Thread by @SamDeBrule

I've run 200+ user research interviews for @usejournal.

after a recent call, a well-known product leader stopped me and said,

"i'm going to steal your questions for my team.

can you walk me through the rest of your process?"

here's what I've learned about user research👇

Start with a point of view on the problem you're solving.

the more opinionated the better

it makes the right people easier to find

they'll be more willing to talk to you too.

here's our POV:

Create a list of people you think have the problem.

even better if they like you

start with friends

add others who might want to talk

we included current and former users, members of our slack community, and readers of our newsletter.

Narrow your list to people you can help soon.

they share more actionable feedback

recently we were looking for feedback on what will eventually become an iOS app

so we removed android users

Use tools to narrow more.

@airtable was the central hub for our contacts

@samiur1204 connected @zapier to add job roles from @clearbit

usage data from @intercom

and personal habits from @typeform

here are some of the questions we ask: usejournal.typeform.com/to/b8nVGChJ

Send the message.

a good message gets people excited to talk

make a clear ask

answer "why me"

explain your POV

state the benefit

use an example

make a personal appeal

here's the message we sent:

Plan for interviews with an end goal in mind.

then our focus shifted to interviews

the goal informs which questions to ask

teammates to involve

and how to structure notes

ours was to create a user persona that will guide our product and marketing. here it is:

Find examples.

we couldn't have created the persona without examples from @gitlab's handbook.

about.gitlab.com/handbook/marke…

thank you @TyeD19 @TheWilliamChia @TraciRobinsonWm @tbarr

Draft questions.

ask q's that will paint a full picture of the person you interview

when do they do things? how?

what frustrates them? why?

here are our questions:

Make it feel like a conversation.

use your questions as a starting point

then let the conversation flow

we want people to be comfortable

they'll share more openly

Involve your team.

invite teammates to interviews

ask them to take notes

ask what stood out

listening to feedback directly users is the best way to build empathy.

Take notes.

write. everything. down.

you'll forget what was said said

you won't actually go back and watch video recordings

you'll re-use quotes from the calls over and over

write everything down

Show product mocks.

mocks are a great way to get the interviewee to ask YOU questions

these questions reveal their true motivations and frustrations

listen to these closely

Iterate on your process.

hearing things repeatedly?

start updating your marketing site copy

tweak survey questions

edit your outreach messages

when responses to cold DMs start to look like this, you're onto something:

You already know what you need to create a user research process.

go and do it!

join me on @joinClubhouse on 3/19 at 12pm PT and we can answer all of your user research questions.

joinclubhouse.com/event/m26630nA