3. Get to know your users
This is a research guide for organizations and individuals
that work with patients, abuse and disaster survivors, the
homeless and others.
Who are the weary?
• an introduction to design thinking
• a toolkit for user research
• training for staff working with
directly with users
Use this guide as:
• those who have experienced
something difficult, and might not
want to talk about it
• those with negative or complex
emotions around the topic you’re
exploring
• those who don’t want to be
‘saved’ by you
4. Design Thinking
We use human-centered design. It is a simple methodology for
problem solving that puts the user at the heart of the project.
empathize - learn more about
your user (using this toolkit)
define - focus on a specific user
and opportunity
ideate - have a ton of ideas with
everyone in the office
prototype - make a cheap/
rough version of your idea
test - bring it back out to your
users to learn more
5. Interviewing*
Just go talk to somebody.
Research can be as informal
as a few conversations.
You’re trying to learn about
the needs, wants and
limitations of your user.
Seek stories
“Tell me about a time…”
Ask open ended questions
“Walk me through...”
Get to specifics
“What’s the worst...”
Record everything
Use photos/notes/video
"Homeless woman with dogs" by Franco Folini
*
6. Start by building rapport and trust. You can’t get
honest answers about difficult subjects without it.
!
A good interview lasts about 1 hour - don’t worry, it
will seem short!
The arc of conversation
7. Breaking the ice can be hard when
you and your user don’t know how to
relate to each other.
!
Bring something delightful, like a bag
of donuts or a ukelele, into the field.
These are great conversation starters
and entry points.
Ex. Bring a game or toy into a village
community, engage the children and
meet their parents.
Delightful
Invitation
"FriendShip... A gift of God." by Mani Babbar Photography
8. Create a bunch of image cards and
gather a group of community
stakeholders. Allow the group to talk
through ‘how the system works’ and
arrange the cards.
!
The physical act of moving things
around and the conversation will
show you gaps or difficulties of the
current system.
Ex. Asking a stay-at-home medical care
partner to advise others in her place.
Visual System
Mapping
9. Sometimes people like chronic
patients and disaster survivors do not
want to criticize the aid they receive.
!
Remove the critical element by
asking the user to take the role of
advisor or guardian for someone else
facing the scenario. Ask them
questions as requests for advice or
help.
Ex. Asking a stay-at-home medical care
partner to advise others in her place.
Advice, not
Critique
10. Some users have been approached
so many times with aid, they don’t
want to hear new ideas.
!
Create a prototype of a product or
experience and leave it out. See if
your users interact with it or not. It is
a visible reminder that change is
possible.
Ex. Set up a little lending library and
wait to see if the community uses it,
ignores it or vandalizes it. That’s data!
Propositional
Prototyping
11. Communities can shut out outsiders
in times of distress.
!
Ally yourself with community
members around common problem.
Then ask “who do we know”, that
could provide more information to
find further interviewees and support.
Ex. Volunteer at a disaster shelter,
tap into local issues to explore with
local partners.
Who do we
know?
