Innovating for People Handbook of Human-Centred Design Methods

Interviews

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PEOPLE GENERALLY enjoy telling stories about their experiences. A good interview helps you take advantage of this natural inclination in order to gather valuable information. Interviewing gives you

an opportunity to speak directly with the people who can help you

make informed decisions. Through these interviews, you gain a better

sense of people and their views of the world by subtly eliciting their

true feelings, desires, struggles, and opinions through a few carefully

crafted questions. An additional sensitivity to the unplanned and

unscripted aspects of an interview can allow for equally illuminating

discoveries.

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A good interviewer needs to be attuned to the interviewee to know

when to probe for more information, when to redirect the conversation, and how to parse what is meant from what is said. In other

words, one must, as journalist Lawrence Grobel said, “converse like a

talk show host, think like a writer, understand subtext like a psychiatrist, [and] have an ear like a musician.”

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Fly-on-the-Wall Observation

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MINIMIZING YOUR impact can be a great way to maximize your

discoveries. In situations where you cannot speak directly with people,

or do not want to interrupt the flow of their activities, being a fly on

the wall has its advantages.

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You’ll come to find that careful, unobtrusive observation provides

valuable insight you cannot otherwise obtain. When left to their own

devices, people are likely to say or do things that they’re not aware of

and would not be able to articulate, even if prompted. If you can watch

and listen without interfering, you have a chance to capture people’s

natural behaviour. Remember to pay careful attention to people’s tasks

and workflow, taking note of the information, tools, and people they

rely upon to do what they do. Also be mindful of the surrounding

environment, understanding that peripheral objects, sounds, and

people may affect outcomes.

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Contextual Inquiry

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“WHAT PEOPLE SAY, what people do, and what they say they do are entirely different things,” observed influential anthropologist Margaret Mead. Following this wisdom, it is crucial that we pay attention to what people say and what people do in order to get a clear picture of what really happens. A Contextual Inquiry places you in the midst of a person’s environment where you can inquire about his or her experiences in context as they are happening. Consequently, input comes directly from the people who have the most knowledge, saving you from making assumptions about how and why things are done.

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Even when you do have some background knowledge of a person’s role or situation, it helps to approach as a novice or to think of yourself as an apprentice. At the same time, bear in mind that you are trying to gather useful information for a specific purpose, so keep the design challenge in view as you interact with participants.

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Walk-a-Mile Immersion

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AS ATTICUS FINCH teaches us in To Kill a Mockingbird, “You never

really understand a person until you consider things from his point

of view—until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” While

any research method can help you better understand people and their

needs, Walk-a-Mile forces you to take a person’s journey and experience their joys, conflicts, and weariness. In other words, you must not

only see but also feel what it is like to live in the world as someone

else.

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Practically speaking, this could mean any number of things: don-

ning the equipment someone uses and performing a task, artificially

altering one or more of your senses, foregoing (or perhaps experiencing-

ing) some of life’s luxuries, or even living among people of a different society. Whatever the extent, the idea is to deepen your empathy

for others and to use that experience to better inform your decision-making. If you can begin to understand people’s motivations, you will

better understand their needs.