2learn

Running a session

What it is

Running a session is the hour itself: the plan you bring, the prompts you use, how you keep quiet while someone works, and how you record what happened. Good sessions look relaxed and are tightly scripted; the participant should never notice the structure.

Why it matters

A leading question or an unplanned rescue can destroy the value of the session in ten seconds. Tell someone where the button is and you have learned nothing about whether they could find it; agree with their criticism and you have taught them to criticise. The skill is mostly restraint, backed by a written plan, and it is the difference between evidence and a friendly chat.

Core ideas

Bring a discussion guide, not a list of questions

A guide has sections, timings and prompts. It exists so you can look up rather than improvise. Write the opening, the task, the closing and the prompts for each section.

00-03  Warm-up: "Tell me about the last time you did this."
03-08  Context: last time, what they used first, what went wrong
08-35  Task: three tasks, written on cards, read aloud, no hints
35-45  Debrief: what stood out, what they expected
45-50  Close: thank, incentive, anything they want to add

Ask about the past, not the future

“What would you want here?” invites invention. “What did you do the last time this happened?” retrieves behaviour. The tense of the question decides the value of the answer.

Stay quiet through the pause

Silence is a tool. When the participant stops, count to five before helping. Most of the useful narration happens in the second after the pause you were tempted to fill.

Never rescue, never confirm

If they cannot find the thing, note it and wait — the failure is the finding. If they ask whether they did it right, deflect: “what would you expect to happen?” Save the explanation for after the session.

Record raw material, then clean it up

Notes split into two columns: what they did, and what they said. Add a timestamp when you can. Write the session summary the same day, while you still remember the tone; the raw notes are for quotes, the summary is for the team.

Practice

Run three sessions from one guide

Write a guide with timings and prompts, then run three sessions. Keep the guide identical across all three.

Done when: you can name the moment in each session where you nearly helped, and what you did instead.

Write the same-day summary

Within a day of each session, write half a page: the task, what the participant did, where they hesitated, and two verbatim quotes.

Done when: a colleague who was not present can say what the biggest obstacle was without asking you a question.

Common mistakes

  • Improvising the questions — the wording drifts and steers the answers; fix: script the prompts and keep the guide in front of you.
  • Filling the silence — you rescue the participant and lose the finding; fix: count to five before speaking.
  • Explaining the interface — the session becomes a demo and teaches you nothing; fix: answer a question with a question and explain only after the session.
  • Asking what people would do — you collect plausible fiction; fix: ask what they did the last time.
  • Writing the summary a week later — the detail and the tone are gone; fix: write half a page the day of the session.

Go deeper

Worked examples

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