The GV research sprint: Interview participants and summarize findings (day 4)

Updated June 2021

At Google Ventures (GV), we have a four-day process for answering questions and testing assumptions without the time or expense of launching. We call it a GV research sprint. This is the final in a series of five articles on running your own research sprint. (You can also watch a 90-minute video about research sprints or see GV’s Guide to UX Research for Startups.)

Research sprint checklist:

– Create a recruiting screener
– Post recruiting screener where the right people will see it
– Select and schedule participants
– Start creating interview guide
– Confirm participants
– Complete interview guide
– Review prototype with your team
– Set up test devices and recording system
– Interview five customers!
– Summarize findings and plan next steps with your team

It’s showtime! Today you get to talk to real people — your research participants — and test your prototypes. Your interviews will help you answer big questions, test your assumptions, and figure out what to do next.

By the start of Day 4, you should have five participants scheduled for interview sessions, an interview guide, and one or more prototypes to test. Now it’s time to set up your room and your equipment, prepare yourself for the interviews, conduct the actual interviews, and summarize with your team.

Set up the room

Before participants arrive, use this checklist to prepare:

• Print copies of the non-disclosure agreement (in case participants did not e-sign).
• Print your interview guide (for your reference).
• Clean the interview room: erase whiteboards, throw out empty coffee cups, etc.
• Post “do not disturb” sign on the door of the room.
• Gather incentives for participants (gift cards, etc).
• Grab a notepad and pens for any short notes you want to take. (But your team will handle the bulk of the note-taking).
• Make sure there’s a clock on the wall or table.
• Put a box of tissues in the room, just in case.

Set up your test devices and recording system

It’s best to keep your research technology as simple (and cheap!) as possible — that’ll give you a lot of flexibility and minimize technical difficulties. You’ll probably want two different versions: one for testing desktop prototypes and one for mobile prototypes.

There is no one right way to do this, so here are some suggested approaches that I prefer. But through trial and error, find what works best for you.

Testing desktop prototypes in-person

What you’ll need

• Google Meet, Lookback, or GoToMeeting (or UserZoom if you’re feeling fancy)
• MacBook
• External monitor
• External keyboard (I prefer Bluetooth to minimize USB plugs and cords.)
• Mouse (I prefer Bluetooth.)
• USB webcam
• USB conference mic (optional)
• Privacy screen for MacBook
• App to keep your Mac awake (like Amphetamine)
• Good WiFi

For testing desktop prototypes in-person, I use a MacBook Pro and live stream the interview for my team to watch from another room or various remote locations. To do this, you could use Google Meet — you can find instructions on how to live stream here. Lookback and GoToMeeting are other good options too. Just make sure that your observers are hidden so they don’t disrupt the interviews.

If you are testing prototypes of websites or web apps, test with a web browser that your customers would realistically use. But if you are testing prototypes of desktop apps or operating systems, you’ll need a computer and OS that matches the people, scenarios, and platforms you are designing for.

I always use an external keyboard, mouse, and display with the MacBook, in case my participants are not familiar with the MacBook trackpad or keyboard. Make sure the display is a realistic size — it’s common for designers and engineers to use 27-inch or larger displays, but this might not be true for your target users.

I put a small webcam on top of the display to capture video of the participant’s face. I also connect a second mouse to the MacBook so I can easily take control to point something out or get the participant unstuck (when appropriate).

1. The hardware set-up should look something like this:

2. Next, arrange your displays like this in System Preferences so participants won’t “lose” the pointer on the MacBook screen.

3. Open the window or prototype you’re testing on the external monitor for the participant.

4. Present your screen so that your observers can see the prototype too. Google Meet — or an equivalent live stream platform — should record the screen and the participant’s face.

5. Start your interview and (with permission) press record!

I love the simplicity and versatility of this setup. I’ve used it for research sprints in my office, in startups’ conference rooms, in cancer centers, in doctors’ offices, in homes, in a truck stop, and even in a hotel room with a robot.

After setting up your test computer, use this checklist to prepare:

• Test video streaming and recording.
• Schedule a “meeting” for each interview. Add the meeting URLs and phone numbers to your team’s calendar.
• Install the prototypes and do a test run. (Be sure to reset prototypes to their default state before the interviews.)
• Hide obvious personal information and remove icons from your computer desktop.
• Clear web browser history, cookies, cache, and bookmarks.
• Create bookmarks or shortcuts for prototypes.
• Set an innocuous home page (e.g. your local newspaper).
• Minimize the browser or prototypes until you’re ready for your participants to test them.
• Wipe down the keyboard, mouse, and display.

Testing mobile prototypes in-person

What you’ll need

• MacBook
• USB webcam
• USB conference mic (optional)
• IPEVO HD document camera
• IPEVO Visualizer app
• Privacy screen for MacBook
• App to keep your Mac awake (like Amphetamine)
• Good WiFi

1. For testing mobile prototypes, I still use a MacBook Pro and a live stream platform, but I add an IPEVO document camera to capture video of the iPhone, iPad, or other test device we’re using. Set the mobile device on a table and position the document camera above it. I still use a webcam for video of the participant’s face, but the document camera is doing the heavy lifting here. The IPEVO camera works with a simple app called IPEVO Visualizer, which displays the video on my screen. When this app is open, I can simply share my whole screen via Google Meet and my team can see the video feed as well as the webcam.

Here is what my tech set-up usually looks like, but again, find what works for you.

Turn the MacBook so participants don’t get distracted by seeing themselves.

2. Open Visualizer with Split Screen to showcase two camera views: one will be from the IPEVO document camera on the test device and the other will be the webcam view of the participant.

3. Start your interview and (with permission) press record!

After setting up your computer and mobile test device, use this checklist to prepare:

• Test video streaming and recording.
• Schedule a “meeting” for each interview. Add the meeting URLs and phone numbers to your team’s calendar.
• Install the prototypes and do a test run. (Be sure to reset prototypes and test device to their default state before the interviews.)
• Clear web browser history, cookies, cache, and bookmarks.
• Create bookmarks for prototypes or add to home screen.
• Close the browser or prototypes until you’re ready for your participants to test them.
• Open the IPEVO Visualizer app on the computer.
• Position the document camera so it’s focused on the test device.
• Position the webcam so it’s focused on the participant’s face.
• Wipe down the test device.

Remote mobile or desktop testing

When you need to view and share mobile screens with participants you can’t meet in person, try Lookback, Google Meet, or GoToMeeting to share screens and livestream to observers.

Prepare your team to watch the interviews

While you’re interviewing participants, your team — ideally the entire team who worked on the prototypes — will be observing the interviews and taking notes.

Encourage your team to watch the UX research sessions live because it really helps:

• Build consensus faster on ideas based on their merits.
• Accelerate understanding of users and motivate the team.
• Save time and streamline communication.

Refer to this GV guide on organizing UX research “watch parties” for a step-by-step on how to help your team get the most out of research interviews.

Whether your team is together in person or watching from separate, remote locations, put one of your team members in charge of the observation room. Make sure they read the “watch parties” article linked above and this article before Day 4 begins:

The GV Design Sprint: Validate (Day 5) — from our series on the GV design sprint

Get into character

With your equipment set up and your team ready to go, take a minute to prepare yourself.

If you’re interviewing in-person, help your participants feel comfortable by skipping perfume or cologne, avoiding onions or garlic at breakfast and lunch, and chewing mints or gum before each interview. Dress the way your participants would dress. For example, don’t wear a T-shirt when interviewing attorneys or physicians. Don’t wear a tie when interviewing truck drivers.

Minimize distractions by silencing your phone and turn off any notifications on your computer. Take a bathroom break before each interview.

Finally, get into character by adopting a curious, open, and objective attitude. Take a deep breath. Smile. Try to see the world through your participants’ eyes. And resist the temptation to judge or dismiss what they say. Remember, your goal is to elicit and learn from your participants’ real reactions to your questions and prototypes.

Showtime!

As you begin your interviews, here are a some tips to keep in mind:

• Be a good host. Smile.
• Build rapport. Make small talk and ask easy-to-answer background questions. Don’t just jump right to the prototypes.
• Let participants figure it out on their own. Don’t pitch or explain the product. Answer questions with questions.
• Ask who, what, where, when, why, and how questions.
• Ask follow-up questions. Silence and pregnant pauses are also effective ways to draw people out.
• Avoid leading questions.
• Ask for specific, recent, personal examples — instead of theories or projections about other people.
• Mostly be quiet. Let participants do the talking.
• Watch the time.
• Watch for participants’ non-verbal cues. Are they nervous? Frustrated? Annoyed? Try to build better rapport for better interviews.
• Go overboard in expressing appreciation for their time and input. “Thank you sooo much! This has been incredibly interesting and valuable.”

For more advice on conducting great interviews, check out these 16 tips. And see “How to Test Prototypes with Customers: The Five-Act Interview” for a short video demo of this kind of interview.

Between interviews (especially after the first one), check with your team to see if they have any questions about what just happened, or suggestions for the next interview.

Take a break before your next interview. Conducting five interviews in a day can be exhausting.

Then reset the prototypes and the room, get into character, and greet your next participant.

Summarize, review, and plan your next steps

After the last interview, don’t let your team leave before meeting to summarize what you learned and plan the next steps. If they took proper notes, this shouldn’t take any more than 30 minutes — which is good, because you’re probably exhausted by now! (Because it’s worth repeating: See GV’s guide to UX Watch Parties for to get the most out of your research interviews.)

Your main job as a team is to highlight the patterns (both good and bad), consolidate and organize those patterns, and collect ideas for possible solutions to any problems you found. (Don’t forget to capture the whiteboards by taking photos.)

With your team (and your research findings!) in one place, figure out what you’re going to do next. Usually, you’ll want to update the prototype to fix some problems, create a new higher-fidelity prototype, or decide to focus on a new set of questions and assumptions to tackle. You’ll almost certainly want to plan another design sprint to continue designing your product.

Then — finally — you can call it a day.

Thanks for reading all the way to the end. We’ve helped more than 300 startups use research sprints to learn more, make better decisions, and move faster. Good luck, and happy researching!

GV research sprint series
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