MFA Capstone Project: Interview Research Processes: Adapting the Listening Guide to UX Design Research

Author: Mary (Molly) Smith

Year: 2022

ABSTRACT

User Experience (UX) design researchers continually search for new methods that aid in understanding human thinking and behavior. Aside from interviews, they use methods such as contextual inquiry and usability testing with think-aloud verbal protocols in which verbalizations are collected to gain insights about how people perceive, think, and behave when interacting with products or experiences. Because verbalizations are often ambiguous, given the differences in cultures, languages and thinking processes, disparity can exist between what a person says about their experience and the researcher’s interpretation. The Listening Guide (LG), a method of psychological analysis developed by psychologist Carol Gilligan and associates, draws on voice, resonance, and relationship as ways to know the inner world of an individual (Gilligan, Spencer, Weinberg, & Bertsch, 2003). Researchers have used it to “to listen to and understand voices … [of individuals] … that have been missing from or inadequately represented” in research (Petrovic, Lordly, Brigham & Delaney, 2015). It is widely used as a method to analyze qualitative research data. This project proposes to adapt the LG as a method of inquiry in UX design research. It aims to understand the meaning of verbal responses collected in design research by simplifying the complexity of interview responses. Specifically, the project will assess the value of the LG for UX research. It will examine how the LG can help researchers gain deeper understanding of users and stakeholders through interviewing.