Besides the practical activities for conducting an interview or observation (defining research questions, recruiting participants, and analyzing ideas and reports), there are 4 rules of empathy that should be followed and applied during a session. . These rules are also good for testing with users: in this case, the dialogue is not focused on the narration. Rather, it is an observation of how users interact with the solutions we design (whether products or services). moderated usability test example An example of a moderated usability test from the Nielsen Norman Group Let's take a closer look at what these 4 rules are. go with the flow The first rule of empathy is to follow the flow of the user. We do it like that : Start with a broad topic Let the interlocutor direct him Use as few words as possible Repeat a topic to show your attention, check understanding and ask further questions Do not use words different from those of the interlocutor Avoid saying "I" Offer support In addition to following the user's flow,
you need to walk them through these simple steps: Don't pretend, be present Don't suddenly change the subject Adapt to the mood Do not raise doubts or concerns Show respect Showing empathy is both being supportive and making the other person feel respected: Follow, don't drive Resist the urge to prove how smart you are Keep in mind that the interlocutor is not mistaken suspend judgment Last, but not least, is to withhold all judgments. Indeed, it is essential that the user does not feel in any way judged by his interlocutors during an empathetic approach. To ensure that there is no judgmental attitude: Pay attention to your own reactions and dispel them Listen without Image Masking Service wanting to analyze What are the results ? What do marketing, design, product, sales, and customer value teams get out of these activities? Priceless information. Let's take the concrete example of MailUp's Personas . Here are the profiles of decision makers and users that the entire business unit has created by working together through an empathetic process. MailUp Personas 1 Workshop MailUp Personas 2 Workshop The first step was to create profiles based on internal knowledge.
These are called Protopersonas . Fifty-two people from all the company's teams worked on it (for a total of 10 hours). Information about the needs, emotions and goals of their customers and users emerged. They created 20 profiles. These were the starting point for qualitative research through surveys and interviews that validated the information provided by the internal team. The lessons learned from this research revealed 12 profiles from which the sales department began to define the priorities of the strategy . Empathy not only founded the process of creating personas but also the pragmatic and daily use by the different teams : Does a web page need to be redesigned? The first question should be: “who are” those who will use it. Next, we need to define the business needs and analyze the technology system. Should we provide blog posts? Let's ask ourselves what interests potential readers. Should we prioritize the features to be released? Let's find the most urgent ones for our users. etc Personas provide the answer as well as the live, continuously updated reference for teams to “know” who is out there. Personas allow new colleagues to navigate the sea of information with adequate awareness.