People

• Rob Pearson

Methods

• User Interviews User interviews explore people’s circumstances, experiences and needs through a guided conversation. Use them when you need to understand a problem in depth or learn how a service fits into someone’s life. Recruit current or likely users, prepare open questions and possible follow-ups, and ask for concrete examples rather than idealised accounts. Start with consent, listen carefully, and allow useful unexpected topics to emerge. A discussion guide keeps the research focused without turning it into a rigid questionnaire. Interviews can accompany usability tests when you also need to observe people using a service.
• Workshop Facilitation Workshop facilitation guides a group towards a shared outcome without imposing the facilitator’s preferred answer. Define the purpose, prepare activities and materials, and create opportunities for everyone to contribute. Combine individual thinking with discussion when helpful, listen for different perspectives and adjust the plan to the group’s needs. Record decisions and clarify who will take the next steps. Use facilitation when a team must explore a problem, generate ideas or agree actions together; successful participation matters as much as the visible workshop outputs.
• Wireframing Low-to-mid fidelity layouts that show structure, hierarchy and key interactions without final visual polish — used to explore and agree interaction before visual design.
• Prototyping Building disposable stand-ins for a product — from paper and clickable wireframes to coded spikes — so teams can try interactions before committing to build. Used to explore options, align stakeholders, and run usability tests on something people can click or walk through. Fidelity should match the question: low for flow and structure, higher when timing, motion or real content matter.
• Usability Testing Usability testing reveals where people struggle while attempting realistic tasks with a prototype or service. In a moderated session, a researcher observes the participant and may ask them to explain their thinking. Use it to investigate confusing language, layouts or interactions and identify improvements. Agree research questions, recruit likely users and prepare believable tasks that do not reveal the solution. Explain that the service is being tested, then mostly watch and listen rather than guiding participants. Record observations and follow up on unclear behaviour. Plan accessible sessions, including participants’ own assistive technology when appropriate.

Resources

Slides