[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:02.31,0:00:08.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In addition to gaining insights from observing people,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.25,0:00:13.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it’s also valuable to interview them — ask them about their experiences directly.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.30,0:00:20.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The first step in setting up an interview is deciding who it is that you’re going to interview.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.30,0:00:22.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It may seem obvious
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.34,0:00:29.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the most important thing is to get people who are representative of the target users of your system —
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.84,0:00:32.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who are the people who are going to be using your system.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.91,0:00:34.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Talk to them!
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.49,0:00:41.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now they may be current users of a similar system if you’re creating a better something,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.66,0:00:47.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you’ll likely find current users and you’ll want to learn what they care about,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.14,0:00:49.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what problems they see.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.24,0:00:51.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They might also be non-users.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.72,0:00:56.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, one reason that you might be building your technology
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.58,0:01:01.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is to broaden the set of people that can do a certain task
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.43,0:01:04.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and in that case you’ll want to talk to the non-users.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.76,0:01:09.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Learn about what barriers you see, learn about what their goals are.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.81,0:01:13.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Say, for example, you’re designing a lecture support system.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.76,0:01:16.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Who would you interview in this case?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.38,0:01:23.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There’s a lot of stakeholders: You might pick the teacher.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.38,0:01:27.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You might pick the students. You might also pick the teaching staff.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.67,0:01:35.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe the department administrators that are responsible for making sure the grading is handled properly.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.96,0:01:37.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe even the parents.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.45,0:01:39.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s important to get different types of users.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.58,0:01:44.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, you might have both the freshman and a PhD student.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.64,0:01:49.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You might have a domestic student and an international student.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.16,0:01:51.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Somebody that’s in major and out of major.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.78,0:01:53.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Stronger and weaker students.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.96,0:01:57.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are a lot of different kinds of users.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.04,0:02:02.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can’t get them all, but you’ll want to find several different people
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.93,0:02:07.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who are representative of major user groups, and talk to them.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.69,0:02:10.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How can you find these people?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:10.69,0:02:17.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, one great strategy, if you’re in the US, is to use Craigslist.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.37,0:02:20.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can also reach out through friends and family.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.53,0:02:24.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Your social network is a powerful tool for finding people to interview.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.56,0:02:30.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That doesn’t just mean or even primarily mean “interview your sister”;
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.39,0:02:33.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it means “ask your sister whom she might know”
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.57,0:02:39.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or “ask your friend to put you in touch with people they might know.”
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.03,0:02:42.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s quite likely that you’ll need to pay people.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.06,0:02:45.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the Bay Area, on Craigslist,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:45.56,0:02:51.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,somewhere in the land of 50 to 100 bucks for an interview seems to be the going rate.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.48,0:02:57.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This gets cheaper if you can have less specialized users.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.09,0:03:03.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Also, the amount that you’ll need to pay people depends on what they believe is going to be used for.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.35,0:03:07.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you can convey that in some way you’re making the world a better place,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.36,0:03:11.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people may be willing to offer their time for free, even.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.72,0:03:15.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On the other hand, if they believe that something will be used for a profit,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.72,0:03:19.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they’ll likely want a fair wage for their time.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.71,0:03:25.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you’re a skunkworks project and don’t have enough money to really pay people,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.50,0:03:29.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one thing that you can do is offer a token of appreciation.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.41,0:03:36.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People often appreciate a small thoughtful gift that they can actually use, like a gift certificate or some sort,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.54,0:03:38.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than they do cash.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.93,0:03:42.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For example, a couple of years ago I’ve spoken at a local high school
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.55,0:03:47.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the students gave me a gift certificate to a coffee shop.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.16,0:03:53.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, the amount of money there was not much; but I meant that every time I travelled,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.39,0:03:56.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I could go in the coffee shop in the airport and get a cup of coffee
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.68,0:04:01.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and it reminded me of that group of students and their thoughtfulness.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.57,0:04:08.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sometimes, especially early on the design project,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.77,0:04:15.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it can be difficult to get a hold of exactly the users that you believe will eventually be the target.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.54,0:04:20.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In this case don’t give up completely and interview nobody.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:20.05,0:04:24.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Do the best you can; approximate if necessary.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.95,0:04:28.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For example, if you are designing a system for doctors,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.59,0:04:36.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,early on the project, you might need to satisfice and use medical students instead of doctors.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.84,0:04:42.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or if you are working on something for software engineers, you might get computer science students.\N
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.78,0:04:46.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Not ideal; better than nothing.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.68,0:04:54.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’ve been teaching and doing research in human-computer interaction for about 15 years now
Dialogue: 0,0:04:54.97,0:05:05.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve talked to students or others who say that there’s nothing to be found,\N
Dialogue: 0,0:05:05.27,0:05:11.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that, for the problem that they’re tackling, it’s either possible or obvious.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:11.74,0:05:14.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s very rarely the case that there is nothing new.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.71,0:05:18.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The more mundane the domain, the more creative you need to be.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:18.81,0:05:22.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you don’t believe me, Malcolm Gladwell the writer
Dialogue: 0,0:05:22.03,0:05:28.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has a wonderful explanation in the introduction to his new book of collective stories « What the Dog [Saw] ».
Dialogue: 0,0:05:28.93,0:05:35.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“The trick to finding ideas is to convince yourself that everyone and everything has a story to tell.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.59,0:05:40.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I say trick, but what I really mean is challenge, because it’s a very hard thing to do.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.91,0:05:45.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Shampoo doesn’t seem interesting? Well, dammit, it must be, and if it isn’t,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:45.10,0:05:48.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I have to believe that it will ultimately lead me [to something] that is.”
Dialogue: 0,0:05:48.89,0:05:54.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“The other trick to finding ideas is figuring out the difference between power and knowledge.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:54.51,0:05:58.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You don’t start at the top if you want to find the story.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:58.22,0:06:04.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You start in the middle, because it’s the people in the middle who do the actual work in the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:04.21,0:06:07.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My friend Dave, who taught me about ketchup, is a middle guy.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:07.72,0:06:11.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He’s worked on ketchup. That’s how he knows about it.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:11.12,0:06:15.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People at the top are self-conscious about what they say (and rightfully so)
Dialogue: 0,0:06:15.73,0:06:18.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because they have position and privilege to protect —
Dialogue: 0,0:06:18.60,0:06:22.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and self consciousness is the enemy of ‘interestingness.’”
Dialogue: 0,0:06:22.54,0:06:25.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“In ‘The Pitchman’ you’ll meet Arnold Morris, who gave me the pitch
Dialogue: 0,0:06:25.67,0:06:30.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for the ‘Dial-O-Matic’ vegetable slicer one summer day in his kitchen on the Jersey Shore:
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.60,0:06:32.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,‘Come on over, folks.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:32.77,0:06:36.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I’m going to show you the most amazing slicing machine you have ever seen in your life,’ he began.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:36.88,0:06:42.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He picked up a package of barbecue spices and used it as a prop.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:42.65,0:06:48.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,‘Take a look at this!’ He held it in the air as if he were holding up a Tiffany vase.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:48.30,0:06:53.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That’s where you find stories, in someone’s kitchen on the Jersey Shore.”
Dialogue: 0,0:06:54.79,0:06:58.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What makes a good question when you’re interviewing?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:58.00,0:07:04.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let’s look an example and you can decide whether you think this is a good question.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:04.49,0:07:11.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our question is: “Is the daily update an important feature to you?”
Dialogue: 0,0:07:11.76,0:07:16.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My guess when asked a question like this is that most users would say “Yes.”
Dialogue: 0,0:07:16.60,0:07:18.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s kind of a leading question.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:18.97,0:07:22.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Most people, when asked if something’s important, “Sure, why not?”
Dialogue: 0,0:07:22.62,0:07:24.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What’s at stake? Why would you say no?\N
Dialogue: 0,0:07:24.59,0:07:30.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you wanted to learn about the daily update, participant observation might be a lot more effective\N
Dialogue: 0,0:07:30.83,0:07:35.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because you could see whether people actually use the daily update
Dialogue: 0,0:07:35.89,0:07:39.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or you might even use log files as a way of driving your questions.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:39.67,0:07:48.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, for example, you might ask somebody, “I see from the log that you’ve never used the daily update.\N
Dialogue: 0,0:07:48.42,0:07:50.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why is that? Tell me more.”
Dialogue: 0,0:07:50.76,0:07:58.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Especially early on, the more open-ended your questions are, the more interesting the answers that you’ll get.\N
Dialogue: 0,0:08:06.40,0:08:10.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Remember — back to our Walmart example — they asked a leading question:
Dialogue: 0,0:08:10.78,0:08:13.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“Would you like stories with less clutter?”
Dialogue: 0,0:08:13.38,0:08:18.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The answer, of course, is “yes”, but it may not be what people would actually want.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:19.27,0:08:24.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here’s another example of a question: “What would you like in a tool?”
Dialogue: 0,0:08:24.35,0:08:29.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The problem with this question, at least as a beginning or primary question,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:29.98,0:08:33.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that users are experts in their own lives.\N
Dialogue: 0,0:08:33.52,0:08:40.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They’re not experts in design — that’s your role — so people may not know what to say.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:40.81,0:08:45.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There’s a famous fable in design attributed to Henry Ford where he says that,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:45.29,0:08:49.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“if I asked people what they wanted in the age of the horse and buggy,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:49.74,0:08:54.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what they’d say they want is a faster horse.”\N
Dialogue: 0,0:08:54.18,0:08:58.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And of course we know that the designers used the possibility of the car,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:58.86,0:09:03.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but users may not know about that yet.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:03.54,0:09:11.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Instead, it’s more valuable to ask users about their own lives and their own goals.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:11.12,0:09:14.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That’s what people are experts in.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:14.96,0:09:22.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here are three other types of questions to avoid because people aren’t very good at self report for them;\N
Dialogue: 0,0:09:22.92,0:09:29.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Asking people what they would do or like or want in a hypothetical scenario — too hard to know.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:31.58,0:09:36.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Asking us how often we do things — We often lie to ourselves.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:36.44,0:09:42.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For example, “How often do you exercise?” Most people overestimate in their answer to that question.\N
Dialogue: 0,0:09:44.24,0:09:50.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Other questions about how are things similar. This works better if you can make things concrete.\N
Dialogue: 0,0:09:50.60,0:09:56.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“How much do I exercise in a typical week?” — Not very reliable.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:56.69,0:10:02.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“How much did I exercise this week?” Well, I’m likely to give more truthful answer to that one.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:02.74,0:10:06.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s more concrete, and more recent in my memory.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:06.86,0:10:11.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I suggest also avoiding asking people how much they like things on an absolute scale:
Dialogue: 0,0:10:11.81,0:10:15.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What does “seven” mean?
Dialogue: 0,0:10:15.28,0:10:20.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Finally, avoid binary questions, things that have a yes or no answer.\N
Dialogue: 0,0:10:20.11,0:10:24.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“Do you like grapefruit?” – “Yes.” Not a very interesting interview.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:25.20,0:10:28.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So what are good questions?
Dialogue: 0,0:10:28.24,0:10:33.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Especially at the beginning of an interview, I recommend open-ended questions.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:33.98,0:10:38.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After asking the question, give somebody a chance to respond.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:38.76,0:10:42.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A little bit of silence is golden.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:46.09,0:10:52.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When I first started teaching, I made a mistake that a lot of young teachers make:
Dialogue: 0,0:10:52.63,0:10:58.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I would ask the class for a question, and after 17 milliseconds, when nobody had answered,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:58.51,0:11:01.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I would jump in and offer the question myself.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:01.40,0:11:09.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I trained the students that they didn’t need to be part of the class, that I would always answer every question.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:09.02,0:11:11.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is no reason to participate.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:11.65,0:11:14.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of my colleagues taught me to wait a little longer.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:14.74,0:11:20.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it’s amazing, even in a quiet classroom, before students are used to interacting,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:20.23,0:11:23.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,let those few seconds of silence happen and people will start to chime in.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:23.91,0:11:26.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The same is true in interviews.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:26.43,0:11:31.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You may get a quick answer at first. Let some silence happen.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:31.42,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After a few seconds, you’ll hear the second story. And the second story is often a lot more interesting.