Originally delivered at UI21 in Boston in 2016, a talk on how to elicit apt metaphors from research participants and from a research team in the process of synthesis, for greater understanding.

1. Metaphors
in Qualitative Research & Synthesis
Photo: Jurgen Wagner on Wikimedia Commons under CC-SA

2. “It’s crazy. It’s creepy even. It’s like I
agreed to coffee with this company
and then suddenly they’re
proposing marriage.”

3. It’s crazy. It’s creepy even. It
makes me uncomfortable.

4. [crying] “I’m sorry, I’m so upset.”
Me: “Take your time...can you say
what happened?”
“I was about to see my great-great
grandmother, and then it was just
like this wall in my face. Like I
smashed into a wall. I’m sorry.”

5. I was about to see my
great-great grandmother, and
then I was blocked. It was
hugely frustrating.
RIP

6. The original brief:
“We’re seeing lots of abandons
at the paywall. We want you to
figure out what’s going on so
we can tweak it.
RIP

7. wall

8. Metaphor:
a figure of speech which makes an implicit, implied, or
hidden comparison between two things that are unrelated
but share some common characteristics
Dead Metaphor:
a figure of speech which has lost the original imagery of its
meaning due to extensive, repetitive, and popular usage

9. “The essence of metaphor is
understanding and experiencing
one kind of thing in terms of
another.”
- George Lakoff, Metaphors We Live By

10. for

11. Photo: NASA/JPL-CalTech

12. User Journey Anyone?
RIP

13. User
Journey
User
QUEST
User
TRIP
User
COMMUTE

14. This is just an errand for me.
I don’t need a steed and a herald.

15. Qualitative datasets are full of
metaphors.

16. Most qualitative data is
word-based.
Things participants said.
Notes our team made.
It comes in huge volumes.
How do we make sense of it?
Field Notes

17. Clustering & discussion
Photo: Jurgen Wagner on Wikimedia Commons under CC-SA

18. The tools we reach for most
37%
Failure rate
Conversion rate
Analytics

19. Finding the metaphors and
systems of metaphors shows us
the colorful, human side of the
data and allows us to focus our
number and picture work.

20. System 1 and System 2
The fast, subconscious side of our
brains makes new associations with
existing patterns.
The slow, deliberative side checks
associations and thinks logically
abstractly.
Participants make metaphors, and we
interpret them, with System 1.

21. “Let seed be grass and grass turn into hay -
I’m martyr to a motion not my own.
What’s freedom for? To know eternity.
I swear she cast a shadow white as stone.”
- Theodore Roethke, I knew a woman

22. “I swear she cast a shadow white as stone.”
The presence of the lovely woman is a variable that correlates with
significant changes in the poet’s perceptions along all four dimensions.
Substantial
Black
Sane
Sworn
Ethereal
White
Raving
Flip

23. Paying attention to a user’s
subconscious associations
(metaphors) gives us richer
information to consciously
interpret and use in our designs.

24. 45 interviews
75 minutes each

25. People kept mentioning the
word gem when talking about
their interactions with news.

26. Gems are precious.

27. Gems are
Hoarded
Displayed
Given as gifts

28. Back to the data: sure enough.
People were hoarding, gifting,
and displaying interesting bits
of news.

29. NOPE
Yep yep yep
It’s a
messy
process.

31. 5 whys ways
If people talk about something five
different ways, it’s virtually certain at
least one of them will be an apt
metaphor.

32. coffee marriage

33. Can you say that another way?

34. Miller’s Law
“In order to understand what another
person is saying, you must assume
that it is true, and try to imagine
what it could be true of.”

35. OK but how?

36. There is often some unpoetic
work in surfacing the metaphors.

37. Grounded Theory
Social scientists use a multi-step
process to code research transcripts.
First, meticulously identify the
interesting phrases.
Then, keep notes on your theories
about the importance of your
highlights.
Connect those notes into solid
analysis.

38. Look for metaphors and
metaphor-ish analogies that
spark your interest.
Don’t forget the dead ones.
RIP

40. Metaphors to look for

41. Love, Sex, & Friendship
What kind of attraction does a
participant have to what you’re
researching?

42. Food & Shelter
What kind of meal, or house,
equates to their wishes?

43. Status & Competition
What kind of contest are they
trying to win?

44. Places
Where could the experience they’re
describing be ordinary?

45. Animals
What creature shows similar
behavior?

46. Our friends the spreadsheets

47. =countif(B2:G101, "wall")

48. Bolder can be easier
➔ Victory over winning over competitive advantage
➔ Madness over rule-bending
➔ Journey over trip
BUT it still has to work when you bring it back down.

50. How do you tell if it fits?

51. When metaphors don’t work
RIPDiagram: Charles Fadel on Wikimedia Commons under CC-SA

52. Two adventures

55. CHOCO
Nothing was as it
seemed
Everything was as he
promised

56. If you’re going to lead people on
an adventure into metaphor,
announce it and let them know
what to expect (as far as you
can).
Be real and keep your promises.

57. Invite your team
➔ Show them what you’re doing
➔ Make the rules clear
➔ Send them home with gifts
We need more people working in the world of color.

58. Work boldly in the world of color
and connection

59. Thank you so much for listening!
@cydharrell any time you want to talk about this