Hey Reader,

Are you a back-to-school person, or does the smell of freshly-sharpened pencils send a chill down your spine?

Ever since I finished my PhD, I vowed to never go 'back to school' again, but I still have a soft spot for the smell of fall leaves, crisp agenda pages just waiting to be doodled on, and a reading list full of stuff that will broaden my mind. Oh, and the shopping. Obviously the shopping.

But I digress...

✨ When your internet connection flakes mid-interview

The above screenshot is from the transcript of a user interview I ran last week over Zoom. I was about 5min into the interview, and then bam -- my internet died 🙄

Zoom and similar tools have made remote research super easy. This was the case even before the pandemic, but many of us have relied on them more and more over the past few years.

Remote research is now the norm, but it brings with it a set of challenges that aren't as big a deal when conducting in-person research. I find it harder to build rapport with an online participant than an in-person one, and it can be more difficult to read their body language, for example.

Tech issues (or even just uncertainty about whether you'll experience tech issues) can be another big headache for researchers, especially if stakeholders are watching live!

Here's what I do these days handle the most show-stopping of tech issues -- the terrible internet connection:

📋 Collect contact info during sign-up​
I get the participant's email address and phone number when they sign up for a timeslot (unless there's a reason why you should not collect this information from them). Having both may seem like overkill, but a lot of people aren't as glued to their email as us tech folks are, and they may be more responsive by text or call.

😬 Pre-warn the participant if I'm concerned​
Sometimes I know my connection is going to be spotty -- maybe I'm traveling or there's a storm brewing. If so, when the participant joins the session, I may say something like "By the way, I've been having some issues with my internet connection today. If I disappear from the call, please stay on and I'll be back as soon as I can."

☎️ Reach out immediately if it happens​
If I get booted out of a call due to my lousy internet, I immediately contact the participant using my phone (since my cell service likely still works) to let them know what happened and ask them to stay online.

🧡 Respect the participant's time
When I jump back in, I apologize and let the participant know that we'll still end on time (unless they want to stay longer). After all, it's not their fault that I disappeared for part of our session time.

​
What's the worst tech challenge you've faced during a research session, and how did you handle it? I'd love to know!

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September 16: Building high-impact research practices Join research leaders from Webflow, HelloFresh, Duolingo, and Rally for a lively panel discussion. This is an in-person event in NYC. Get free ticket

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September 17: The influential product designer In this talk, Femke shares how to make sense of ambiguous product challenges, make design decisions based on rationale, and ultimately have influence and impact. Get free ticket

September 18: Facing burnout: A designer's story One more from Femke! She and Fangru Wu will discuss all-things burnout within the design industry, including what can help you overcome it if it happens to you. Get ticket

​This post on r/UXResearch from a designer who's the only one doing research at their company is one that some of you may relate to, and there are some good responses to check out as well.

🎒 Tools & Resources

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Course - How to uplevel stakeholder management for user researchers Advance your career and drive strategic impact by tapping into the participants no one talks about: your cross-functional partners. Use code RESEARCHFORALL for 10% off this course run by 2 seasoned research leaders. Get 10% off

Article - What to do when you get a 'battlefield promotion' 10 tips to make the most of a battlefield promotion, which is when your boss gets promoted, leaves, gets fired, etc. and your boss’ boss says, “We’re going to give you the job (or make you the interim lead).” Read article from Personal Math

A good reminder from Julian, and I would extend it to other types of research too, like interviews -- biased, poorly-crafted questions will get you answers just as easily as well-designed questions will. They just won't be the answers that actually help you.

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Okay, that's all for now, Reader -- hope you enjoyed it, and I'll see you again soon. ​ -- Elizabeth @ Research For All

Elizabeth Creighton​
​LinkedIn​
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Questions? Comments? Compliments? Complaints? Hit 'reply' -- I'd love to hear them.
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Looking for more research stuff? Book a chat or resume review, download my free research plan template, or join my User Interview Skills course at 20% off.
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👾 The Bonus Level

Your reward for scrolling down this far is a mainstay of every Canadian middle school's sex ed curriculum...at least when I was a student in the 90s. Congrats!