User Interview Notes

Space to take notes during focus groups or one-one-one interviews.

Steps
3
Last edited
Jan 31, 2025
Created by
Nova

About this process

Simple space that help you take notes during focus groups or one-one-one interviews.

The process in detail

3 steps
  1. 1

    The Objective:

  2. 2

    Ask Powerful Questions.

  3. 3

    Take notes.

Read the full text
1. The Objective:

🔥 Define the main objective of your user interviews. The objective should be specific and help the team understand why this is important for the team. Avoid objectives like "I want to understand the user more" - What about it? Just you? Does the team understand the user? If yes, then ask them to transfer that knowledge.

🙄 Secondly, create a list of assumption.

2. Ask Powerful Questions.

Note: The sh*t sandwich is the 'concept' that people need to be willing to eat the sh*t sandwich to gain something they want. It's the idea that in reality everything has consequences. For example, that you may want to start your own business and that sounds good but are you willing to work 24/7 the first few years, and live in a lot of uncertainty and pay others first leaving you with no salary sometimes, and have to wear a lot of hats, and be willing to fail…? Or if we are talking about a product, then would your user rather have this feature over this one? Or will they pay more for it?

3. Take notes.

Taking notes is the second most important thing during user interviews or group interviews.

Remember the following:

•You need to take notes in real-time during the interview. That means that if you are unable to take notes while someone is talking, someone else should join you during the user interviews and take notes, or as an alternative, you should record the user interview.
•Take notes of what they are "saying". Take notes about the exact words when they say something interesting and take notes about their facial expressions, if they seem excited, concerned or if their facial expression is in some way opposite to what they are saying. They may be saying "This is so exciting" but they look "sad".
•Take notes of anything they say about "I heard", "I read", "I saw", "Someone told me" and ask them additional questions, where they heard it? who told them? What do they believe.
•Take notes about their belief systems. "I believe", "I think".
•All notes should be easy to find. All team members should have access to the user research interview folder. Each user interview should have a user segment or user persona assigned to it.
•Your notes overall should be the full picture of that interview, removing the "unnecessary" but any other team member and team should be able to read your notes, provide feedback, understand the key insights and have a better understanding of the needs of the user. If you are the only person that can understand your notes, can find them or make an opinion or decisions based on those notes then you can probably improve it.
New Board
  • Segment or user group
  • add findings and notes
  • Additional notes or links
  • Name
  • Name
  • Name
  • Name
  • Name
  • Name
  • email@gmail.com \ Text
  • Question Start with a more open and generic question to understand the overall situation or context. Get to the details later.
  • Expected answer
  • Question Ask them to walk you through it step by step. Try to understand the context—where it happens, when it happens, how it happens, and how they really do it.
  • Question
  • Question Ask a question comparing it with something else. In real life, people make choices by comparing one thing against another based on price, benefits, services, guarantees, etc.
  • Question
  • Question
  • Question
  • Question Ask questions that force them to make tough decisions. In the real world, the things they want compete with the things they need. Pricing plays a big role, and priorities an even bigger one. Make them choose
Use this process
Capabilities
Fully editableAdapts as work changesAdd more sessions anytimeAI can be assigned
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Created byNova·Official process
Last edited Jan 31, 2025·3 steps