Dey – really appreciate your kind words, and have to say, there is nothing more we love than actually talking to people – that is one of the great joys of our job isn’t it? Keen to chat to you about the application of this method outside of UX Design.

Scott – I agree it is great to have the chance for users to feel at ease and slow down a bit. I have had those kinds of sessions where users are just rushing along – to me, this is mainly a reflection of them feeling nervous; so this process definitely assists to eliminate some of those anxious feelings.

Jessica – Yes, we offer more incentive; we suggest it will take them about an hour at the most and we’ll offer between $30 to $50 more on top of the normal incentive, depending on the segment we are focusing on (e.g. business owners might need more incentive, general consumers less).

For your other questions, I’ll break them down to respond:

a) Do I worry that ‘top of mind’ responses are lost?

I guess you are really asking do I think it biases users in some way, and the simple answer is no; however, I can see how such a process could be interpreted as such. I just go back to the uses of it in psychology – it is to ‘assist’ people ‘access’ drivers and motivators and be able to discuss these.

In this respect, I think that the collage activity taps into the “top of mind” thought processes when they are creating the collage, and lets users goes a little deeper into these when we see them. Sometimes ‘top of mind’ is not a great response set to be tapping into; I know I have had interviews where users are just grasping at straws to describe why they think a certain way, and this is often less helpful. Essentially, we believe that a ‘confident / well considered’ response is more valuable that a ‘cold / off the cuff’ reaction.

b) Users have the chance to rationalise behaviours and thoughts that may be driven by other less rational motivators?

Well, the way a user rationalises their behaviour tells us a lot too. What drives behaviour is complex and personal. In this sense, we should be interested in the way a user discusses all aspects of what they ‘think’ drives their preferences or the way they behave. And I think it is our job as behavioural analysts to understand more about the intricacies of their behaviour through focused discussion and questioning. The value of a good moderator is really important. I definitely fall back on my grounding in psychology to question in the manner that taps into attitudes, thoughts and behaviours and consequently, reveals drivers and blockers for that user.

When I think about the times I have conducted interviews and evaluation sessions without doing this activity, vs. now always doing it, I really do think we get more value from users. I find that it takes longer to tease the motivators and drivers out through discussion when we have not engaged in this activity.

I guess I can only encourage you to give it a go – it really is interesting the insights it reveals.

Hope this helps clarify – please let me know either way!

Dey – really appreciate your kind words, and have to say, there is nothing more we love than actually talking to people – that is one of the great joys of our job isn’t it? Keen to chat to you about the application of this method outside of UX Design.

Scott – I agree it is great to have the chance for users to feel at ease and slow down a bit. I have had those kinds of sessions where users are just rushing along – to me, this is mainly a reflection of them feeling nervous; so this process definitely assists to eliminate some of those anxious feelings.

Jessica – Yes, we offer more incentive; we suggest it will take them about an hour at the most and we’ll offer between $30 to $50 more on top of the normal incentive, depending on the segment we are focusing on (e.g. business owners might need more incentive, general consumers less).

For your other questions, I’ll break them down to respond:

a) Do I worry that ‘top of mind’ responses are lost?

I guess you are really asking do I think it biases users in some way, and the simple answer is no; however, I can see how such a process could be interpreted as such. I just go back to the uses of it in psychology – it is to ‘assist’ people ‘access’ drivers and motivators and be able to discuss these.

In this respect, I think that the collage activity taps into the “top of mind” thought processes when they are creating the collage, and lets users goes a little deeper into these when we see them. Sometimes ‘top of mind’ is not a great response set to be tapping into; I know I have had interviews where users are just grasping at straws to describe why they think a certain way, and this is often less helpful. Essentially, we believe that a ‘confident / well considered’ response is more valuable that a ‘cold / off the cuff’ reaction.

b) Users have the chance to rationalise behaviours and thoughts that may be driven by other less rational motivators?

Well, the way a user rationalises their behaviour tells us a lot too. What drives behaviour is complex and personal. In this sense, we should be interested in the way a user discusses all aspects of what they ‘think’ drives their preferences or the way they behave. And I think it is our job as behavioural analysts to understand more about the intricacies of their behaviour through focused discussion and questioning. The value of a good moderator is really important. I definitely fall back on my grounding in psychology to question in the manner that taps into attitudes, thoughts and behaviours and consequently, reveals drivers and blockers for that user.

When I think about the times I have conducted interviews and evaluation sessions without doing this activity, vs. now always doing it, I really do think we get more value from users. I find that it takes longer to tease the motivators and drivers out through discussion when we have not engaged in this activity.

I guess I can only encourage you to give it a go – it really is interesting the insights it reveals.

Hope this helps clarify – please let me know either way!

Thanks for sharing this interesting technique with us. I particularly like the way it helps the participant feel less anxious about the session.

I’m surprised you didn’t have anyone not do the collages when asked. Do you pay a slightly higher incentive when using this technique?

It sounds like you have a deeper grounding in psychology than I so I’d also be interested in your take on this question. You clearly acknowledge that this technique will prime participants. Consequentially, do you have any concern:

a) about the loss of those “top of mind” responses that theoretically highlight thoughts and attitudes that are very “present” for the participant; and/or

b) that in doing the collage process the participant is given the opportunity to rationalise behaviours, thoughts and attitudes that may actually be driven by other, less rational motivators?

I suspect these things may be outweighed by the benefits the technique delivers but I wanted to hear your thoughts based on your training and your experience using the technique multiple times.

Many thanks,

Jessica Enders
Principal, Formulate Information Design