Class 04_Homework_February 1st

Hello all, 

Today we continued our journey through the EMPATHIZE cell of the Design Thinking process, discussing research as it relates to investigating our photography-storage-and-checkout-procedure prompt.  To further understand our stakeholders and seek an empathetic, human-centered approach to design, we will conduct intercept interviews. As discussed in class, it is imperative that your questions are constructed in such a way that the responses tell us more about who this person is and what experiences they may have had in terms of our prompt, and not yes/no questions or suggestion/solution based questions to try and "fix" something. 
Sincerely, 
Professor Urrutia

c04_a1

Empathy: Intercept Interviews

due Tuesday, February 6th

Format: Goes into the LOGBOOK HOMEWORK section of the binder with the proper heading. Each student should have the 2 interviews [notes] that he/she/they were a notetaker for. This means you need to work with at least one other person to complete this assignment. Please contact me if you have trouble doing this so I may advise you.

This post is long. Please break it into parts so you know you are doing all that is being asked of you!

Part 1. Prepare questions before you conduct interviews

1. Create different questions for different stakeholders [you will have at least 3 groups to choose from]. Your questions should be focused. 
2. Ask questions that yield interesting answers. If you ask boring questions, you will get boring results. Test your questions with your team to understand the quality of said question. 
3. Avoid yes/no questions. Yes/ no responses do not lend themselves to understanding a person's perspective/ experiences and gaining empathy (which is the goal of this exercise). Think about the construction of questions you develop; often you can rephrase a yes/no question in such a way where your responses will become more of a commentary from the person. 
4. Avoid solution-based questions and projecting your ideas to stakeholders. Remember that your questions are not meant to fix anything or solve a problem; they are meant to gather human-centered information about the prompt and provide insight to you (the designer) of their experiences and pain points. (just like avoiding yes/no questions; often you can rephrase something to ask a similar question without inferring your own ideas into the conversation)

To-do

As a team, create 10 questions, one set of ten for each of your 3 stakeholder groups [30 total]. Some questions may be general; some should be crafted for certain stakeholders. You may use some of the questions asked in our mock interview from class if you think they will help. Expand beyond the mock interview questions based on your own insights and understanding of the prompt thus far.

Part 2. Conduct Interviews, Determine Roles & Responsibilities
The format for interviews: An interview team will consist of at least 2 people, but can include all 3 as long as each member has at least two instances each of being the sole notetaker. 

When you set about to interview, one person will be the interviewer with the primary role of introductions, engagement, and question asking. The other person will be the notetaker with the primary role of taking notes, recording the stakeholder's name, and snapping a photograph. Let your stakeholder know that this is what you are doing. As discussed in class, it is nearly impossible to take good notes and lead a conversation at the same time. 

1. Take turns switching roles: Each person should interview at least three times and be a notetaker at least three times. If this method is followed, you should complete at least 6 interviews, as a team. 
2. Determine who will interview what stakeholder groups. Make sure you talk to people who fit within all three of your chosen stakeholder groups.  

To-do

Complete your interviews and be prepared to discuss results in class. 

How to do an intercept interview:

1. Introduce yourself, tell the interview subject what you are doing and why you are doing it. If they agree to an interview, continue to next steps.  
2. Ask the interview subject what their name is, make sure to record
3. Ask interviewee if you can take a photo of them, make sure to record (notetaker role) 
4. Ask your questions. Use your prepared questions to guide interview, but also feel free to improvise if new questions come to mind based on the responses of your stakeholders. 
5. Have fun and good luck!