I never thought of documenting this but here I am. I think it’s going to be helpful for myself in the long run.
Last week, I did my first round of user interviews.
It was something that I was afraid of, really. I didn’t know if I was up for the challenge. But for the sake of the program I’m in, I took on my fears and faced them head on.
I’m an introvert through and through, but the past few months have fired me up to do new things. Going into product is one of them.
Conducting user research is one of the most vital tasks in product management. If you don’t know nor understand your users, then what’s the point of building and improving on a product? We don’t want to go into things blindly, and doing research and interviews helps in bringing in new perspectives and ideas into play.
The initial plan was to do only surveys, but thought that it would be better to go with interviews too. If people end up signing up for an interview, then that would be great. If they didn’t, it would have sucked but I think I would’ve gotten something worthwhile off of the surveys. Luckily, people were up to getting interviewed!
So yes, last week I did my first round of user interviews.
I interviewed a total of 10 people for around 15 minutes each. Sometimes it took longer, especially when I was interviewing those I knew. Otherwise, I found that to be enough (for the time being).
Those I interviewed were all so helpful and understanding! It’s amazing to see how willing people are to help. And it was great to hear their thoughts and ideas. We all have different ways on going about things.
However, it was all very tricky to do. I had to iron out a few things and use different tools to make it work:
- Google Forms
- Calendly
- Zoom
- Microsoft OneNote
I’ve never set up my own Calendly and Zoom accounts prior to this… and I’m telling you, it was a learning curve. I thought it was all straightforward but it wasn’t!
I also figured out (just in time) that Google Meet didn’t allow video recording, which is why I resorted to using Zoom.
Conducting the user interviews went well, I’d say.
There is an art to it, though:
- Asking the right questions can be tough to figure out, especially when you’re just starting out.
- Having a script can help, but always be ready to go off track to get the right information.
- Break the ice! It’s going to be awkward for both parties, whether you like it or not.
Conducting user interviews also pointed me towards a number of directions.
That’s what’s interesting about it – there will never be a “one size fits all” solution. Every person approaches tasks differently and learning about them opens up an array of possibilities that we would have never come to realize.
Another thing I’ve come to realize – interviews work, more so than surveys. For the latter, you get to ask very specific questions to try and understand people’s behaviours but interviews expound on that.
You learn:
- What makes them tick,
- How they make things work for them, and
- Why they do what they do.
It was, overall, a very fruitful activity. I can’t wait to see how we can propel this project forward!
You might be wondering what conducting user research has to do with being an introvert? Well, after all that socializing, I had to take some much needed downtime this weekend. Now, I’m all recharged and ready to go for the week ahead!