Presented at CS Forum 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. We can study detailed web analytics, review the pretty demographics charts given to us by Marketing, and devise colourful personas to guide our work, but until we’ve actually spoken to our customers – preferably face-to-face – our understanding of their needs remains limited. It’s not just interaction designers, user experience practitioners, and marketers who can benefit from conducting customer interviews. Content strategists and content creators too can gain an enormous amount from asking customers the right questions and knowing how to interpret their answers. In this session we’ll explore how we can use interviews to get an understanding of the journey that our customers take with us, and how our content can be shaped by their emotional and mental state at each point along the way.

1. Customer interviews for content strategists
Kerry-Anne Gilowey
CS Forum 2016 · Melbourne, Australia · 6 October 2016
Talk to the People
@kerry_anne

2. Why interviews?

3. Snuggle
Blankies Inc.

4. Snuggle
Blankies Inc.

5. Snuggle
Blankies Inc.

6. Snuggle
Blankies Inc.

7. Snuggle
Blankies Inc.
Hi! I’m Elizabeth.
I use your product.
Uh… hi!
Can anyone
hear me?
IS THIS
THING ON?!

8. The voice of
the customer.

9. WHAT INFORMATION DO THEY NEED?

10. WHAT’S THEIR CONTEXT?

11. HOW DO THEY SEE THE WORLD?

12. Crouching
customer,
hidden needs.

13. Interviews for content?

14. FIRST UP, WHAT DO WE
MEAN BY “INTERVIEWS”?

15. FIRST UP, WHAT DO WE
MEAN BY “INTERVIEWS”?

16. FIRST UP, WHAT DO WE
MEAN BY “INTERVIEWS”?

17. Interviews can help us to…
• Shape our content to support the
user journey

19. Interviews can help us to…
• Shape our content to support the
user journey
• Know what information to include

20. Instructional content
Key messages
Content types

21. Interviews can help us to…
• Shape our content to support the
user journey
• Know what information to include
• Decide how to deliver and present
that information

22. Tone
Terminology
Channels
Format

23. Planning and preparation

24. HOW MANY INTERVIEWS?

25. GO TO THEM

26. They may be
working under
difficult
circumstances.

27. USE PROPS

28. PACE YOURSELF!

29. THINK
CAREFULLY
ABOUT
RECORDING

30. SET EXPECTATIONS

31. Interviewing basics

32. 50% 50%
Empathy Objectivity

33. BE WARM.
CONNECT.

34. IT’S NOT A
SCIENCE
EXPERIMENT.

35. MAKE SMALL TALK
“The more confident you are at talking to different
types of people, the better you’ll be at research
interviews and truly listening to what people have to
say. If small talk isn’t your strong point, maybe it’s an
excuse to go to more parties – for research purposes,
of course.” – Cennydd Bowles and James Box
(p.29, Undercover User Experience Design)

36. “NO, REALLY, I’M DOING RESEARCH.”

37. START WITH A
CUP OF COFFEE
AND A TIM TAM

38. EXPLAIN THE FINE PRINT

39. LISTEN

40. Original image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seantubridy/

41. DON’T INTERRUPT
... and I mean, I like
the blankies and all, but I just
wonder if they couldn’t be a bit
bigger. Sometimes I find that my
toes stick out at the bottom
and --
Hot today,
isn’t it?

43. GET COMFORTABLE WITH SILENCE

44. IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED,
ASK, ASK,
AND ASK AGAIN.

45. IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED,
ASK, ASK,
AND ASK AGAIN.
?

46. IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED,
ASK, ASK,
AND ASK AGAIN.
? ?

47. IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED,
ASK, ASK,
AND ASK AGAIN.
? ? ?

48. DON’T SHY
AWAY FROM
HUMOUR.
Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/75905404@N00/

49. Questions to ask

50. 2+2=?

51. TELL ME ABOUT YOUR JOB

52. MARRIED? CHILDREN? PETS?

53. HERPTY DERPTY DERP?

55. NOT SO FAST, LITTLE BUDDY.

56. IF XYZ, THEN WHAT?

57. WHO INFLUENCES THEM?
Facebook
friends
Spouse
Newspapers
People
on
Twitter
Colleagues
Mother-in-law
Best
friend

58. DON’T BE AFRAID TO GO OFF SCRIPT

59. KEEP ASKING WHY
Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidrn/

60. SAMPLE QUESTIONS
• How did you first hear about Snuggle Blankies?
• Did you try any other similar companies, like Blankies R Us or Blankie Hut?
• What are the most important things you need from Snuggle Blankies?
• Have you ever had to call 1800-SNUGGLE?
• What was the worst thing about your experience with Snuggle Blankies?
• What was the best part of your Snuggle Blankies experience?
• Was there anything you found confusing?
• Is there anything else we haven’t covered that you’d like to mention?

61. SAMPLE QUESTIONS
• How did you first hear about Snuggle Blankies?
• Did you try any other similar companies, like Blankies R Us or Blankie Hut?
• What are the most important things you need from Snuggle Blankies?
• Have you ever had to call 1800-SNUGGLE?
• What was the worst thing about your experience with Snuggle Blankies?
• What was the best part of your Snuggle Blankies experience?
• Was there anything you found confusing?
• Is there anything else we haven’t covered that you’d like to mention?

62. SAMPLE QUESTIONS
• How did you first hear about Snuggle Blankies?
• Did you try any other similar companies, like Blankies R Us or Blankie Hut?
• What are the most important things you need from Snuggle Blankies?
• Have you ever had to call 1800-SNUGGLE?
• What was the worst thing about your experience with Snuggle Blankies?
• What was the best part of your Snuggle Blankies experience?
• Was there anything you found confusing?
• Is there anything else we haven’t covered that you’d like to mention?

63. What to listen for

65. I want a faster
horse, please.

66. READ

67. “OBVIOUSLY...”

69. Obviously you’re just a
small, hairless cat.

70. Obviously the blankets aren’t
big enough for me because I’m
very tall and have extra-long toes.

71. Obviously all blankets are
basically the same.

72. blanket vs blankie
warm vs snug
mail vs post
shipping vs delivery
WHAT WORDS DO THEY PREFER?

73. What type of
language do
they relate to?

74. What type of
language do
they relate to?
I like a really comfy,
schnuggly-wuggly
blankie.

75. What type of
language do
they relate to? I have a preference for
deep pile microfleece
bedding material.

76. WHAT ARE THE STORIES THEY’RE
TELLING THEMSELVES?

77. Blankie feels
a bit weird.
WHAT ARE THE STORIES THEY’RE
TELLING THEMSELVES?

78. Blankie feels
a bit weird.
I’m probably just
the wrong shape for
blankies.
WHAT ARE THE STORIES THEY’RE
TELLING THEMSELVES?

79. Blah blah blah SOFT
blah blah FLUFFY blah blah
SOFT blah blah blah
WARM blah blah SOFT
blah blah.
WHAT’S IMPORTANT TO THEM?

80. HOW DO YOU FIT INTO THEIR WORLD?

81. HOW DOES YOUR CONTENT MAKE
THEM FEEL?

82. WHAT ARE
THEIR
QUESTIONS?

83. HOW DO THEY SEE THE STRUCTURE OF
YOUR ORGANISATION?

84. HOW DO THEY SEE THE STRUCTURE OF
YOUR ORGANISATION?

85. What now?

86. REVISE YOUR PERSONAS

87. MAP THEIR JOURNEY

88. CHOOSE YOUR CHANNELS
Twitter
Blog
SMSFacebook
EmailFace to face Call centre
Snail mail
Print

89. WRITE VOICE AND TONE GUIDELINES

90. MAKE TERM LISTS
CORRECT INCORRECT
blankie blanket
snug warm
mail post
shipping delivery

91. USE SPECIFIC, REAL QUOTES
WITH STAKEHOLDERS
“I want to throw my phone out of the
window when I try to order a blankie on
your site. I can’t see the buttons properly,
and the boxes are too small to type in!”
– Elizabeth, customer for four years

92. PLAN YOUR CONTENT

93. ANSWER THEIR QUESTIONS
The statement
“I’m a bit worried about
ordering a Snuggle
Blankie online because I
might not like it when it
arrives.”
The underlying
question
What happens if I
don’t like my
blankie when it
arrives?
The result
Can I return my blankie
if I don’t like it?
Yes, absolutely. Just put it in the
envelope provided and you can
return it to us free of charge. We
will refund you, or you can choose
another blankie.

94. Thanks for listening.
Kerry-Anne Gilowey
kerryanne@augustsun.co.za
@kerry_anne
Do get in touch and tell me your stories!