๐Ÿ‘ป User Shadowing

Step into your user’s shoes

What’s User Shadowing?

User shadowing involves observing and gathering data directly from end-users in their natural environments. This method includes watching, interviewing, and interacting with users where they live, work, or engage with a product or service. By immersing in the user’s everyday context, user shadowing offers deep insights into their behaviors, needs, preferences, and challenges. This approach is particularly effective in revealing real-world usage patterns and pain points that may not surface in more controlled research settings. The insights gained through user shadowing are invaluable for making informed, user-centered decisions in product design and development.

3 Key Benefits of User Shadowing

โž• Rich contextual insights

Field research offers profound insights into users’ contexts, behaviors, and the environments where they interact with products or services. By observing users in their natural settings, you can see firsthand how real-world factors influence their actions, preferences, and challenges. This method exposes the nuances of user behavior that are often elusive in more controlled research settings, providing a depth of understanding critical for developing tailored solutions.

โž• Uncover unarticulated needs

Field research, through direct observation and engagement, uncovers needs and issues that users themselves might not recognize or articulate. This approach often reveals innovative opportunities for design and development that surveys or interviews alone might miss. By tapping into these unexpressed needs, you can identify unique solutions that truly enhance user satisfaction and product functionality.

โž• Empathy and user-centric design

Immersing in the user’s environment through field research deepens product teams’ empathy for end-users. This empathetic understanding is vital for crafting user-centric designs that genuinely address users’ needs and enhance their experiences. By grounding product decisions in real user experiences, field research ensures that the resulting products and services are both effective and satisfying.

Playbook

โช Prepare to shadow

Define your objectives: Clearly articulate what you hope to learn from the shadowing sessions. Whether it’s understanding user workflows, pinpointing pain points, or observing how a product integrates into daily routines, your objectives will dictate the selection of participants and the focus of your observations.

Select participants: Choose users who best represent your target audience or key user segments. Aim for diversity in your selection to encompass a broad spectrum of user experiences. Secure consent from participants by clearly explaining the study’s purpose and how their data will be handled.

Prepare your observation tools: Decide on the most suitable methods for capturing observations, whether through note-taking, audio, or video recording. Ensure that all equipment is discreet and maintains participant privacy. Create an observation guide that highlights specific behaviors and interactions to monitor, tailored to your defined objectives.

โ–ถ๏ธ Conduct the shadowing

Schedule shadowing sessions to coincide with typical usage scenarios, which may span a full day or several shorter intervals across different days. Observe the user as they engage in their regular activities, ensuring minimal interference to preserve the authenticity of their behavior. Take comprehensive notes on their actions, environmental influences, product interactions, and any challenges they face. Record specific quotes and instances that illustrate key emotions like satisfaction, frustration, or unmet needs.

โฉ After the shadowing

Analyze findings: Carefully review your notes and recordings to identify patterns and key themes that emerge from the data. Organize these insights into categories such as usability issues, workflow efficiency, user preferences, and potential areas for product enhancement.

Report insights: Compile a comprehensive report that summarizes the findings with clear examples. This report should provide actionable recommendations based on observed user behavior. Distribute this report to stakeholders in product design, development, and strategy to facilitate informed decision-making.

Document insights: Record the insights meticulously and categorize them according to their relevance and impact. Prioritize these insights to prepare for future discussions on potential product or service improvements. This step is crucial for setting the stage for subsequent planning and development phases, ensuring that all decisions are data-driven.

3 Bad Practices to Avoid

โš ๏ธ Lack of clear objectives

Starting user shadowing without clear, well-defined research objectives can result in unfocused data collection and make it challenging to derive actionable insights. To prevent this, ensure your research goals are specific, measurable, and aligned with your overall project or product strategy. This focus will help you gather relevant and useful data that directly supports your development efforts.

โš ๏ธ Ignoring ethical considerations

Neglecting to obtain informed consent, ensure participant privacy, and handle data ethically can compromise the integrity of your research and damage trust with participants and the broader community. It is essential to prioritize ethical considerations, maintain transparency about how data will be used, and protect participant anonymity as necessary. Upholding these standards safeguards the respect and confidentiality of everyone involved, reinforcing the credibility of your findings.

โš ๏ธ Insufficient preparation for data analysis

Collecting a large volume of qualitative data without a clear plan for its analysis can overwhelm researchers, resulting in missed insights or superficial conclusions. To avoid these pitfalls, establish a structured approach for organizing, analyzing, and synthesizing the data before starting field research. This preparatory step ensures that you can effectively translate observations into actionable findings and informed design recommendations.

Example

User shadowing the check-in process at a rental property for an Airbnb-like app, observing how guests interact with the app during their arrival.

Subject: ๐Ÿก Property marketplace (like Airbnb)

โช Prepare to shadow

๐ŸŽฏ Objective

The objective is to understand the challenges, expectations, and preferences of guests during the check-in process to a short-term rental accommodation. We want to identify opportunities to streamline the check-in experience, enhance guest satisfaction, and reduce any friction points encountered through the Property-Marketplace app.

๐Ÿ™‹โ€โ™‚๏ธ Participants

First-time guests: Users who are new to the platform, experiencing their first stay. First-time users are more likely to encounter difficulties due to unfamiliarity with the app and the overall process. Observing them provides insights into onboarding effectiveness and the clarity of instructions provided within the app.

๐Ÿ› ๏ธ Methodology

Shadowing: We will accompany guests (with their permission) as they go through the check-in process at different properties and observe their interactions with the app, any communication with the host, and their physical entry into the property.

In-depth interviews: We will conduct interviews with guests immediately following their check-in to capture their fresh impressions, frustrations, and suggestions. We will focus on understanding their expectations versus reality and any difficulties they encountered.

๐Ÿ”Ž Focus areas

App interaction: Assess how effectively the app communicates check-in instructions, provides necessary information (e.g., Wi-Fi codes, parking instructions), and facilitates communication with the host.

Physical access: Explore various methods of physical entry (e.g., key lockboxes, digital locks, host handover) and identify any common issues or guest preferences.

Emotional response: Gauge guests’ emotional responses throughout the check-in process, including any anxiety, frustration, or relief, to understand the impact of the check-in experience on their overall perception of their stay.

โ–ถ๏ธ Conduct the shadowing

๐Ÿ‘€ Observations

User journey: We observed users from the moment they received their booking confirmation until they were settled in their accommodations. This included interactions with the app, communication with hosts, and navigating to the property.

Interactions logged: We logged each interaction, such as when a user opened the app to check the address, contacted the host for additional instructions, or struggled with the lockbox code. Special attention was paid to moments where users hesitated or expressed frustration.

Emotional responses: We noted users’ emotional states at various stages, such as anxiety if the property was difficult to find, excitement when finding the address, and relief upon successful check-in (opening the door).

โฉ After the shadowing

๐Ÿš€ Insights

Insight #1 Many users struggled with finding the exact location of the property, especially in areas with poor cell service or confusing street layouts.

Insight #2 Some users felt uncertain about whom to contact when they faced issues, leading to delays in getting assistance.

Insight #3ย Several users had trouble with key collection, particularly when using lockboxes with unclear instructions.

Insight #4 First-time users expressed high levels of anxiety around check-in, fearing something might go wrong.

Disclaimer: This is a hypothetical example created to illustrate how User Shadowing can be applied to the check-in process for an Airbnb-like app. The scenario and participants are fictional and for demonstration purposes only.

User Shadowing Prompt for ChatGPT

Hello, I’m working on [brief description of your product/service] and looking to test [specific idea or feature you’re focusing on]. My goal is to understand [what you want to learn or achieve with this field research, e.g., user behavior, preferences, usability issues]. Could you help me generate field research/User shadowing ideas that would allow me to test this effectively? Additionally, I would appreciate tips on how to best conduct these tests, especially regarding [any specific concerns you have, such as participant recruitment, data collection methods, or analysis]. My target audience is [describe your target audience].

โœ๏ธ Note from the author

User Shadowing is a powerful method to gain deep insights into how your users interact with your product in their real-world environment. While it might seem daunting at first, remember that you don’t need to be an expert to start benefiting from this technique. My aim here is to simplify the concept, share some practical advice from my experiences, and encourage you to begin exploring this methodโ€”even if itโ€™s just in a small way.

Whether youโ€™re just starting or looking to refine your approach, the key is to observe, listen, and document what you see. Youโ€™ll learn a lot just by being present with your users, and over time, you can develop your skills to gain even richer insights. The goal is not perfection but progressโ€”every observation brings you closer to a better understanding of your users and, ultimately, a better product.

Tolgay B.

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