Schools 2030 HCD Sprint book

17 Preparing to Interview Instructions: As a part of the work of exploring this problem, you are going to interview three stakeholders. When we interview people, we can engage in a deeper conversation with them. In a conversation, we can also ask follow-up questions and really dig for the “why” behind their emotions and motivations. You are working to discover stakeholders’ needs so that you can respond to them with your solutions. PREPARING TO INTERVIEW INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ADDITIONAL INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUES INTERVIEW REFLECTION 1 PREPARING TO INTERVIEW • You will conduct three interviews with different stakeholders. At least one must be with a student. Schedule 30 to 60 minutes per interview. • When you make arrangements with those you want to interview, be sure to give them context for this project. Share with the person that you will be asking them questions about school and that they do not have to answer any questions they do not want to answer. • Use the interview questions that are provided on the following pages to start the conversation. Aim for a conversation to discover more about the problem. You are not just looking for answers to questions. If you are feeling comfortable and want to ask your own follow-up questions, feel free to do so. - Start with 6-8 questions. Select questions that you feel are relevant to the problem you identified on the Scoping the Challenge work- sheet. Feel free to write your own questions as well. - Do not feel that you have the ask all the questions on the list nor do you need to follow a particular sequence. We have provided a lot of questions to help you get a sense for potential opportunities for inquiry. - Review our list of supplemental questions and select ones that may be interesting to follow up with if the conversation slows. • When you are interviewing, be sure to take notes on what you hear and notice about the participant. Write specific information and exact quotations. • For young children or those who may be reluctant to share their thoughts and feelings, use the methods described on Additional Interviewing Techniques page of the workbook. You do not need to complete all the activities - select the methods that are most relevant to you and your stakeholders. • After you have completed your interviews, set aside time to headline (make short summaries of the highlights of) your notes. - Take square post-its and capture your main takeaway points and any surprises or contradictions, one on each post-it. Stick each post-it you write on the page you were reviewing. Feel free to have more than one post-it on each page. - Also, use the Interview Reflection tool provided in this workbook to reflect on your interviews. 2 SELECTING STAKEHOLDERS TO INTERVIEW • Return to the Community Mapping worksheet in the Launch Phase to review the stakeholders you identified. Use this tool to select three stakeholders to interview who are most relevant to the problem you are exploring. • Select specific people who represent a variety of stakeholders. Pick at least two people to interview who are often underrepresented. You must also interview at least one student. • Remember that the people you interview may be nervous about opening up to you. Do your best to be an active listener (focused on their thoughts, nodding, asking follow-up questions, refraining from offering your own thoughts. Assure the people you are interviewing that you will maintain their privacy. • Do everything you can to reduce the power differential. Get down on their level, be warm and casual and try not to be intimidating. Encourage them that you are genuinely interested in learning from them. • Think about people to interview who are open and comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings. Select extreme users - extreme users (the best student, a student who is very disengaged, a vocal parent, a brand new teacher) often have behaviors and feelings that are more amplified. This means they can better articulate their point of view. Designers have found that even though these people have a more extreme point of view, if we design for their needs, we often create solutions that are broadly appealing. • Write the names of the specific people you want to interview below: Interview #1 Name: Stakeholder group: Student Interview #2 Name: Stakeholder group: Interview #3 Name: Stakeholder group: 3 TIPS FOR INTERVIEWING • These interviews are not the same as focus groups. You want to connect with a stakeholder one-on-one so that you can really focus on hearing their perspectives and following up on their stories. • You can’t reliably ask a person, “What do you need?” Designers have found that is a difficult question to answer. Instead, we like to learn about a stakeholder’s life experiences through stories from their lives. By sharing stories, designers have found that stakeholders are more likely to share their emotions and motivations. • Every interview has an arc - a beginning, middle and end. Start by introducing yourself and your project. • Ask a few easy questions. E.g. Tell me a little about yourself. What do you love to do in your free time? • Ask open-ended questions that elicit stories. E.g. Tell me about your favorite class in school. • Don’t offer answers to your own questions. • Follow up on interesting things that you hear or observe. Look for body language cues, listen for pauses, nervous laughter, etc. • Talk about feelings. E.g. Tell me more. What did you mean when you said that? • Look for the deeper “why.” Dig deep to really understand what motivates your stakeholder while being sensitive to their emotional boundaries. A good way to ask “why” is to say, “Tell me more about...” • Don’t be afraid of silence. Often the person will fill the silence with a deeper thought. • This process may be uncomfortable but it is critical to the success of the project that you discover new insights about your stakeholder. Do everything you can to make them comfortable and willing to open up and share. • If you can, interview with a partner so that one person can focus on connecting with the person you are interviewing and one person can focus on capturing quotations and notes. LAUNCH EXPLORE DEFINE GENERATE MAKE TEST TELL PLAN TO IMPLEMENT