ap-
proach and a touchdown (7 points) for each successful
one. Because interviews take time, the person who is
trailing in points could pull ahead even if they’re mostly
getting rejections.

“Only Extroverts Are Good At This.”

Google tells us that an introvert is “a shy, reticent and
typically self-centered person.” Not a pretty picture! (An
extrovert is defined as “an outgoing, overtly expressive
person” — a more positive description, at least in the US).
Introversion has been erroneously associated with
characteristics like being “bad with people” or being un-
successful in approaching others.
In psychology, the field that gave us the terms “intro-
vert” and “extrovert” (thanks to Carl Jung), the definitions
are fairly different. The focus is on how people recharge
their energy. Introverts tend to recharge by spending
time with their own thoughts and feelings; extroverts
recharge with external stimulation, such as time with
friends or adventures in new destinations.
Jung stated that, “There is no such thing as a pure in-
trovert or extrovert. Such a person would be in the lunatic
asylum.” We all fall somewhere along the continuum. It
turns out that some of the most fantastic researchers out

94
there fall almost in the middle (called “ambiverts”). They
balance an extrovert’s drive to interact others with an in-
trovert’s skill in observation and reflection.
Daniel Pink explores this in his book To Sell is Human,
which summarizes a variety of studies that find no link
between high extroversion and major success in sales.
(Pink defines sales as “persuading, convincing and influ-
encing others to give up something they’ve got in ex-
change for what we’ve got” — a broad definition that
could include asking someone to give up their time to
participate in research.)

There is no link between high extroversion and major success in sales.

(Large version86)

In fact, in the studies Pink cites, such as one by Adam

Grant of the University of Pennsylvania, the highly extro-
verted — who tend to talk too much and listen too little —

86. http://media.mediatemple.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/
SalesExtraversion-opt.jpg

95
 FACING YOUR FEARS: APPROACHING PEOPLE FOR RESEARCH

performed only slightly better than the highly introvert-

ed. Who did the best by far? The ambiverts, who balanced
a drive to connect with an ability to observe and inspect.

Ambiverts are good sellers because they balance a drive to connect with an
ability to observe and inspect. (Large version87)

If you consider yourself an introvert, then you’re proba-

bly relieved to hear that you don’t have to swing to the
other side of the scale to be successful in interviews. You
can use your skill in observation to pay attention to the
environment and identify people to approach. You might
need to tap into your extroverted side to approach some-
one, but once the conversation begins, you can call on
your skill in observing and listening intently. With prac-
tice, this introverted quality will become an important

87. http://media.mediatemple.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/
WhoSells-opt.jpg

96
part of the process that leads to the payoff: generating im-
portant insights.
Let’s explore a few techniques to ease gently into the
ambiversion zone, exercising your interviewing muscles!

PRACTICE PLAYFULLY
Practice your requests with a friendly audience and in a
comfortable location to make the experience more playful
and less stressful. Learning and playing go together!
Set challenges for yourself that expand your skills but
that don’t have serious consequences. Instead of waiting
for an intense, highly visible project at work to make your
first attempt at approaching people, give yourself a short
interview challenge. Pick a friendly location and choose a
topic of research that would be of interest to most inter-
view candidates and whose results you would not formal-
ly present.
Can you think of a local restaurant or cafeteria? Try in-
terviewing its employees about their experience with the
lunchtime rush to identify ways to better manage lines
(of course, wait until after the rush to approach them).
Taking a taxi? Interview the cab driver about their use of
technology and how it has changed in the last three years.
Do this as though you were conducting research for a real
project (for example, ask to interview them, rather than
launching right into your questions).
Here are two introductions you can practice:

“Excuse me! I’m a student, and today I’m conducting re-

search on ways to improve transportation information
for commuters. Hearing about your experience would be

97
 FACING YOUR FEARS: APPROACHING PEOPLE FOR RESEARCH

really valuable. Do you have 10 minutes to answer some

questions?”

“Hi! We’re conducting some research today. Would you

like to be interviewed on your lunchtime eating habits?
It’ll take about 10 minutes, and your thoughts will help
us improve the availability of nutritional information.”

MAKE IT MEANINGFUL
Whether you’re interviewing for practice or for work, tap
into the aspects of the topic that make it deeply meaning-
ful and personal to you. Genuine enthusiasm for a topic
is hard to fake and will override fear to a large extent.
Remember the high-school students who were so
afraid of approaching people? The class ended up going
through the research process a second time with different
topics. Instead of being told to interview college students
about financial planning, students picked their own top-
ics, like helping other students complete their homework,
eating healthier meals and handling peer pressure.
The class picked students to interview, a mixture of
friends and strangers. Because they were passionate
about the topics (and had practiced once already), the sec-
ond round of requests was much easier.
Likewise, consider practicing with more than one
round of interviews:

• Round 1
Choose a topic that you know will be of interest to the
people you’re interviewing.

98
• Round 2
Choose a topic that you’re passionate about. (Try to be ob-
jective, though!)

• Round 3
Take on a challenge for a product or project with support
from other team members. (See the section below, “Pair
Up Personalities,” for an example.)

If you’re on a team that wants even more practice, you

could take turns suggesting practice challenges for each
other. The more you practice, the easier it gets — promise!

PAIR UP PERSONALITIES
If you consider yourself an introvert, pair up with some-
one who considers themselves an extrovert, and play to
each other’s strengths for the first few interviews.
Using your observational skill, you could identify can-
didates to interview, and the extrovert could approach the
first three people.
After the first three or four approaches, take a break
and share your techniques with each other. You could
share your insight from observing the environment and
suggest tips on which people in which location might be
best to approach. The extrovert could share tips on con-
versation openers that seem to be working well. When
you’re both comfortable, switch roles to exercise the oth-
er’s skills.
This method situates you as mentors to each other,
bringing you both closer to the middle of the
introversion-extroversion scale.

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 FACING YOUR FEARS: APPROACHING PEOPLE FOR RESEARCH

Go Face To Face
Now that you’ve learned some techniques to get started,
don’t let another week go by without trying one of them
out! A good first step? Think of topics that you’re passion-
ate about, the ones that are intriguing enough to propel
you forward. You’ll find that the skills you develop will
give you confidence to pursue the answers you need,
leading you to better experiences for yourself and others.

RESOURCES

• AdventuresXD88
has sample challenges that you can work with. ❧

88. http://www.adventuresxd.com/adventure-blog/2014/4/13/the-toocooks-sample-
challenge

100
Considerations When
Conducting User Research
In Other Countries: A
Brazilian Case Study
BY CLAIRE CARLSON ❧

Following a recent economic windfall89, Brazilians are

faced with more choices of how to spend their money.
This provides a situation for good UX to make a huge im-
pact and sway customers to buy new products or services.
Companies inside and outside Brazil are interested in
capturing a part of this new market.
My company, Blink UX, had the opportunity to conduct
in-home user interviews in São Paulo on behalf of a
Brazilian real estate company called Zap Imóveis90. This
project provided me with invaluable insider knowledge
on how to best conduct in-home user interviews in Brazil
and, more broadly, how to conduct field research in for-
eign countries using the same underlying principles.

89. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ivancastano/2011/11/28/brazils-booming-economy-
is-creating-19-millionaires-every-day/
90. http://www.zapimoveis.com.br/

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 CONSIDERATIONS WHEN CONDUCTING USER RESEARCH IN OTHER
COUNTRIES: A BRAZILIAN CASE STUDY

Construction in the growing Morumbi neighborhood of São Paulo.

To understand target users’ approach to the process, we

interviewed eight people who had either just bought a
home or were looking for a home. It made sense to inter-
view people where they lived for this study; seeing their
neighborhoods and the characteristics of their homes
helped us better understand their motivations for buying
homes in general and what they looked for in their next
home. For example, security is an issue in most parts of
São Paulo, which is why ‘24-hour doorman’ was a popular
search criterion for apartments. Many homes where
there is not a doorman on duty have metal bars on the
front door, which made it hard for us to knock. Instead,
we would clap loudly outside the door to let a participant
know we were there. This, among many other cultural
nuances, could only be truly understood by immersing
ourselves in the user’s environment.

102
 This article presents my tips for foreigners planning
to conduct in-home user interviews in Brazil, including
parallels with research in India, China, and Spain.

Start The Planning And Visa Application

Process Early
Before the project officially landed we were already inves-
tigating applying for visas. The process comprises many
steps (in my case, I needed to collect ten different pieces
of documentation to prove that I was, in fact, planning to
do business in Brazil). If you’re traveling to Brazil with a
passport from North America, Asia, or Africa, you’re going
to need to start the visa process91 right away.
We needed to rush order my visa, which set us back
about $1,000 USD, because we were going to travel soon
after the project started. For anybody who has a few
weeks to wait to get a visa then feel free to mail it to a
consulate. If you’re like me and need to rush order your
visa, your application will need to be hand-delivered to a
Brazilian embassy or consulate. This is likely inconve-
nient for most people because you won’t find embassies
and consulates in every city. The good news is that there
are a lot of companies out there that will deliver your pa-
perwork for you.

91. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/brazil/visas

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 CONSIDERATIONS WHEN CONDUCTING USER RESEARCH IN OTHER
COUNTRIES: A BRAZILIAN CASE STUDY

Partner With A Great Local Firm

We needed to find a research firm to help us moderate
the interviews and we needed to find it fast. Within four
days, we interviewed three companies via Skype to un-
derstand their processes, experience, and services. We
knew a contact at one of the firms and found the other
two through an Internet search. At the end of the inter-
view process, we decided to partner with Insitum92, an in-
novation consulting company which we learned about
through an existing contact. We chose them because they
had extensive experience with ethnographic research and
seemed thoroughly excited about working with us. The
day after signing the contract they were already helping
us with study planning.
Insitum exposed us to cultural nuances we needed to
consider during the research and future design phases.
We learned nearly as much from the Insitum team as we
did from the research itself. On our way to interviews,
they gave us background information on how the neigh-
borhood we were visiting had evolved in recent years.
This helped us better understand the perspective of the
participants who we interviewed. For example, we inter-
viewed a participant who lived in an area where crime
had increased rapidly in the previous few months, so we
understood why she was looking to move into a new
apartment so quickly.
Hosting three to four strangers in your home is awk-
ward, especially when you’re telling them about very per-

92. http://www.insitum.com

104
sonal things such as your dream home. Our research part-
ners made participants feel at ease. They brought exper-
tise to the table that we simply wouldn’t have been able to
achieve by communicating with participants through a
translator without a native moderator. I am confident
that Insitum’s presence contributed to how open partici-
pants were with us, and helped us capture high-quality
data.

Interviewing participants in their homes.

Remember that when selecting a research partner you’re

not only looking for a team with expertise in gathering
data, you also want to consider how they can help you
synthesize and report the data. They are likely to catch
themes you will not simply because they are more famil-
iar with the culture. It is important to discuss the strategy
for reporting data well in advance because what is consid-
ered standard to one party could be considered non-stan-

105
 CONSIDERATIONS WHEN CONDUCTING USER RESEARCH IN OTHER
COUNTRIES: A BRAZILIAN CASE STUDY

dard to another. Tip: The size of the research firm doesn’t

matter. My colleagues who have conducted research in
Brazil, Spain, Japan, Germany, India, and the UK all agree
that even small and independent foreign firms produce
very high-quality work.

Hire A Real-Time Translator

I cannot stress highly enough the value of a high-quality
translator. Neither my colleague nor I spoke Portuguese.
We knew we needed someone to moderate the inter-
views, and we knew it would be important for us to be
able to ask follow-up questions. We requested that when
each of the three firms sent us a quote they included the
cost of a real-time translator for ten 90-minute sessions.
The quotes for translation ranged from $5,600 to $8,500
USD and it was worth every penny. The translator has a
unique role not to be confused with someone who is sim-
ply fluent in two languages. Experienced translators are
able to comprehend and verbalize meaning very quickly.
If the subject matter of your study is very specific, like
healthcare for example, you need to find a translator with
experience translating on those topics.
The real-time translation worked just about as you
think it would if you were at the United Nations. The par-
ticipant, moderator, translator, and myself would all sit
around the participant’s kitchen table or in their living
room. The translator wore a headset with a microphone
and would speak very softly in English, which would
come through on my headphones. The speech was very
nearly real-time and incredibly effective – most impor-

106
tantly, it didn’t disrupt the conversation between the par-
ticipant and the moderator.
It was imperative for us to understand exactly what
was said. There were many colloquial phrases that did not
have direct translations into English. For example, one
participant used a common Brazilian phrase that goes
something like, “If a cat gets burned once he will never
get burned again.” The participant followed up by saying
“Good luck translating that one!” Our translator did a
great job helping us understand these colloquial phrases,
which in turn helped me better understand the partici-
pant’s reactions. Make sure you use a translator who
comes recommended – and remember that Brazilian Por-
tuguese is different from European Portuguese.

Real-time translation.

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 CONSIDERATIONS WHEN CONDUCTING USER RESEARCH IN OTHER
COUNTRIES: A BRAZILIAN CASE STUDY

Limit The Number Of Observers And

Make Sure Your Client Observes A Few
Sessions
It’s always a good idea for clients to observe user inter-
views because watching in real time usually means they
are more focused and catch more detail – it’s easy to get
distracted by other tasks when watching a recording on a
laptop after the fact. However, there is such a thing as too
many observers. Aim to bring only two to four people to
each interview, otherwise the participant can feel over-
whelmed and uncomfortable. If you’re not fluent in Por-
tuguese then two of those people will likely be the moder-
ator and translator; beyond that, plan to either bring a
client observer or colleague, but not both.
This goes for research in other countries as well. My
colleague recently conducted in-home user interviews in
Hyderabad, India where participant homes were very
small. In addition, it’s typical for extended families to live
under one roof in India (parents, kids, aunts, uncles,
grandparents). In her case she could only bring one ob-
server to each session because there simply wasn’t
enough space for a third person to sit.

Plan More Time Than You Think You

Need Between Interviews
If you ever find yourself in São Paulo conducting inter-
views in varied locations, plan at least 90 minutes be-
tween interviews to navigate traffic. Similarly, if you are
conducting a lab study, I also recommend planning extra

108
time between sessions to account for participants who
are running late because of traffic. In 2013, CNN pub-
lished an article93 noting that São Paulo is the “seventh
most congested city in the world.” It didn’t take long for
us to understand just how bad it was. On one occasion
Google Maps informed us that it would normally take 22
minutes to get to our next interview, but in current traffic
it would take over an hour. Unexpectedly, this was one of
the most important takeaways from the trip because it
helped us understand why locals are so motivated to find
homes near the subway.

Over-Recruit In Anticipation Of No-Shows

Owing to heavy traffic congestion and a generally laid-
back culture, participants cancelling interviews or start-
ing very late is not uncommon. We had a couple of last
minute cancellations that we struggled to fill until the
very end. It would have been a major missed opportunity
to not reach our quota after spending so much time, ener-
gy and money to travel to Brazil and plan for the research.
For these reasons you need to over-recruit your study.
Plan to tack on an extra couple of participants for every 10
whom you would normally recruit and be prepared to go
with the flow. Trust me, it’s worth the expense to have
that security. My colleague avoided this problem during
his research in Brazil by setting aside a half-day at the
end of the study that he could fill with people who need-

93. http://money.cnn.com/gallery/news/2013/11/06/global-traffic-congestion/7.html

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 CONSIDERATIONS WHEN CONDUCTING USER RESEARCH IN OTHER
COUNTRIES: A BRAZILIAN CASE STUDY

ed to reschedule. Below are additional tips about recruit-

ing:

INCENTIVES
When recruiting, you will want to encourage candidates
to participate with some sort of compensation. Our re-
search partner explained in some cases this could be a
bottle of high-quality liquor. For our study we used $190
USD as the incentive. If you go the cash route, you will
want to make sure the amount reflects both the duration
and location of the interview. Our interviews were 90
minutes each, so a 60-minute interview might be $125
USD. Similarly, it would be appropriate to compensate
participants more for in-home research rather than lab re-
search because they are allowing you and your colleagues
to visit their homes.

CLASS STRUCTURE
Brazil is different from the U.S. in that they have a well-
defined and widely understood class structure based on
income level94. Levels range from A (the super rich) to E
(the very poor). Don’t be afraid to ask candidates what
class level they fall into when you’re recruiting. We were
looking for a mix in class levels, yet wanted to focus on
those who would likely search for homes online; thus we
recruited participants from A, B and C level classes. When
you’re in Brazil, the class structure will become clearer
when you see extremely low-income communities side-

94. http://thebrazilbusiness.com/article/social-classes-in-brazil

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by-side with the super rich, especially in urban areas.
Note: it may be easier to recruit participants in A, B and C
classes since it is more likely that they have a phone
where you can reach them.

GEOGRAPHY
Participants were intentionally recruited from among dif-
ferent types of neighborhoods across the city of São
Paulo. Because the economy was improving rapidly
across the board, low-income families were moving into
the homes of middle-income families and middle-income
families were moving into the homes of high-income
families. A majority of Brazil was affected and, in turn, a
majority of Brazil’s population were target users of the
Zap website. We also sought a mix of single people, fami-
lies, and couples.

HOLIDAYS
Consider that Brazilians celebrate a lot of holidays where
offices and businesses are closed. Make sure you famil-
iarize yourself with these dates so you don’t risk trying to
recruit participants during the week of Carnival, for ex-
ample.

Keep An Open Mind During Your

Research For Unexpected Lessons
It turned out that our unfamiliarity with Brazilian culture
was an enormous advantage for us because it allowed us
to approach the project with open minds. For example,

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 CONSIDERATIONS WHEN CONDUCTING USER RESEARCH IN OTHER
COUNTRIES: A BRAZILIAN CASE STUDY

people use maps in a different way in Brazil than we do in

the States – among the eight participants we interviewed,
most explained that landmarks are more important than
geographical direction. A cab driver wouldn’t tell you to
walk a half-mile north, he would tell you to keep walking
until you get to that really busy intersection with a gas
station.

Interviewing participants in their homes.

We couldn’t assume we understood behavior based on

our experience in our labs back home. This is why in-per-
son, in-home research was imperative. My tip for you:
don’t assume that behaviors or interaction trends you’ve
seen among participants in your own country would
translate to a Brazilian audience. For that matter, don’t as-
sume behaviors or interaction trends apply for any study.
Even our Brazilian client was proven wrong once or
twice: They informed us that Zap’s users are not interest-

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ed in using maps at all; however, nearly all participants
explained that they liked to view a property on a map be-
fore they visit a home to get an understanding of the sur-
rounding area.

Learn About Brazilian Customs And

Culture
It is always a good idea to learn about the customs and
culture of the country you’re visiting95. Here are a few ob-
servations I made while I was there that those new to UX
research in Brazil might find helpful:

GREETINGS
As in many European countries, physical closeness is
more prominent than in countries like the U.S96. It is tra-
ditional for Brazilians to kiss each other on the cheek
once upon first meeting, even in professional settings.
You can expect to greet participants in this way especially
for in-home research. For Americans this may take a little
getting used to, but rest assured, Brazilians are extremely
friendly people and will make you feel at ease. Of the par-
ticipants and members of the research team that we in-
teracted with, every single one of them was very friendly
and open. Strangers talk like old friends. I witnessed this
first-hand during the interviews and it helped us gather
some extremely valuable findings.

95. http://www.globalsmes.org/news/index.php?func=detail&detailid=558&
catalog=28&lan=en
96. http://www.ldldproject.net/cultures/brazil/differences/nonverbal.html

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BUILDING TRUST
Building trust is important for in-home research in any
country. In Brazil, relationships and loyalty are incredibly
important to building trust. Make an effort to build rela-
tionships with your participants, research partners, and
clients in Brazil by not rushing them into making deci-
sions or by making recommendations without fully un-
derstanding the problem. Building trust will be different
in different countries. During an India-based study, my
colleague learned that building trust requires equality be-
tween the participant and the researcher — that means
equality in socioeconomic status and in dress. Similarly,
it was important that at least one female researcher was
present any time they interviewed a female participant.
Whatever country you’re visiting, be sure to find out
ahead of time how to build trust with the people you will
be interacting with.

PORTUGUESE
English is not spoken as widely in Brazil as you might
think and locals often appreciate it when you put the ef-
fort into learning a few common phrases. That goes for
people at restaurants and shops, and the participants you
interview. Each time we entered a participant’s home we
greeted them by saying “Obrigada por me receber em sua
casa,” which means “Thank you for having me in your
home.”

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WORKING LATE
You may end up working late into the night on research
days. The workday in Brazil typically ends around 19:00,
so catching the after-work participants may mean you
don’t get to your hotel until 22:00 or later.

TECHNOLOGY
Social networking is a big deal in Brazil. The Wall Street
Journal reported97 that in September 2012, Brazilians
spent 208% more time on Facebook than they did one
year earlier. This “sharing culture” translates to in-person
interactions as well. You can expect to hear participants
explain that they rarely make decisions about what house
to buy or even what T-shirt to buy without consulting
with family, friends, and their contacts on social media.
Lastly, don’t expect to see a lot of new devices. Tariffs
on imported technology are extremely high (an iPhone
costs three or four times what it does in the U.S.), so
many Brazilians use mid-to-low end Windows and An-
droid devices. Similarly, don’t assume your participants
will use the same digital tools for tasks like email, shop-
ping, or information gathering. My colleague conducted
in-home research in multiple countries and discovered
that in Shanghai, China, where online help content was
minimal, participants relied on other sources such as
print articles; whereas in Barcelona, Spain, the help con-
tent was very robust and relied upon heavily.

97. http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323301104578257950857891898

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 CONSIDERATIONS WHEN CONDUCTING USER RESEARCH IN OTHER
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Conclusion
The findings from our research informed a redesign of
Zap’s web experience. As a UX consultancy, sometimes it
takes years to see the impact of our work out in the wild,
which is why, one year after we finished the project, it
was especially rewarding to hear our client say “the main
KPI for this project, which is leads per visits, has im-
proved 35% since we launched the new design.”
The site’s success would have been impossible if we
had simply been given research data collected by a third
party. We needed to be there to see how bad traffic was,
to see the look on someone’s face when he told us how
frustrating it was to find a new home, and to see the
client’s reaction to participants’ comments. There is
tremendous value in immersing yourself in research
abroad. I hope the lessons I learned will help you prepare
to take the leap.
In summary, if you’re new to in-home user research in
Brazil, keep the following in mind:

• Start the planning and visa application process early

• Partner with a great local firm

• Hire a real-time translator

• Limit the number of observers to four, but make sure

your client observes a few sessions

• Over-recruit in anticipation of no-shows

• Plan more time than you think you need between ses-
sions

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• Keep an open mind during your research for unexpected
learnings

• Learn about Brazilian customs and culture before you go

REFERENCES

• “Handbook of Global User Research98,” Robert

Schumacher
This book covers tips for research in many countries.

• “Brazil’s Booming Economy Is Creating 19 ‘Millionairs’

Every Day99,” Ivan Castano, Forbes
Some good points here about the rise of Brazil’s financial
recovery.

• “Social Classes in Brazil100,” Andréa Novais, The Brazil

Business
Overview of education level, occupation, and geography
among each class level.

• “Brazil – Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette101,”

Global Alliance of SMEs
One of many resources on Brazilian customs; this will
give you a quick overview.

98. http://www.globaluserresearch.com/
99. http://www.forbes.com/sites/ivancastano/2011/11/28/brazils-booming-economy-
is-creating-19-millionaires-every-day/
100. http://thebrazilbusiness.com/article/social-classes-in-brazil
101. http://www.globalsmes.org/news/index.php?func=detail&detailid=558&catalog
=28&lan=en

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COUNTRIES: A BRAZILIAN CASE STUDY

• “Cultural Differences in Non-verbal Communication102,”

ELL Assessment for Linguistic Differences vs. Learning
Disabilities
Detailed information about how non-verbal communica-
tion varies between Brazil and the United State.

• “World’s 10 Worst Cities for Traffic103,” CNN Money

São Paulo is number seven on the list of cities with the
worst traffic.

• “Brazil: The Social Media Capital of the Universe104,”

Loretta Chao, Wall Street Journal
Social media in Brazil is evolving at a faster rate than the
rest of the world.

• “Improving UX Through Customer Experience Map-

ping105,” Claire Carlson
This is a talk I gave about one of the deliverables from
this same project. ❧

102. http://www.ldldproject.net/cultures/brazil/differences/nonverbal.html
103. http://money.cnn.com/gallery/news/2013/11/06/global-traffic-congestion/7.html
104. http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323301104578257950857891898
105. http://conveyux.com/past_session/improving-ux-through-customer-
experience-mapping-claire-carlson/

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 How To Run User Tests At A
Conference
BY DANIEL SAUBLE ❧

User testing is hard. In the world of agile software devel-

opment, there’s a constant pressure to iterate, iterate, iter-
ate. It’s difficult enough to find time to design, let alone
get regular feedback from real users.
For many of us, the idea of doing formal user testing,
is a formidable challenge. There are many reasons why:
you don’t have enough lead time; you can’t find enough
participants, or the right type of participant; you can’t
convince your boss to spend the money.
In spite of this, user testing is the best way to improve
your designs. If you rely on anecdotal data, or your own
experience, you can’t design a great solution to your
user’s problems. User testing is vital. But how do you
make the case for it and actually do it?

What Is User Testing?

Let me start by defining what user testing is, and what it
is not.

USER TESTING IS…

…

• Formal
Your goal is to get qualitative feedback on a single design
iteration from multiple participants. By keeping the ses-
sions identical (or as similar to one another as possible),

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 HOW TO RUN USER TESTS AT A CONFERENCE

you’ll be able to suss out the commonalities between

them.

• Observational
Users don’t know what they need. Asking them what they
want is rarely a winning strategy. Instead, you’re better
off being a silent observer. Give them an interactive de-
sign and watch them perform real tasks with it.

• Experimental
At the core of any user study is a small set of three to five
design hypotheses. The goal of your study is to validate or
invalidate those hypotheses. The next iteration of the de-
sign will change accordingly.

USER TESTING IS NOT…

…

• Ad-hoc
Don’t accept what a single person says at face value. Until
you get signal from several people that a design is flawed,
withhold judgment. Once five or six participants have
given consistent feedback, change the design.

• Interrogative
Interviews are useful for learning about users, their roles,
and their experiences. But keep it brief. Interviews tend
to put the focus on what people say they do, not what
they actually do.

• Quantitative
Because the sample size is small, you can’t make strong
statistical extrapolations based on numbers alone. If you

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 care about numbers, look into surveys, telemetry, and
self-guided usability tests instead.

What Is A User Study?

A user study is a research project. It starts with a small set
of design questions. You take those questions, reformu-
late them as hypotheses, devise a plan for validating the
hypotheses, and conduct five or six user tests. Once done,
you summarize the results and decide on next steps. If
the findings were clear, you might make improvements
to the design. If the findings were unclear, you might
conduct an additional study.

You won’t get it right the first time. Test your design, iterate, and repeat.
(Image: raneko106)

A GOOD USER STUDY HAS CLEAR AND

MEASURABLE OUTCOMES
If you have clear expectations, it will be much easier to
take action on what you learn. This is often accomplished

106. https://www.flickr.com/photos/raneko/4204026836/

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 HOW TO RUN USER TESTS AT A CONFERENCE

with hypotheses: testable statements you assume to be

true for the purposes of validation. Examples of good hy-
potheses include:

• Users can add an item to their shopping cart and check

out within five minutes.

• Users want to click on server-related error messages to

see additional details.

• Users are not frustrated by the lack of a dashboard in the

product.

A GOOD USER STUDY IS EASY TO FACILITATE

This is especially important if you are not the facilitator.
If the facilitator is inexperienced with user testing, you’ll
need to provide a test script which is easy to understand,
keeps the test on track, and explains what you are trying
to learn from the test.

A GOOD USER STUDY MUST BE SUFFICIENTLY

DETAILED AND INTERACTIVE
If you want to measure a user’s reaction to an on-screen
animation, you probably need a coded prototype. If you
need to decide whether a particular screen can be omitted
from the final design, a set of PSD mockups will do.
Needless to say, this is a lot of moving pieces. Effective
user studies are rigorous, and rather expensive to pull off
as a result. If you cut corners, you may second-guess your
results and need to run another study to be sure.

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 Self-Evaluation
That’s what user testing is. Now, ask yourself the follow-
ing questions:

• Do you conduct user tests?

• Are they a regular part of your practice?

• Would you like to do more of them?

• What’s keeping you from doing more of them?

I ask these questions often. It’s amazing how few of us do

user testing with any consistency, myself included.
Everyone wishes they did more of it. That’s both a prob-
lem and an opportunity.

User Testing In An Agile World

The agile mantra is “fail fast, fail early”. The faster you
fail, the faster you’ll converge on the right solution. This
equates to a lot of tight iterations. Agile teams traditional-
ly have two-week sprints, with the goal of releasing a run-
ning (read: testable) build at the end of each sprint.
Great, right? The problem is that this leaves very little
time to validate a design, summarize the results, and do
just-in-time design for the next iteration. Recruiting can
take a week in itself, to say nothing of the testing.
And that’s not tenable. At most, you’ll have a few days
to get some actionable insights before the next iteration
starts. How might we solve this problem?
Let’s make a few assumptions:

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 HOW TO RUN USER TESTS AT A CONFERENCE

• Five iterations from the start to the end of the design

process.

• Five participants in each user test (25 participants for all

iterations).

• Four designs in flight simultaneously (five iterations

each, 100 participants in total).

One way to solve the problem of getting out in front is to

validate multiple iterations before any software is built.
Not every design needs a live-code prototype to validate
it. Sometimes, a clickable Balsamiq PDF is enough. Now,
we’ve shifted the problem. The number of design itera-
tions (and the number of test participants) is the same as
before, but you can get a lot further before engineering
starts building anything. You just need a lot of partici-
pants, fast.

User Testing At Conferences

Unless you’re lucky enough to design a product that mil-
lions of people use, recruiting can be a challenge. Since I
design software for system administrators, the best place
to get qualitative feedback in a matter of days is at an IT
conference.
The basic steps are:

1. Pick a conference

2. Write some studies

3. Set up your booth

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4. Analyze the results (in real time)

5. Iterate on the design

6. Rinse and repeat

Obviously, you’ll need help, so bring some volunteers

with you. Also, don’t expect to nail this the first time you
try it. Give yourself a chance to make mistakes and learn
from them.

Conferences: the best place to conduct a lot of user tests in a very short
amount of time. (Image: LeWeb107)

The number of times you can iterate depends on what

you’re learning. If you’re learning a lot, keep going. If
you’re running into tool limitations, it might be time to

107. https://www.flickr.com/photos/leweb3/6498827487/

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 HOW TO RUN USER TESTS AT A CONFERENCE

stop and have your development team build you a live-

code prototype.
Bonus: if you have software development skills, you
might be able to build a prototype yourself. Better yet,
bring some developers with you.

Disclaimer: I’ve done conference-based user testing twice, and

haven’t entirely nailed these steps (even though we’ve made great
strides in the right direction). It might take a few tries to get it
right.

Attempt #1: PuppetConf 2012

Once a year, Puppet Labs hosts PuppetConf, a tech con-
ference for IT professionals. In 2012, it was held at the
Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco and 750
people attended.

Mission Bay Conference Center at UCSF, the site of our 2012 user testing.
(Image: Greentech Media108)

126
 Two of us prepared five studies and set up three user test-
ing stations in a high-traffic hallway. Each user testing
station consisted of a laptop, a stack of test scripts and
NDAs, and a volunteer to help facilitate the tests. We had
about 16 volunteers, and ran 50 user tests.
This was a great experience, but we didn’t get much
actionable research out of it. Our focus was on data gath-
ering. We didn’t bother to analyze that data until weeks
after the conference, which meant it had gathered dust.
In addition, the things we tested weren’t on our product
roadmap, so the research wasn’t timely anyway.

Attempt #2: PuppetConf 2013

In 2013, we repeated our user testing experiment. That
year, it was held in the Fairmont San Francisco hotel and
1,200 people attended.
Five of us prepared six studies and set up three user
testing stations in a room adjacent to a high-traffic hall-
way. We added dedicated lapel mics and three-ring
binders to keep our scripts organized. With the same
number of volunteers (16), we ran almost twice as many
user tests (95).
This year was vastly more successful than the previ-
ous year. We pulled analysis into the event itself, so we
got actionable data more quickly than before.

108. https://www.flickr.com/photos/greentechmedia/5730027311/

127
 HOW TO RUN USER TESTS AT A CONFERENCE

Fairmont San Francisco, the site of our 2013 user testing.

(Image: Brad Coy109)

Unfortunately, we didn’t go the extra step of iterating on

what we learned during the conference. Our product
wasn’t affected until months later. It was a step in the
right direction, but too slow to be considered agile.

What Did We Learn?

In 2012, we made a large number of mistakes, but we
learned from those mistakes, improved our tests and test-
ing process, and doubled both the quality and quantity of
the tests in 2013. So, don’t be afraid of failing. A poor user
testing experience will only help you learn and improve
for next time.

109. https://www.flickr.com/photos/bradfordcoy/4400862442/

128
 Here are some of my observations from those experi-
ences.

CONFERENCES LET YOU CUT THE FAT OUT OF

RECRUITING
Recruiting is very time-consuming. We have a full-time
position on our research team at Puppet for that very pur-
pose. But at conferences, people are already present and
willing to engage with you. All you need to do is show up.
In a typical user study, we send out a screener email to
50–100 people in our testing pool. A lot of people won’t re-
spond, and of those who do, only some will meet the re-
quirements for the test. It takes time to get enough valid
responses, and sometimes we have to widen the net,
which takes more time.

CONFERENCES LET YOU VALIDATE YOUR

ENTIRE ROADMAP
In both years we had more interest in testing than we
could facilitate. In 2013, the 95 participants who tested
with us were far more than we needed.
If you decide to conduct self-guided, quantitative us-
ability tests, you can run even more tests. In 2014, our re-
search team had over 200 people take a single usability test.

CONFERENCES ARE CHAOTIC, BUT PROCESS

CAN HELP
In 2012, we had a simple four-stage process: greet, recruit,
test, and swag.

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1. Greet
Every time someone came to our booth, we had a greeter
volunteer who said Hi and told them what we were do-
ing.

2. Recruit
Next, we asked if they wanted to join our Puppet Test Pi-
lot pool for testing opportunities throughout the year. If
so, we scanned their badge.

3. Test
If we had a test station available, we asked if they wanted
to take a 15–20 minute user test. If so, the greeter intro-
duced the participant to a facilitator at one of the stations.

4. Swag
At the end of the testing, we thanked each participant,
and gave them a limited edition T-shirt and a signed copy
of Pro Puppet.

This process worked well, but there were a couple of obvi-

ous holes. First, we didn’t have a good screening process,
so there was no guarantee that a participant was a good
match for the tests. Second, we didn’t have a plan to
quickly learn from the tests and act accordingly (see: ag-
ile).
To correct these shortcomings, we introduced two ad-
ditional steps in our 2013 testing process: greet, recruit,
screen, test, swag and analyze.

• Screen
At the beginning of the testing process, the facilitator

130
 asked the participant six questions, one for each user test.
If the answer was yes, we knew they’d be a good match
for the test.

• Analyze
At the end of the testing process, the facilitator filled out a
short form. Each user test was allocated a text field, with
the study hypotheses alongside. The facilitator entered
their notes, and marked the validity of each hypothesis.

CONFERENCES ALLOW YOUR COMPETITORS

TO SNOOP
We used NDAs to counteract this. As an unintended side-
effect, they made the testing seem more exclusive and
special, so participants were eager to sign them.
In 2013, we switched from paper to digital forms, via
DocuSign. From a logistical standpoint, this was a great
move. We didn’t have to keep track of loose stacks of pa-
per after the conference. On the other hand, the signing
workflow was rather cumbersome. People had to sign
their initials three times and click multiple times to com-
plete the NDA.

CONFERENCES ARE A GREAT WAY TO BUILD

USER EMPATHY
Ultimately, user testing is about people, not testing. Both
years, we recruited volunteers from non-UX departments
within the company: engineering, product, marketing,
and sales. It was great to give these people an opportunity
to engage with our users over real problems.

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And it goes both ways. People love to talk about their

job, their pain points, and how your product or service
falls short of easing that pain. No, anecdotal data isn’t ter-
ribly useful in a design context, but it can help you build a
mental model of real-world problems.

CONFERENCES + USER TESTING IS A SCARY

COMBINATION
As I mentioned, we recruited volunteers from non-UX
teams. Many of those volunteers had never conducted
user tests before. It was a nerve-wracking experience for
many of them.
In 2013, we instituted a training process to get our vol-
unteers up to speed more quickly. To do this, we institut-
ed a series of training meetings.
In the first meeting, we got everyone in the same
room and talked through the testing process and the tests
at a high level. Next, we broke up into small groups of
two or three people apiece. In these groups, we had volun-
teers practice facilitating the tests with each other. The
test author attended these as well, to spot areas in need of
improvement or clarification.
If our volunteers were still nervous about the prospect
of user testing, we met with them personally. In some
cases, we convinced them to push forward and run user
tests anyway. In other cases, we moved them to a less de-
manding role, usually the role of a greeter.

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CONFERENCES ARE A BLACK HOLE FOR DATA
In the first year, one of our three test laptops was myste-
riously wiped of data. The second year, two of our laptops
were stolen. We lost all of the test recordings on those
machines.
The silver lining was the post-test analysis we did in
2013. Because our facilitators took such rigorous notes,
and saved those notes to the cloud, we retained the data,
even though the actual recordings were lost.

PROCESS IS KING, BUT ORGANIZATION IS

QUEEN
Keeping things digital as much as possible helps. If you
must use paper, don’t use manilla folders. Instead, use
three-ring binders with labels to keep your papers collat-
ed.
On the digital side of things, consider having a single
folder where all conference-related documents and data
live. Use tools like Dropbox or Box to keep everything
synchronized across machines. Having local copies is
critical, in case the network goes down, which it probably
will.

USE RETROSPECTIVES TO LEARN AND

IMPROVE
After the conference, hold a meeting with the core testing
team. For the first five or ten minutes, write ideas on
sticky notes. These ideas should take the form of things
to stop doing, keep doing, or try doing. Put these stickies

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on a whiteboard, under the appropriate column (keep,

stop, or try).
Once everyone runs out of ideas, pick a volunteer. This
person groups the stickies by theme (e.g. “communica-
tion”, “process”, “people”). Ideally, everything boils down
to three to five groups. For each group, find an actionable
way to improve that area, then assign each action item to
a member of the group. It becomes that person’s responsi-
bility to own it.

Should You Add Conferences To Your

Toolbox?
Having done this a couple of times, it’s clear that there are
pros and cons. No user testing tool or technique is a cure-
all, and conference-based testing is no exception.

PROS

• Lots of participants
Hundreds at a small conference, thousands at a medium
conference, tens of thousands at a large conference. Take
your pick.

• Easy recruiting
Build it and they will come. It helps if you point your lap-
tops into the room, and have the designs clearly displayed
on their screens.

• Enables rapid iteration

You can easily complete five or six tests in an hour or
two. Faster if you have multiple test stations.

134
 CONS

• Chaotic testing environment

You know those quiet usability testing rooms with the
mirrored glass? You won’t find those at a conference.

• Travel required
Unless you’re lucky enough to have a relevant conference
in your city, you’ll probably need to fly somewhere. This
can be expensive.

• Difficult timing
Remember those roadmaps I mentioned earlier? If the de-
sign phase doesn’t line up with a conference, find a differ-
ent way to get the research you need.

In general, this approach works well when you have a

predictable product roadmap. If you know what you’re
going to be building, and when, you can time the design
phase to coincide with one or more conferences.
On the other hand, if you need the flexibility to run
tests at a moment’s notice, this approach won’t work well.
In that situation, I recommend having a dedicated room
for testing at your company, containing all the equip-
ment you’ll need.

Tips To Make This Work For You

If you’ve read this far and think conference-based user
testing is right for you, great! Here are some tips to help
you succeed.

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• Pick a conference five months in advance

You don’t have to know exactly what you’ll be testing, but
it’s a good idea to have a target date and venue in mind,
so you can start thinking about it.

• Pick a conference with people who don’t know you

exist
Because we ran testing at our own conferences, every-
body knew about us. This self-selection bias prevented us
from getting a good cross-sample of our potential market.

• Don’t pick a booth in the busiest hallway

As tempting as it might be to get maximum visibility, ask
youself if the additional chaos is worth it. In 2013, we
picked a booth in a room separated by a half wall from a
busy hallway. As a result, we had good visibility without
being in the middle of the chaos.

• Don’t write every study yourself

The first year, I wrote four of the five user studies. As a re-
sult, they were difficult to facilitate and didn’t result in
actionable data. It’s time consuming to write a good user
test that validates your hypotheses and is easy to facili-
tate.

• Don’t schedule people in advance

When your testing stations fill up, it’s tempting to start a
waiting list. Don’t do that. You’ll become beholden to the
list and have to turn people away, even when there ap-
pear to be empty test stations. Be serendipitous about it.

136
• Practice running each test on each machine before
the conference
Murphy’s law. Need I say more?

• Go forth and user test

The only thing worse than a poor user testing experience
is not doing it at all. If you fail, at least you’ll learn how to
do it better next time. If you don’t do anything, you’ve
learned nothing.

And that’s it. If you have any questions, please get in

touch through Twitter. Thank you for reading.

Resources
When I first proposed conference-based user testing to
my team, I was an intern straight out of school. If I could
pull this off, so can you. If you’re still intimidated, start
small. You can grow your efforts, but you have to start
somewhere.
Here are some of the resources we used in testing:

TOOLS

• DocuSign110 for e-signing of NDAs

• Silverback111 for recording user tests

110. http://www.docusign.com
111. http://www.silverbackapp.com

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 HOW TO RUN USER TESTS AT A CONFERENCE

ARTICLES AND EXAMPLES

• Everything written by Jakob Nielsen112

• Puppet Labs’ signup form for Puppet Test Pilots113

Since doing this, I’ve learned of others who have done

user testing at events. Here’s a list of articles with slightly
different takes on the process:

• User Testing in the Wild: Research at Conferences and

Other Events114

• 5 Considerations for User Testing at Events115

• Get Out of the Lab! Run Live User Testing for Omnichan-
nel. We Dare You.116

• 2 Days, 200 Customers, and Conclusive Results: The New

User Testing117

• Usability Testing at Conferences118 ❧

112. http://www.nngroup.com/topic/user-testing/
113. https://puppetlabs.com/community/puppet-test-pilots-program
114. https://www.gv.com/lib/user-testing-in-the-wild-research-at-conferences-and-
other-events
115. https://www.youeye.com/blog/user-testing-at-events/
116. http://joylab.co.uk/blog/run-live-user-testing-we-dare-you/
117. https://blogs.atlassian.com/2014/10/user-testing-atlassian-summit/
118. http://web.archive.org/web/20090321153629/http://www.dexodesign.com/2007/
07/29/usability-testing-at-conferences/

138
 About The Authors

Carolyn Chandler
Carolyn Chandler is User Experience Director at Eight Bit
Studios119 and the co-founder and Chief Instructor of the
School for Digital Craftsmanship120. She’s the co-author
of A Project Guide to UX Design121 and Adventures in Experience
Design122, an activity-oriented introduction to the experi-
ence design process. Crain’s listed her as one of Chicago’s
Tech 50 due to her work with technology start-ups. Visit
her professional site at www.dhalo.com. Twitter:
@chanan123.

Claire Carlson
Claire Carlson is a Seattle-based UX designer who has
been a part of the Blink UX design team since 2011. She
enjoys finding clever and elegant ways to communicate
meaning through design and discovering good UX in her
everyday life. Twitter: @TheNextUX124.

Daniel Sauble
Daniel Sauble is a Senior UX developer at Sonatype,
where he leads design for Nexus, a software repository

119. http://eightbitstudios.com/
120. http://school.admci.org/
121. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321815386/ref=as_li_tf_tl
122. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321934040/ref=as_li_tf_tl
123. http://www.twitter.com/chanan
124. http://www.twitter.com/TheNextUX

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 ABOUT THE AUTHORS

manager. In his spare time, he speaks at conferences,

writes on Medium, and runs ridiculously long distances.
Twitter: @djsauble125.

David Sherwin
David Sherwin is Director of User Experience for
lynda.com126 at LinkedIn127, as well as a Fellow at frog128.
He is the author of Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to
Sharpen Your Design Skills129 and Success by Design: The Essen-
tial Business Reference for Designers130, both available from
HOW Books.

Paul Boag
Paul Boag is the author of Digital Adaptation131 and a leader
in digital strategy with over 20 years experience. Through
consultancy132, speaking133, writing134, training135 and
mentoring136 he passionately promotes digital best prac-
tice. Twitter: @boagworld137.

125. http://www.twitter.com/djsauble
126. http://www.lynda.com/
127. http://www.linkedin.com/
128. http://www.frogdesign.com/
129. http://amzn.to/CWTheBook
130. http://www.amazon.com/Success-Design-Essential-Reference-Designers-
ebook/dp/B00AB3TB5Q/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&
qid=1429673211
131. http://www.digital-adaptation.com/
132. https://boagworld.com/boagworks/consultancy/
133. https://boagworld.com/boagworks/speaking/
134. https://boagworld.com/boagworks/writing/
135. https://boagworld.com/boagworks/training/
136. https://boagworld.com/boagworks/mentorship/

140
 Shlomo Goltz
Shlomo “Mo” Goltz is an Interaction Designer and User
Researcher at Hearsay Social. There he crafts experiences
that enables those in the financial sector to develop,
maintain, and enrich relationships with customers via so-
cial media. Shlomo combines qualitative and quantitative
research-based methodologies to inform his design
process, with a focus on creating enterprise software that
feels as delightful to use as consumer products. Twitter:
@MoGoltz138.

137. http://www.twitter.com/boagworld
138. http://www.twitter.com/MoGoltz

141
 ABOUT THE AUTHORS

About Smashing Magazine

Smashing Magazine139 is an online magazine dedicated to
Web designers and developers worldwide. Its rigorous
quality control and thorough editorial work has gathered
a devoted community exceeding half a million sub-
scribers, followers and fans. Each and every published ar-
ticle is carefully prepared, edited, reviewed and curated
according to the high quality standards set in Smashing
Magazine’s own publishing policy140.
Smashing Magazine publishes articles on a daily basis
with topics ranging from business, visual design, typog-
raphy, front-end as well as back-end development, all the
way to usability and user experience design. The maga-
zine is — and always has been — a professional and inde-
pendent online publication neither controlled nor influ-
enced by any third parties, delivering content in the best
interest of its readers. These guidelines are continually
revised and updated to assure that the quality of the pub-
lished content is never compromised. Since its emergence
back in 2006 Smashing Magazine has proven to be a
trustworthy online source.

139. http://www.smashingmagazine.com
140. http://www.smashingmagazine.com/publishing-policy/

142