The fact that they were doing something different is a potential insight or not part of the overall study. It is up to your judgement whether or not your data is valid and adds value to the study. 

- You want to observe people as though they were doing every day tasks. 
- You do not want to tell them they are wrong or what they are doing wasn’t right. 
- You also don’t want to explicitly tell them what you want them to do. 
- Instead have them find that out on their own to understand their behavior. 

 When the Participant Does Something Unrelated. 

If something happens where your participant begins to do something unrelated to the study... it is okay to nudge them and help them get back on track. 

This could be 
- Directing them to the task they need to do
- Repeating instructions. 


Boise State University

- Always ask if it's okay to film/record.
- Do not ask leading questions.
- Reassure your interviewees.
- Observe, then intervene if necessary.
- Be patient.
- Be clear with your directions.
- Troubleshoot before session.

Valuable Tips for Conducting User and UX Research

Eaton, T. (2018, February 2). Valuable tips for conducting user research no one really talks about. Medium. Retrieved September 21, 2021, from https://uxplanet.org/valuable-tips-for-conducting-user-research-no-one-really-talks-about-fd956d92fbe0. 

Valuable Tips for  Conducting User and UX Research

 When you film or record someone without their permission, you are essentially evading their privacy and simply put, it’s illegal and unethical.  
- Respect your participant’s privacy. You want them to trust you. 
- If they aren’t okay with being filmed, DON’T FILM THEM. 
- Focus your time on listening and observing while taking notes on the important things (mannerisms, behavior, etc.) vs purely relying on a recording. 
- In general, you want to be able to gather as much data as possible during the interview and not do that after the interview to save time and focus on more synthesizing data/redefining data. 

Always Ask if it is Okay to Film/Record

You don’t want to lead users on because it affects the validity of your study. Did they answer on their own or did you prompt them to answer in a certain way? 

It’s okay to push them to talk more. Whether it’s saying 
- Can you tell me more?
- Why did x?

Do not ask leading questions

Make sure participants feel comfortable before the actual interview begins. 

It’s okay to say whatever they want or do something as though you are not in the room with them. 

Reassure Your Interviewees

Observe Then Intervene if Necessary 

- Don’t rush your users.
- Listen to whatever they say or do.

The time in which a user takes to do something can reveal a lot about the efficiency of something which plays a big part in making a good product. Even the smallest action they do can speak volumes than the things they say. 

Be Patient 

We need to tell them as concisely as possible what they need to do. 

Whether this is:
- Speaking out loud when evaluating a web-page.
- Performing tasks as thought we weren’t there to moderate them. 
- For the participant, this gives them clarity for what they need to do and for us, it gives us more “accurate” results in context to the goals of the study. 

Be Clear With Your Directions

Sometimes technical issues may affect the fluidity of a study which wastes time for both you and the participant. You want to test your study (i.e. pilot studies) before the actual study happens in order to alleviate any issues that may happen during the study in order to focus your time on the participant and gather valuable data.  Technical issues which happen during the study affect your focus and skew your results. 

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