Interviews

When designing an interview, there are key aspects one needs to consider, such as:
 a) Participants:

1) Choosing Participants:

• Representative of target users
• May be current users of a similar system
• Might also be the non-user
  
  

2) Recruiting participants

• Get a diverse set of stakeholders
• Use incentives and motivation
• Approximate better than nothing 
  
  
  

b) Questions

1) Types of questions to avoid

• What they would do/like/want in hypothetical scenarios
• How often they do things
• How much they like things on an absolute scale
• Avoid binary questions

c) Performing the interview

1) Conducting an interview

• Introduce yourself, explain your purpose
• The interview is about them, not you
• Begin with open, unbiased questions
• Ask the questions and let them answer
• A little bit of silence is golden(Keep calm and be patient)

2)Follow up

• Adjust your questions to their previous answers
• Ask questions in language they use/understand
• Pick up on and ask for examples
  
• Be flexible
  
  

 d) Post Interview Considerations:

1)Audio/Video: Drawbacks

• Time-consuming to review/edit
• Can change participants responses
• Requires permission

2) Share with your team

• Stories
• Photos
• Sketches
• Quotes

3)Save records - It’ll help later

• Keep photos, notes, artifacts

4) Diary Studies

• Give people a diary that they complete at a specified time or interval
• Structured task
• Can use journals, cameras, voice, video
• Tailor the recording to the context
• Can scale better than direct observation
• Easier tools -> better results
• May require some practice, training, reminding