Running the session — Examples

Example 1 — Turning instructions into scenarios

The task list for tomorrow’s session names the screens and the controls, so it tests whether people can follow instructions rather than whether the design works. Rewrite each task as a situation with a goal, in the participant’s words, and keep three to five tasks for the hour.

1  "Go to Settings and open the Addresses tab."
2  "Use the search box to find your last order."
3  "Click the bell icon and read the notification."

Solution

1  "You have moved house. Update where your orders will be delivered."
2  "Find out when your last order arrives."
3  "Check whether anything needs your attention before the weekend."

Opening, said once: "We are testing the design, not you. There are no
wrong answers. Please say what you are looking for as you go."

Each task now names a situation and an outcome, so the participant has to find their own route and the route they take is the finding. Leaving the screen and the control out of the wording is the point: a task that says “Addresses tab” can only confirm that people can read. The usual failure is a task phrased as a step, which produces a guided tour and no evidence.

Example 2 — Behaviour and speech in two columns

Halfway through a session your notes are a single paragraph, mixing what the participant did with what they said. Split them before the summary, keeping the actions as the evidence and the words as the quote. Produce the two-column record.

Raw notes
  hovered over Orders for a while, wondered aloud where it would be
  opened Help and support, said maybe it's in here
  at 2:20 asked whether they could phone instead

Solution

Behaviour                            Said
0:40 hovers over "Orders"            "where would it be"
1:05 opens "Help and support"        "maybe it's in here"
2:20 asks if they can phone instead  "I'd just call someone"

Same-day summary: the participant left the account area and looked in
Help before finding the address. Hesitation begins at the account menu.

The behaviour column records what happened and when; the speech column supplies the wording for the report, and the two are not the same evidence. Separating them is what lets the summary name the exact step where everyone hesitated. The usual failure is writing the summary a week later, when the timings and the tone are gone and only the impression remains.