Interview Carousel - Becoming a better interviewer 15 minutes at a time - Group 1
What’s this issue all about?
At GitLab everyone can contribute. And that applies to UX research, too. Responsibilities of Product Managers (PM) and Product Designers (PD) include speaking to users to validate the problem spaces and solutions they are working on and gain inspiration for what could be next. The aim of this project is to offer a light-weight, fun way to practice and enhance interviewing skills for GitLab team members. This should help them feel more comfortable and confident interviewing users and contributes to more research knowledge being generated.
How does the Interview Carousel work?
The interview carousel is a live (remote) event on February 1 where team members get to talk to 4 users each. Imagine a speed-dating style set-up where you speak with one user for 15 minutes and then switch to the next one.
What topics to talk about?
You choose yourself what you want to talk with users about. You can bring a prototype or talk about a specific item you are working on (or planning to). Or simply learn more about that person, their job and life. Remember it’s only 15 minutes per person, which goes by fast.
How do I prepare for this?
- There is this video you should watch before the event. @alasch is sharing tips and tricks on how to be a better interviewer. These are the things you want to practice during the Interview Carousel.
- Make sure to draft a discussion guide for your session and share it with @alasch for feedback. This also helps with ensuring participants don’t have to answer the same questions again and again.
- If you are shadowing, check in with your interviewer to see if they would like you to take notes for them. In this case make sure to read through the discussion guide and note taking template (prepared by the interviewer) to understand what you should be taking notes on.
Templates
What happens after the event
To make the most out of the event, we strongly encourage you to record your interviews and upload them to Dovetail. @alasch will be watching the recordings and provide you with individual feedback on your interviewing skills.
Important due dates and next steps
-
@alasch sent calendar invite for February 1 -
@katiemacoy @v_mishra @nadia_sotnikova @dhershkovitch RSVP to calendar invite or let @alasch know if there is any conflict with the scheduled date: December 17 -
@alasch to initiate recruiting: December 20 -
@katiemacoy @v_mishra @nadia_sotnikova @dhershkovitch Training video watched and discussion guide prepared and shared for feedback: January 25 -
@alasch reviewed discussion guides and shared feedback: January 28 -
Interview carousel event happening: February 1 -
@katiemacoy @v_mishra @nadia_sotnikova @dhershkovitch Upload session videos to Dovetail: February 3 -
@alasch share feedback on interviewing skills: February 17
Team member | RSVP to calendar invite (add |
Training video watched (add |
Link to discussion guide | Skill to practice |
---|---|---|---|---|
@katiemacoy |
|
|||
@v_mishra | Discussion guide | Want to learn how to increase the depth of question so users reveal the underlying reasons for performing an action. | ||
@nadia_sotnikova | Discussion guide | Be more comfortable with silence, avoid providing explanations, and practice active listening. | ||
@dhershkovitch | Avoid guided question (would you?), what information NOT to gather |