Reflecting on preparing for, conducting, and using data from user interviews

“We spend a lot time designing the bridge, but not enough time thinking about the people who are crossing it.”

Dr. Prabhjot Singh, Director of Systems Design at the Earth Institute

I was very excited to see that for our digital resource development, it would be a requirement to demonstrate a design thinking approach. In particular, I was very much looking forward to the opportunity to conduct user interviews to inform an empathy map. User interviews are something I am familiar with, as my role at Island Health is very concerned with how users encounter products and services that we create and design. I am very aware that there is not enough user centered design taking place in health care in general. (Anyone who has had to find a service or clinic in a hospital with only a room number as a guide can probably understand). 

I recruited some users who agreed to be interviewed, and I set out to write a script with open-ended questions beginning with “How…”; “Why…”; “Tell me…”; “and What…”. All my interview subjects had recent experience with online workplace learning and provided me with ample data for my empathy map. One aspect I want to point out  – and this isn’t a judgment at all, as humans can have different needs at different times and contexts – was my observation that statements I heard could be seen as contradictory. For example, one user was clear that they very much disliked group work and found no learning to be gained by working in groups. They also told me that something they value in workplace training is learning from others, and how people in similar roles have benefitted from the training in a related context. Further, the same user told me how much they wished for timely, almost instantaneous feedback and answers from a course instructor or administrator when they want to ask about assignments. 

How interesting, I thought. What does a course designer do with feedback like this? I felt a bit like a consumer product designer reviewing focus group data that says: “We definitely want the backpack to be much larger. We also don’t want it to be too big to carry on our backs.” 

The reflection in action that occurred as I listened to this user in the interview was this:  “How can a learning resource respect learner agency, at the same time encourage that aspect of social learning theory and zone of proximal development that makes being with other learners in the moment so helpful?”

Nevertheless, all my user interviews were insightful, descriptive, honest, forthright, and informative for developing my prototype of my digital learning resource. I appreciated the users who were willing to share with me their frustrations, feelings, needs, and wants when it comes to online learning. I took the data from all my interviews and managed to apply aspects such as learner choice, format of participation (e.g. solo or small group), multiple means of engagement, and modes of interaction. 

I’m truly excited about the opportunity to refine the prototype and share this with those who are designing learning modules at Island Health as an example of how more user centered design can inform workplace learning. I intend to use the Affinity Learning platform to present my prototype to my own team to get their feedback on additional topics that we could teach via this kind of digital learning.