Step 3: Plan your research

How to prepare yourself for the research process

Reading time: 2 minutes

Plan the interview

Prepare research materials

Prior to the research session, review your project brief and “How Might We” question. Review participants’ names, titles, and any background information you may have.

Give all participants the opportunity to provide their official consent to participate in the research project, as well as an opportunity to withdraw from the study, if they wish. Different types of research may require different kinds of information disclosure and participant consent. Standard consent forms are one to two pages. Page one typically covers project details, and page two covers permissions to document the interview and record the participant’s signature.

Prepare yourself

Reflect on the following key HCD beliefs before you begin the interviews:

The participant is the expert in their own experience. We want to observe and listen to them so as to understand their experience.
The insights of participants are facts as they believe them to be. There are no wrong answers in the interview.
We approach the participant ready to hear their story and their perspective. Before the interview, we check our own assumptions and internal biases at the door.
We are mentally present in the moment and focused on the participant.

Visualize the interview

The image shows a line graph that indicates what happens through the interview as time progresses. After introductions, the depth and intensity of the interview increases as you evoke stories and explore emotions. Then in the last few minutes, intensity and depth begins to decrease as you move to question statements then wrap up.

This diagram is a visual representation of the path of a typical HCD discovery interview. Use it as a guide for planning your own interviews, if you find it helpful. It is adapted from work from Stanford’s d.School and represents a path you may follow when conducting an interview.