Inspirations for Design: A Course on Human-Centered Research

1. 00:01Welcome! We want to introduce you to another tool
2. 00:03that is very powerful and useful in design research.
3. 00:13We'll talk about why
4. 00:14qualitative interviewing is a powerful tool
5. 00:17and also how to conduct a good interview. Interviewing
6. 00:20people that we wish to design
7. 00:22for will help us to understand their context
8. 00:25and hopefully also to to learn more about their needs and challenges.
9. 00:28A good interview is like an honest conversation.
10. 00:31By asking open questions and listening carefully to what people say,
11. 00:35you can learn more about their routines and behaviors
12. 00:37and also about the motives behind what they do.
13. 00:41Of course qualitative interviews are more labor-
14. 00:43and time consuming than - for example - surveys
15. 00:45or questionnaires
16. 00:47and as a result you may end up
17. 00:49talking to less people.
18. 00:51But they are a great tool for spotting
19. 00:53new opportunities and making new discoveries.
20. 00:56surveys imply that we actually already know
21. 00:58the answers and now give people options to choose from.
22. 01:02But our goal in design research is actually to find unexpected
23. 01:05and new things that we couldn't find
24. 01:07without going to the field and talking to people.
25. 01:10Instead of using a set of questions with yes
26. 01:12or no answers, in our research
27. 01:14we take an ethnographic approach
28. 01:16and we try to have a meaningful conversation
29. 01:19using semi-structured interviews.
30. 01:21It is very important to think about
31. 01:23who you are going to interview ahead of time.
32. 01:26Spending time with the right
33. 01:27people can be very inspiring for your research.
34. 01:30Instead of talking to those that are mainstream,
35. 01:32we want to hear the stories of those that are
36. 01:34at both extremes of the bell curve.
37. 01:37So for instance,
38. 01:38if you think about a given product, experience or service,
39. 01:41you might want to talk to those people that dislike
40. 01:43that product or service,
41. 01:45or could never use it,
42. 01:47or also on the other extreme
43. 01:49those that are very
44. 01:50very engaged with a service or experience.
45. 01:52These are very interesting subjects for interviews.
46. 01:56Why is that? Because their knowledge and needs a more pronounced
47. 02:00in comparison to the average user,
48. 02:02because they have a very extreme emotional
49. 02:04relation to the product or the service.
50. 02:07Remember that our goal
51. 02:09when talking to people is not to confirm our own assumptions,
52. 02:12but rather to provoke stories
53. 02:14or learn things that we wouldn't know
54. 02:16otherwise. One personal example of how talking to people
55. 02:21inspired a design solution was
56. 02:23when I was taking part in a design competition,
57. 02:26in a team from different backgrounds.
58. 02:28So the city of Berlin was looking for creative ideas
59. 02:32for souvenirs that would reflect the vibrant
60. 02:35and young spirit of the city.
61. 02:37And instead of just starting to think about possible solutions
62. 02:42and rendering some designs
63. 02:44what we did was to go out to the city and look for inspirations.
64. 02:49So we visited some typical touristic spots
65. 02:52and apart from talking to people at souvenir shops
66. 02:55we met a group of young Italians that where in Berlin
67. 02:58for a weekend.
68. 02:59We ask them if they have been to souvenir shops
69. 03:01and they told us that they would never go in Berlin
70. 03:04to a souvenir shop and buy something.
71. 03:06And when we asked why, we realize that unlike
72. 03:09in many cities
73. 03:09they wanted to be seen as Berliners 74 00:03:12,491 --> 00:03:13,750 in the city
74. 03:13and they didn't want to do any typical touristic activity.
75. 03:17Throughout the conversation
76. 03:18we had we realized that they have been to
77. 03:21one of these signature old photo booths in Berlin,
78. 03:25and they took multiple black
79. 03:27and white photos to take back home.
80. 03:29So we realized
81. 03:31they wanted to have something from Berlin as a souvenir,
82. 03:33but not a typical thing.
83. 03:35And these photos are something that
84. 03:37sometimes the locals also take. So
85. 03:39they wanted some things
86. 03:41that the locals also
87. 03:42have. This desire to be part of Berlin,
88. 03:44as „do as the locals do“, became very strong in our research
89. 03:50with other people as well.
90. 03:51And this was something that finally informed
91. 03:54our design solution as well.
92. 03:56So these are the types of insights
93. 03:58that you won't be able to hear
94. 04:01if you only do surveys
95. 04:04or if you just ask closed questions with yes
96. 04:06and no answers.
97. 04:08Now let's talk about how to conduct a good interview
98. 04:10and we will give you some do's
99. 04:12and don'ts for that. Building trust
100. 04:18is extremely important to have a meaningful conversation.
101. 04:21You want to make the people
102. 04:22you're talking to feel comfortable around you.
103. 04:25So maybe instead of asking questions right away,
104. 04:28try to first introduce yourself
105. 04:30and the project you're working.
106. 04:33It's good to be prepared for interviews
107. 04:34and have questions in mind,
108. 04:36but also be ready to follow up on interesting stories
109. 04:39that you hear. That's why we propose a semi-structured design
110. 04:43for this type of interview.
111. 04:45Ask „why“ often! Don't let the hidden stories pass
112. 04:48you by. Usually, by the fifth time that you ask
113. 04:51„why are you doing this?“
114. 04:52you will find out about the hidden motives
115. 04:55or reasons behind
116. 04:56people's behavior. Start with general questions
117. 05:00in the beginning of the interview.
118. 05:01and then, as you move, on with more specific questions.
119. 05:05Also try to avoid
120. 05:06„yes or no“ questions
121. 05:07or questions that lead your interviewee into a special
122. 05:10or into a certain direction.
123. 05:12Remember: You're not there to confirm your own assumptions,
124. 05:16but to learn new things that you can only learn
125. 05:18if you have this longer interview.
126. 05:20So try to stay open and curious.
127. 05:22Also don't be afraid of silence:
128. 05:24Some people need a bit more time to open up
129. 05:26or think about things.
130. 05:28So don't try to fill the silence by talking into it.
131. 05:32And finally don't forget to document your interviews.
132. 05:35That's why we suggest to go with another person
133. 05:37if it's possible. In this way,
134. 05:39one person can be the lead interviewer
135. 05:41and ask the questions
136. 05:43and the other person can take notes
137. 05:45and pay attention to body language and gestures.
138. 05:48If you're new to interviewing
139. 05:50it seems a bit difficult in the beginning,
140. 05:52but it gets better as you practice, so don’t worry.
141. 05:55So in this session
142. 05:56we talked about a powerful tool in design research
143. 05:59namely qualitative interviewing.
144. 06:01And we also talked about how to conduct a good interview.
145. 06:04Next we have an example of a good and a bad interview
146. 06:06coming up, and afterwards we would like you to also
147. 06:09try to apply what you learned and conduct an interview.
148. 06:12So have fun!

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