Thread by @RohanIrvine

Welcome back to Day 2 of Design Research!

I'll be speaking this morning around 9:10 about 'The Research Participant Survival Guide'

Are you pumped?!?!?!

#dr2020

Rohan is presenting the research participant survival guide today.

I live and work on the lands of the Wurundjeri, Woi Wurrung and Boon Wurrung peoples of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and future.

In Rohan's work, he's had struggles with certain types of participants, and working with other researchers, learned others had similar but different struggles.

There's strategies you can use before and after a session, but today we'll focus on what you can do IN THE MOMENT without other resources at hand.

It's not just about Rohan's experiences! Rohan has surveyed and interviewed others in the research community to gather experiences for these archetypes.

Thank you so much to these UX professionals who contributed to this talk! About half are researchers, half are designers. All conducting many interviews at different experience levels.

Meet the archetypes! These are the research participants we'll be talking about today. There are more in the research, but we'll leave those for another day.

First up The Waffler!

Rohan is a bit of a waffler himself 😂 Here's how you spot the waffler.

As a facilitator, you are initially excited to see the waffler. You're into what they're saying, bit you then become very overwhelmed. It's hard to remember the threads of conversation. What's relevant? What was the question again?!

Rohan's past manager Peter Grierson helped Rohan deal with the Waffler.

How to deal with The Waffler

Next up, we have The Silent Type!

Here are some behaviours The Silent Type might exhibit.

The Silent Type might be thinking A LOT more than what they're saying. But how to get them to share? Working with them depletes your energy. Am I a good researcher?! Do I know how to write questions?!

Jess Vitez fights silence with silence. See if you can encourage them to open up.

Here are strategies to encourage the Silent Type to open up.

Next up we have The Misunderstander.

How to identify the Misunderstander.

When you get a Misunderstander, you might be confused about the conversation, you might be defensive, you might be defeated. But it is your job to pause and work to make YOURSELF understandable.

Amir Ansari says it helps to pause and try to adjust to the participant's mental model.

Here are some strategies to make yourself clearer for The Misunderstander.

Next up, we're talking about The Mis-recruit!

How to identify that The Mis-recruit is in your session.

The classic Mis-recruit.

Ana Rodriguez says to pivot your focus and your questions.

Strategies for working with The Mis-recruit.
An anonymous researcher dealt with a Mis-recruit who used a fake identity to get into a second session in a day! 😮

Next up is the Not Okay. A content note here for inappropriate behaviour.

Here is how to identify The Not Okay.

Prioritise the safety of yourself, your team and your participant. In that order!

How to manage The Not Okay.

Next up we have The People Pleaser.

Here's how to identify The People Pleaser.

The People Pleaser is usually rather nervous to say how they feel, they're inclined to check their answer is "correct".

Sarah Goforth says you need to pump up your People Pleaser. Make sure they know their opinion is valued.

Strategies to work with your People Pleaser.

And finally we have The Know It All!

Here's how to identify The Know It All.

Sometimes The Know It All can feel like you're testing them, so it can help to diffuse the tension.

Jo Szczepanska shares her question sheet with The Know It All to encourage them to be part of the conversation in a different way.

Strategies to deal with The Know It All.

That's a wrap for Rohan!
This has been @reneecarmody — over and out!

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