Most developers spend far too little time with users. That's partially because they do user observation in a casual, unstructured manner, with no particular goals in mind. This session presents a more structured way to observe and question users, and analyze what was learned from them. We'll cover questions to ask, how to listen effectively, techniques to foster discussion, and what to look for. Then we'll look at a process for analyzing user observations, using a spreadsheet design created by Billy and a process for using it, providing a resource that is useful for the entire team throughout design and development of an app. This structured process takes about the same amount of time as a typical casual observation approach, but yields far more value.

You will learn:

• A structured, goal-oriented way to observe users
• See how to translate user observations into a tangible, useful form
• Acquire a process to coalesce and analyze user observations and spread the lessons learned through your whole team