Hello, my name is Sarah Donnell I'm, the u.s. research manager it-get well, a discussion guide is a set of questions and topics that you like to discuss with a participant you're in a user interview. It typically consists of an introduction, warm up, questions, exploratory questions and a debrief today, I'm going to walk you through how to create a discussion guide, introduction introduce yourself and let the participants know what to expect you in the interview give them a chance to ask questions.

Most people want a been interviewed before so take some time to put them at ease. Prior to the interview, you should have already obtained written consent to record and possibly share the conversation we have with the participant. However, it's a good idea to double-check, verbally that the participant is still happy to be recorded and for the conversation to be shared, warm up. Questions start by asking the participant a few easy questions about themselves and their job. This will help get the participant used to the process of answering questions.

It's also an opportunity to begin build and rapport with the participant so that they are more inclined to open up to you. When you begin asking exploratory questions listen closely, their answers may help provide context for any base of responses. They give some warm-up questions you could ask out on the screen a survey you mentioned that you're a DevOps engineer. How long have you been in that role? What kind of work does you currently do?

But if you typical working day involved exploratory questions when you start writing your exploratory questions, you want to group questions into common topics so that your interview, naturally flows, I, should begin to structure your questions allocate time for each topic. This will help you keep your interview on track, read from general questions and more specific questions related to your research goals. For example, how do you currently go about these tasks? So what's the hardest part about this tasks?

What could be better about? How you currently do this? At the same time, don't leave your most important questions until the very end? In case a user spends more time than you anticipate answering an earlier question. It's okay to ask questions about past experiences. As long as you recognize the limitations of people's memory, the human memory is fallible and it can often be difficult for people to remember specific details.

For example, if I ask you whether you have breakfast three days ago, you could probably tell me yes or no, if I actually to recall how long your breakfast took to eat. You probably struggle to provide an answer, or you may even be tempted to hazard a guess. Ask questions which turbines have participants general experiences and opinions, but don't press participants for details they can't provide, otherwise they may be tempted to make up their answers. Participants can't predict the future if you ask them a question like would you use this feature?

Their response may not be an accurate reflection of what they would actually do. For example, some people might say no because they might not be able to visualize how the feature would work from the description alone. Others might say yes, because I don't want to rule out the possibility that at some point in the future, the future might be useful to them debrief by the participant for that time and explain what happens next with the feedback they have given.

You today give the participant a chance to ask any questions and, if you're a pain, a participant for taking part in your study, ensure you share details of how they will be paid and when they can expect payment, leave your contact details with them in case they have any follow-up force. They want to share with you once you have written your discussion guide, you should rehearse and test out your guide, and this can be with a colleague.

This will give you a sense of how long your script will take to run through, and it will help you spot any questions that people may have difficulty answering and remember. Your discussion guide is just that. It's a guide, it's a reference tool which helps facilitate conversation. If a pissah serpent says something interesting which is not covered by your guide, listen to them and explore what they are saying. You may uncover something you hadn't previously considered active listening is key. You should react to what your participant is saying.