How I get unbiased data when doing Interviews and Usability Testing
By: Hibo Faysal
Tags: UX Research, UX, Articles, Product, Usability Testing

No one is completely unbiased, I’m certainly not, but my rule of thumb as a UX Designer is to strive for unbiased situations that create real and usable data. To be honest, it’s more challenging than it sounds, but here are five things I do:

👉🏾 1. I ask open-ended questions.

Open-ended questions spark open-ended conversations that allow me to understand the users needs, motivations and mental models. Using the TEDW Framework really helps when conducting research. If you’re unfamiliar with the framework, I highly recommend Why you should always aim for open-ended conversations by Nikki Anderson. In short, TEDW stands for:

T= ”Tell me more…” or “Take me through why…”.

E= “Explain why…” or “Explain how…”

D= “Describe why…” or “Describe how…”

W= “Walk me through…”

To demonstrate this further, here’s how I would reframe the following question into the TEDW format.

Original question: Why were you feeling frustrated with customer service?

Why were you feeling frustrated with customer service? Reframed question: Explain what you mean by frustrated?

As a UX Designer, I believe the latter question is better worded because you stay open to the fact that people might have different perception of what emotions mean. I than follow up with “what, when, where, how, why” to dig deeper.

👉🏾 2. I avoid hypothetic questions in order to avoid hypothetic answers.

I do this to get more specific and real data. I need users to recall memories and tell me stories about those previous experiences. For example: Tell me about the last time (a specific, real situation) you contacted customer service for help? Instead of, how do you usually (a word that easily leads to hypothetical answers) contact customer service? For more details, refer to The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you by Rob Fitzpatrick.

👉🏾 3. I use the method ‘Thinking aloud’.

I want to know what the users are thinking and the ”Thinking aloud” method is the most effective way to achieve that during Usability testing. Here is Jakob Nielsen’s definition:

”In a thinking aloud test, you ask test participants to use the system while continuously thinking out loud – that is, simply verbalizing their thoughts as they move through the user interface.” – Jakob Nielsen

👉🏾 4. I always test the test

I always take my script and scenarios through an iterative process before actually performing the real usability testing or interview. The reason is simple, things can always be improved and you can avoid mistakes that can affect the research negatively.

👉🏾 5. I avoid the Wording bias

The Wording bias occurs when a question is framed in a way that suggests an answer. For example, if a question would be worded as “How difficult was it for you to submit your question?”, the question would imply that the process is difficult. Therefore, the question would most likely prompt users to only recall negative experiences. By proofreading my questions I make sure to keep the questions neutral.

That’s it, five quick tips you can start using today!