Once the economy opens again, what techniques do you recommend field interviewers use when conducting in-person interviews?

Collins expects a hybrid format where researcher and participant are in the same general space but separated by a clear physical barrier, similar to a one-way observation screen, to maintain social distancing. She noted this will feel awkward and will require extra intentional effort to build rapport, since the setup itself is off-putting.

It is always a challenge when a respondent is not very responsive, but it is especially tough doing interviews remotely because you are not in the same space. Any suggestions?

Collins recommends listening for what the participant mentions with genuine energy, even if it is off-topic, and reframing your questions around that subject. She also suggested asking participants directly why they agreed to participate. If the answer is the incentive, follow that conversation, since a screen between researcher and participant makes it easier to ask unusual questions without it feeling as awkward.

A client has paused a project. When is the right time to encourage them to restart, and what needs to happen first?

Collins did not have a direct answer but suggested tracking geographies that are further along in reopening, such as China and Italy, to project a plausible timeline. Ford is using its presence in those markets to estimate when certain types of research can resume.

How do you manage confidentiality when showing future product images online?

Ford distinguishes between confidential and secret materials. Secret materials are never shown in remote sessions. For confidential materials, participants are reminded of their NDA, but Collins acknowledged that screen capture cannot be fully blocked. If image security is a genuine concern, the material is simply not shown online.

Clients like to observe in-person research and discuss findings on the spot. They are not as engaged when doing this online. Any thoughts?

Collins agreed this is a real issue and noted that even in-person observation can be less focused than it appears, with clients sometimes using field visits mainly as a break from the office. She recommends helping clients understand the actual value they should be getting from observation, and for remote studies, sharing edited video clips, audio clips, and screenshots afterwards to build their connection to the participants and data.

Could you see a time where a participant comes in person to explore a car on their own and then participates in an interview with the interviewer being remote?

Yes. Collins said she is actively thinking about proxy approaches where a participant interacts with a seeded physical environment and then is interviewed remotely. Between participants, the vehicle is sanitized. She noted that qualitative research does not require large numbers of in-person visits, so this kind of setup is feasible.

How do you think COVID-19 will affect methodology selection in the future? Will online interviewing become dominant?

Collins expects online to become the dominant mode. It was already faster and cheaper, and the current situation is forcing researchers to build genuine confidence in remote methods. In-person research will remain but will likely be reserved for situations where physical presence is genuinely necessary, such as vehicle interaction studies. She also noted the shift makes research more accessible and democratic for researchers and participants alike.

Rapport at a Distance: Getting Into the Groove With Your Interviewee

Jenny Collins, Senior Design Researcher at Ford Motor Company, shares practical techniques for building genuine rapport during remote qualitative interviews and online chats. Drawing on her background as an anthropologist, she walks through preparation, opening protocols, and in-interview behaviors that compensate for the absence of shared physical space. The session closes with open discussion on COVID-19's likely long-term effect on research methodology, including automotive-specific challenges around in-person testing.

Key Takeaways

Prepare interviewees in advance the same way you would for an in-person session: tell them what to have ready, ask them to minimize distractions, and let them know they can have a drink nearby.
Open every remote interview with a two-to-three minute setup covering purpose, timing, what happens if the connection drops, and how you are taking notes. This signals professionalism and helps interviewees feel comfortable sharing.
For complex questions, state the question, unpack or clarify it, then ask it again. This gives auditory, visual, and experiential learners extra processing time without requiring them to ask for clarification.
Remote and online chat settings make it easier for participants to discuss sensitive topics and give candid negative feedback. Treat this as a feature, not a limitation.
When a participant is disengaged, identify what does excite them and reframe your questions around that interest. You can also ask directly why they agreed to participate and use that as an entry point.
Online research was already faster and cheaper than in-person fieldwork. COVID-19 is accelerating its adoption and is likely to make it the dominant mode, with in-person reserved for situations, such as vehicle interaction studies, where physical presence cannot be replicated.

Questions & Answers

Once the economy opens again, what techniques do you recommend field interviewers use when conducting in-person interviews?: Collins expects a hybrid format where researcher and participant are in the same general space but separated by a clear physical barrier, similar to a one-way observation screen, to maintain social distancing. She noted this will feel awkward and will require extra intentional effort to build rapport, since the setup itself is off-putting.
It is always a challenge when a respondent is not very responsive, but it is especially tough doing interviews remotely because you are not in the same space. Any suggestions?: Collins recommends listening for what the participant mentions with genuine energy, even if it is off-topic, and reframing your questions around that subject. She also suggested asking participants directly why they agreed to participate. If the answer is the incentive, follow that conversation, since a screen between researcher and participant makes it easier to ask unusual questions without it feeling as awkward.
A client has paused a project. When is the right time to encourage them to restart, and what needs to happen first?: Collins did not have a direct answer but suggested tracking geographies that are further along in reopening, such as China and Italy, to project a plausible timeline. Ford is using its presence in those markets to estimate when certain types of research can resume.
How do you manage confidentiality when showing future product images online?: Ford distinguishes between confidential and secret materials. Secret materials are never shown in remote sessions. For confidential materials, participants are reminded of their NDA, but Collins acknowledged that screen capture cannot be fully blocked. If image security is a genuine concern, the material is simply not shown online.
Clients like to observe in-person research and discuss findings on the spot. They are not as engaged when doing this online. Any thoughts?: Collins agreed this is a real issue and noted that even in-person observation can be less focused than it appears, with clients sometimes using field visits mainly as a break from the office. She recommends helping clients understand the actual value they should be getting from observation, and for remote studies, sharing edited video clips, audio clips, and screenshots afterwards to build their connection to the participants and data.
Could you see a time where a participant comes in person to explore a car on their own and then participates in an interview with the interviewer being remote?: Yes. Collins said she is actively thinking about proxy approaches where a participant interacts with a seeded physical environment and then is interviewed remotely. Between participants, the vehicle is sanitized. She noted that qualitative research does not require large numbers of in-person visits, so this kind of setup is feasible.
How do you think COVID-19 will affect methodology selection in the future? Will online interviewing become dominant?: Collins expects online to become the dominant mode. It was already faster and cheaper, and the current situation is forcing researchers to build genuine confidence in remote methods. In-person research will remain but will likely be reserved for situations where physical presence is genuinely necessary, such as vehicle interaction studies. She also noted the shift makes research more accessible and democratic for researchers and participants alike.

Session Notes

Why Remote Interviews Are Genuinely Hard for Experienced Field Researchers

Jenny Collins opened by acknowledging the tension she feels as an anthropologist trained in participant observation. In-person interviews let her read energy, share space, and build connection physically. Remote interviews strip most of that away. She framed the talk as a practical response to that gap, not a claim that remote is equivalent to in-person.

What the Interviewee Experiences

Before talking about researcher technique, Collins asked the audience to inhabit the interviewee's perspective. For an in-person interview, a participant may need to:

Clean or prepare their space before hosting a researcher
Plan travel, account for traffic, and find parking
Decide whether to call ahead if running late
Figure out how to dress and how formal the encounter will be
Manage anxiety that can make the experience feel like a job interview

Remote interviews remove most of these burdens. Participants are in a familiar space, physically comfortable, and free to sit or stand as they prefer. That comfort is a real asset researchers can lean into.

Challenges: Remote vs. In-Person

Remote interviews introduce specific friction points, but Collins noted that many of these have in-person analogues.

Lag: Delay between speaking and being heard can cause people to talk over each other. In-person interviews have their own version of this when silence becomes uncomfortable.
Body language: Seeing only a person's torso and head makes it harder to notice nervous cues like foot tapping. In person, the same cues can be missed depending on seating.
Environmental disturbances: Noise from children, pets, or neighbors happens remotely and in shared physical spaces. The disturbances are different, not absent.

Benefits Unique to Remote and Online Chat

No travel required for researcher or participant
Participants are physically comfortable in a known environment
Research shows sensitive topics are easier to discuss when not sharing physical space
Participants are more willing to give candid negative feedback online than in person

Preparation: What to Do Before the Interview

For the researcher

Have all materials ready, including visual aids. Collins deliberately included both images and words in her deck to serve different learning styles.
Close unneeded programs and browser tabs to prevent notification pop-ups.
Have a beverage nearby. Physical comfort supports better performance.
If movement helps, use it. Collins uses a pneumatic sit-stand desk during phone interviews to release nervous energy.

For the interviewee

Tell them in advance what they need to have accessible. For automotive research, Collins asks participants to have easy access to their vehicle.
Specify any artifacts or props you want them to have ready.
Ask them to minimize distractions, but be understanding when they cannot. Interruptions will happen.
Let them know it is fine to have a drink. If eating is relevant to the study, clarify that too.
For video interviews, tell them they can sit or stand as they prefer.

Opening the Interview

Collins spends two to three minutes at the start of every remote interview covering:

Introductions and purpose. Even if the participant was briefed during recruitment, restate what the session is about and how long it will take.
Technical contingency plan. Tell the participant what will happen if the connection drops. Will you email a new link? Call them? Who should reach out to whom? Specify a backup contact number.
Note-taking transparency. If you are looking away to write by hand or if keyboard sounds are audible, explain that upfront. This signals that you are capturing what they say, not getting distracted.
Recording consent. Confirm that audio or video is being recorded.

That's two or three minutes at the beginning, right? That's nothing. That's actually really important. I think what this does is communicate to the interviewee that you recognize the value of their time, you're prepared, and you're professional.

Collins also noted that participants sometimes forward recruitment emails to her asking whether the study is legitimate. A professional, prepared opening directly addresses that anxiety and helps interviewees feel confident about sharing information.

During the Interview: Techniques That Build Rapport

Model the behavior you ask of participants. If you asked them to minimize distractions and have a drink ready, do the same yourself.
Make eye contact through the camera when the participant is looking at you, even if they spend part of the session looking at something else as part of the task.
Ask, unpack, ask again. For complex questions, state the question, clarify or give an example, then repeat the question. This gives participants across learning styles extra time to process without requiring them to ask for clarification. Collins uses this technique in person as well.
Use silence. Resist filling pauses. A quiet moment after a question gives the participant room to expand before you probe further.
Let mistakes happen. Fumbling a question or having a minor tech issue shows humanity. It can reduce participant anxiety and build authenticity.

A note on online chats

Collins observed that online chat sessions can feel impersonal or bot-like. She deliberately introduces small signals of real human presence, such as natural phrasing and occasional imperfection in typing, to make the interaction feel genuine.

Handling an Unengaged Participant

Collins described a difficult in-person interview with a participant who was clearly there only for the incentive. Her approach, which she believes transfers to remote settings:

Listen for what the participant does mention with energy, even if it is off-topic.
Reframe your questions around that topic of interest. In her case, the participant became more engaged when she connected questions to his wife and toddler.
Ask directly why they agreed to participate. If they say it was for the incentive, follow that thread: what do they plan to do with it? It is an unusual question but is easier to ask when there is a screen between you.

Q&A and Discussion Highlights

Returning to in-person research post-COVID-19

Collins expects a hybrid model where researchers and participants are in roughly the same space but physically separated, potentially by clear screens similar to one-way observation mirrors. That setup will require deliberate rapport-building effort because it will feel off-putting to participants.

Automotive-specific challenges

Vehicle interaction studies require physical proximity. Collins is exploring proxy approaches where a participant visits a seeded physical environment alone, then participates in a remote interview. Between participants, the vehicle is sanitized. She is also tracking what Ford colleagues in China are doing as that market reopens, to project timelines for resuming in-person work.

Confidentiality when showing product images online

Ford distinguishes between confidential and secret materials. Anything classified as secret is not shown in remote sessions, period. For confidential materials, researchers remind participants of their NDA, but Collins acknowledged that screen capture cannot be fully prevented. The practical rule: if the risk of image leakage is unacceptable, do not show it online.

Keeping internal clients engaged with remote research

Collins noted that clients are less engaged observing remote sessions than being in the field, partly because in-person observation doubles as a team retreat. Her mitigation: after fieldwork, compile short video clips, audio clips, and screenshots that personalize the participants for stakeholders and give them a concrete connection to the data.

Long-term shift in methodology

Asked by Lexie Maynard whether COVID-19 would permanently shift methodology, Collins said online was already faster and cheaper, and the current period is forcing researchers to build the same confidence in remote methods they previously reserved for in-person work. She expects online to become dominant, with in-person reserved for research where physical presence is genuinely irreplaceable, such as vehicle interaction studies. She also suggested that the shift makes research more accessible for both researchers and participants.

Transcript

Read the full transcript

it's 12 so say we go ahead and get started first of all my name is Lexie Maynard I'm a project analyst at excelent research and before I get into introducing Ginni I just kind of want to cover some of the ground rules that bill has introduced to you guys already today and if you've been with us for you know the past day and a half so far that you've probably heard them a couple times now but anyone joining us welcome we're happy you're here I'm just going to share my screen real fast see all right and you should be able to see the PowerPoint right now yep awesome okay so just cover the rules real fast here um you know just letting you guys all know that we are at the mercy of the tech so many people are trying to use these online platforms right now to communicate and there's always a chance that you know it'll crash or you know you won't be able to hear somebody for a second it cut in and out video audio so just bear with us through this time I know I've had a couple issues in the past you know three weeks or so so hopefully today isn't one of those days and then also just be respectful you know whenever you can't see somebody it's kind of easier to criticize them I feel like and and you know just to let everybody know you know these people are volunteering their time to be here and speak to everybody so you know just make good use of the time and if you have anything negative to say maybe just keep it to yourself during this time also you know use this opportunity to network and interact with each other we've seen people using hashtag QV I see 20/20 already on Twitter and LinkedIn the past day and that's awesome keep doing that you know if you have any questions after a presentation you know reach out to that individual usually they'll share their email if not reach out to them via LinkedIn and you know see if they can answer them for you all right and without further ado I'm going to introduce Jenny Collins who was already here with us she's a senior design researcher at Ford Motor Company and she's here to talk to you guys today about report a distance getting into the groove with your interviewee so I'm passing the baton off to you Jenny thanks Lexi and thanks to everyone an accelerant for pulling this conference together and for giving us all the opportunity to spend virtual time together all of these presentations I think are being recorded so I think they'll be available afterwards so you know if you you know if you want to revisit something I know I'm interested in engaging in conversation afterwards and I think probably a lot of us are interested in talking about these things and just want a second Lexie's earlier mention of technical difficulties bear with me I'm not a zoom Pro by any means so when I share my screen you know doing the best I can so and on that note let me go ahead and share so report a distance getting into the groove with your interviewee so the I'm an anthropologist I my interest is really in talking to people face-to-face and spending time with people in their context that's an anthropology we call that participant observation we actually go you know really like live somewhere else and study people up close for a long period of time and so even just doing the research that I do for førde where I may be able spend you know an hour to 90 minutes interviewing someone you know that's to me that's already short so when I when I am instead doing it virtually you know it's it's a challenge you know there are a lot of things I really love about in-person interviews I love sharing space with people I love that I can shake someone's hand or you know fuck-all those and and I feed off of when I'm when I'm in a shared space with someone I feed off of the energy that they're giving off so much that like you know really my my cheek muscles will start to hurt from smiling too much so that's great these are all things I love about in-person interviews but these are the things that stressed me out about in-person interviews I'm sharing someone's space I have to physically interact with them I actually can get exhausted from sharing their energy so so much it's just it's it's it's a performative experience right and so an in-person interview really can be very tiring for me as the interviewer for use interviewer for the people we're interviewing so what I'm going to talk about today is the steps that we can take and I'm looking at my notes over here on the side the steps we can take to mitigate distance and in disconnection when we're conducting remote interviews okay so I do hope to make us a little bit conversational so you know I don't expect to take anywhere close to an hour so I'll try to you know look at what's going on in the QA and or will certainly have maybe have discussion or something like that at the end let's see what we can figure out I was going to try and follow the hashtag while I was talking but I'm pretty sure that I cannot do that with any success so I won't bother but you know save your questions post your questions and we'll try to have some sort of a conversation also to be really upfront today's presentation should be an example of a lot of the things that I'm talking about right I'm going to try and build some rapport with you even though I can't see you I can't hear you talking to me you know but I'll try to embody some of the things that I'm talking about hopefully I'll do a decent job modeling behavior specifically I'll talk about what it's like to be the interviewee challenges of remote interviews benefits of remote interviews and some tips and tricks and I think that assuming we can get to a discussion type flow I think I imagine that a lot of you have tips and tricks to share as well and I look forward to learning from you and hearing from you so imagine you're an interviewee for an in-person interview okay so so maybe the interviewee has welcomed us into their space do they need to clean up their house or their yard or whatever space were visiting if they're in a shared office what about their co-workers or or even in their home what about other people or pets where present maybe they need to come to our space then they have to they have to plan their time they have to account for traffic they have to figure out parking if they're running late and they're driving do they try to stop and call and send a text or you know that's risky behavior do they just keep driving what what do they do how do they present themselves are they supposed to dress dress up you know there may be wondering why me maybe they're nervous so it can feel like a job interview and some of the very worst ways and that's not that's not what we want but that's what our interviewees might experience right so so some challenges of remote interviews and online chats I think a lot of this applies to online chats as well Lag right that that the gap between you know you're saying something here and it makes its way through the ether to the other end and that might not happen simultaneously I'm sure we've all seen those really funny videos online about conference calls you know or people talking over each other and trying to share a virtual space body language you know when you don't have someone physically in front of you you can maybe only see the upper part of the torso and their head or maybe it's an online chat and you can't see them at all you don't notice if they're repeatedly you know tapping a foot or you know doing something that maybe indicates a nervous behavior or something like that and then there are environmental disturbances I you know noise in the background could be anything from a kid to a dog to you know just someone in the next apartment playing loud music right all sorts of challenges these challenges we also encountered these challenges when we're talking to someone in person they're just different right there can be these same kind of like lags like you know sometimes people can be uncomfortable with silence silence can be an interviewers best tool right you ask a question you probe you're quiet and you know the goal can be to get your interviewee to then open up a little bit more but that's because you know like this because you know that they're likely to feel nervous and they're going to want to fill that silence but they're wondering if you're gonna say something more and so that can be awkward to navigate body language can be misinterpreted easily enough and depending on the context even if you're sharing the same space you still might not notice nervous behavior such as toe tapping and environmental disturbances are literally environmental this services whether your environment is online or and you know in a shared physical space they're still those those disturbances still happen so so that brings me to what's great about remote interviews and online chats don't have to travel interviewees don't have to travel you probably don't have to travel except maybe to go to a quiet space in your own home or office it's comfortable I'm sitting right now in my home office and this is this is a spot I always sit in I know what my background looks like I know you know what's around me I've got space for my computer over here where I'm you know I'm looking at my notes all that sort of stuff just just I feel comfortable my interviewee presumably does too same similar situations for them and then data has shown us that sensitive topics are easier to discuss when we're doing something that's remote and we're not you know maybe physically sharing space and maybe even more so for online chats it's easier to start to talk about things that are you know would maybe make us squirm a little bit in person it's easier to give negative answers I find when I'm interviewing someone online they're they're more willing to or more upfront and comfortable telling me when you know they don't respond to any an idea well or when they dislike something so so these are these are all opportunities for us to make use of so some of the ways you get ready you know there's there's preparation right you prepare yourself and you prepare your interviewee so for yourself make sure you have your materials ready I did that visual aids look at I did that I made sure I actually really intentionally made sure to have images and words because I myself am more of an experiential learner but I live with a couple of visual learners and then I live with one auditory learner so I wanted to make sure that I did a better job on my presentation of having visuals closed a bunch of programs and tabs that I decide didn't gets less so I don't get slack notifications popping up in emails and things I have my nice warm beverage of tea right here and being physically comfortable is really important to I actually do a better job on a phone interview or a chat if I can move around so this this little desk I have goes up and down and during a phone interview I'll be moving it you can't hear it move it's moves up and down silently it's pneumatic but I'll move it up and down so I can be moving around the room and kind of get my own nervous energy out that way when I'm doing a phone interview similarly for interviewees let them know in advance what they've what they need to have ready or is this going to be about certain things that they're using in their life obviously I work for Ford I talk to people a lot about cars in transportation so I sometimes need to ask people to make sure that they can easily access their vehicle you know during the interview so I don't necessarily I wouldn't encourage someone to take one of my interviews from you know say upstairs and their garages downstairs they have to walk up and down stairs with you know a camera open all that sort of thing are there artifacts or props that you'll want them to have access to all these things a lot of this you would do in an in-person interview anyways right you might ask someone if they're coming to you you might ask them to bring certain things with you if you're going to their home or their office there's a reason for that you would ask them I want to make sure that I can see your kitchen or I want to understand you know how you handle this in your office setting so very similarly in advance of the interview if this is why it's preparation let them know what they need to have ready ask them to avoid distractions as best they can but be understanding when they can't I was on a call earlier this morning and of course one of my kids came up to ask me something about the dog and I was literally talking had my earbuds in it was blindingly obvious to me that you know I'm busy and still he's standing here asking me did the dog have breakfast so try to avoid ask everyone to try to avoid distractions but they're going to happen I suggest that they maybe have a beverage handy a lot of times interviewees don't know what the protocol is they maybe haven't been interviewed before or they have been interviewed before but you know it's every interview is different what what are you okay with I'd like to make sure that if I'm interviewing someone online they know they can they can happily have something to drink you know this if if I ask them that they not eat while we're interviewing them but sometimes it's actually part of the interview right so just be really clear about what you're hoping hoping to get from them in terms of behavior and then for video interviews I just mentioned that I like to move around a lot when I'm on the phone so I do like to let my interviewees know that they should feel free to sit or stand whatever whatever is best for them they should be engaging in that kind of behavior right so getting started pretty straightforward you do your introductions just as you would in person right again I think this is similar to in-person purpose and timing how long is this going to take what are we doing here today probably your interviewee knows all of this already they were told either by you when you recruited them or by overt whoever did the recruiting maybe accelerant recruited them they will have already screened this person told them the purpose never it's never a bad idea to refresh that you know and kind of like is be as specific and thoughtful as you can kind of resetting what's the purpose and how long it's going to take address the potential for technical issues it's really important when you're doing an online interview or a chat to make sure that the person knows what's going to happen if you're disconnected are you the interviewer going to try and send them an email or send them a new link or send them a text message are you hoping that they will contact you what is that sometimes when you call your insurance company right or other you know other large providers such as that bless you well what's the number I can reach you by ad if we're disconnected same thing we want to do here you know address those technical issues before they start by giving kind of a Plan B scenario and also go over your process I mentioned earlier that I'm looking off to the side at my laptop which has my notes visible I like to let interviewees know if I'm taking handwritten notes because and sometimes I'm looking down and I'm looking off to the side for a length of time and you know I want them to understand I'm actually processing what they're telling me and I'm literally writing down notes and it's not that I'm distracted by something else likewise if I'm taking notes on my computer I want them to know that as well because that you know the clacking noise is you know it can be obvious it can be distracting and so I want them to know what's going on if I'm recording which I typically am for an online interview I'm doing video and audio recording so you know make sure that everyone knows that as well and that's just that's that's two or three minutes at the beginning right that's nothing that's actually really death but that actually I think is a large part of building the rapport and it's really important to do this at the start to do all of these things at the start because I think what this does is this communicates to the interviewees a few things you you recognize the value of their time you're prepared and you're ready to spend this time with them you're professional that's kind of an adjunct to that one right you're professional and this is why sometimes colleagues who are not researchers will forward me emails that they get you know emails hey we'd like to you know interview you know online thirty minutes give you a $50 gift card blah blah blah blah we want know what you think about this and people will forward these emails me and say is this legitimate people are maybe anxious about being scammed or about talking to someone who's not maybe going to make the best use of the information that they share and so being professional setting the stage being prepared I think that really helps the interviewee you know feel comfortable about that I also think that being really upfront about what kinds of notes you're taking that your means of taking notes I think that just that's kind of a really clear flag to the interviewee about how serious the information sharing with you is how valuable you find it and that I find helps to kind of build the collegiality that you want to have during the course of the interview you know you want people to feel relaxed you want them to feel comfortable but you also want them to feel really good about the fact that they're sharing this information with you that you're a good person to share this information with and I think that's that's kind of part of your professionalism and that helps to build the right kind of rapport with someone a little bit jokey sure but really um you know which her I guess is the word I want to use and then throughout the interview you want to model all of this behavior right you want to make sure that you're you're doing these things your your the things that you've asked of the interviewee you're giving those back your you know you've you've got you've got a beverage you can sip from if your throat gets dry you minimize distractions you've you know you're prepared like to actually you know do the best I can to make eye contact it's weird making eye contact through a camera it's easier when you can actually see the person on your screen and certainly this doesn't apply to an online chat but you know a lot of times I'll be interviewing people who you know they are themselves looking at something else during the interview that's part of the interview I'm asking them to maybe you know like like show me something about their vehicle or something like that right so when they are then looking at the camera and I have an opportunity to actually kind of like forge an eye contact connection with them I do that I'm really attentive to like and I think this is my maybe my biggest tip because none of these none of these tips are really rocket science right it's just ordinary human interaction but my biggest tip is that when I'm asking questions especially for a more complicated question I will ask the question I will unpack the question and then I will ask the question again that gives the person whether they're an auditory learner a visual learner an experiential learner it gives them extra processing time because an interview is typically auditory I'm talking to someone so I want them to hear what I'm asking and unpacking it or maybe giving a little bit of clarification they don't have to they don't have to ask for that you know they don't have to jump in and ask for clarification I give it and then I ask the question again that gives everyone that gives the listener the interviewee time to process what I've asked and maybe still still come back with more clarifying questions but to just kind of like you know have time to think about the question and then respond I'd actually do this one I'm doing in person as well I find it really helpful to just give people that extra thinking time and then I already mentioned silence interviewers do tend to know how to use silence appropriately you know when to be quiet and just just kind of sit with it and let the interviewee maybe they're thinking maybe they'll say some more maybe they'll expand before you even have to do any probing so um you know do do all of these things and and those things I think really help you to build rapport and I don't remember if I have one more slide so let me see here yeah okay so ultimately you can do all all these great things you can be like super super cool smooth interviewee or interviewer and you're gonna make mistakes and that's actually beneficial because it shows how human you are contributes to authenticity and Trust and that enables you and your interviewee to kind of be in a groove together right they maybe feel anxious but now they've seen that you're human and I really like to bring a little bit of humanity to my to my my online interviews in particular it's easier in person but when you're talking with someone online you really you know make that extra effort to be human and for chats this is a really interesting thing you know you can be having an online chat with someone and I've observed some and I've done some and sometimes when I'm observing them I like I can't quite tell if this is like a bot talking with this person or if it's an actual person you know like typing really fast and when I've done them I try to be a little bit more human I try to have good spelling and grammar and all that sort of stuff but I do try to kind of slip into things that I feel like betray an actual real-life person as opposed to a bot to bring that that human culpability to the situation and just make it more comfortable for everyone so bottom line I think that there are a lot of small probably obvious steps that you can take to make sure that you're you know building rapport with the people that you're interviewing and um and I think that like whatever steps you take they're bound to be helpful but if you can approach it with some intentionality and thoughtfulness and empathize with what the person on the other end of the screen is maybe thinking and experiencing and even be open about that you know if you think someone might be feeling a little bit of anxiety or nerves about the interview you know maybe broach that and discuss it a little bit but I think that all of these things can help to take the good sides the the the bonus points of online interviews and online chats and really really kind of expand them for you because you can't have more you know if you trick your kinds of conversations or you can elicit maybe more negative feeling this way so that is actually the end of my deck and I'm going to stop sharing and go to the various features okay so I'm looking at um a question from Rudi once the economy opens again what techniques do you recommend field interviews utilize when conducting in-person interviews assuming your vote you're right okay so this is something I think we're all anxiously thinking about right is once we're back to being able to do in-person stuff what is that going to look like and I've been I like I said I think a lot of us are thinking about that and I'm thinking a lot about physical space obviously you know no shaking hands you know do you even really need to do an elbow bump because that means you're you're coming so close together but how do you do this where you're you're maybe going to be in a small interview room you're going to be audio and video recordings so you want to have kind of some space and you want it you want to be in proximity to each other but you don't want to be so close to each other you know for a long period of time when all sorts of bacteria and virus and all sorts of things can be spread right I think that's going to be really interesting I suspect we're going to see a kind of hybrid of in person but virtual where you might actually be in kind of the same space but actually I'm separated by like you know we've we've got all those one-way viewing screens that we we use when we're observing people try tasks right so there might just be just you know actually instead just a clear screen so you can see each other and you can kind of react and you know read body language and all of that and be in the same general space but actually be observing social distance in a really awkward way and I think that's going to require us to to actually focus on building rapport in person really carefully because that's going to be such an off-putting scenario for people to you know be behind the screen let's see I'm just looking at the chat also to see what else is in there and um this is the fundraising comment I used to be in fundraising many years ago and meeting with donors right and typically getting someone to give your organization money is all about that person connecting with you know you as someone who's asking for money and so it's really heavily about building rapport and so how do you do that I think I think all the same things apply I think that with donors you've got to be really on your game in terms of being professional prepared and and yet likeable and friendly and engaging right so really interesting um let's see I'm looking at Doug Keith's point it's always a challenge when respondent is not all that responsive but I find it especially tough doing interviews remotely because we aren't in the same space any suggestions there Thanks that is great okay so I had a really really challenging in-person interview several months ago where this this this man was just he he just clearly was there to get the incentive he was definitely the right demographic and I really wanted to hear from him but he didn't really care and so I haven't had quite as bad an experience with an online interview yet I'm sure I will I'm sure that's that's coming could even be you know the next round of interviews but thinking about my efforts to build rapport with that man in person I think they probably apply to an online interview as well and maybe maybe some others have some have some thought so I'm gonna look to the chat in a minute to see what other other people have to say but what I end up doing with someone who's kind of like a tough nut to crack as I try to engage around whatever does seem to excite them so in this case it turned out to be his wife and toddler child that whenever he was bringing whatever he mentioned them then he got more engaged wasn't necessarily on topic for me in terms of being exactly what I needed to learn but I was able to use like reframe all my scenarios around his wife and toddler to kind of engage him around the questions that I had and so thinking about an online version of that it's tricky right you've got you've got to kind of suss out from behind a screen what is really getting someone excited to try and then engage them in that way ah and I think but I think that that's that's probably an option I would love to hear what others have to say but I think that you could even ask the person what what what got them to respond to your request right why did they agree to opt in to the interview they might just say for the incentive and then maybe maybe you could engage them or oh so you know like like is this a good incentive are you happy with it what are you planning you know like what is the incentive that you're getting are you what are you going to do with it that sort of thing it's kind of an awkward conversation to have but that's kind of also the value of an online conversation or a video interviews we've got that those screens in between us so it makes a little bit easier to ask weird stuff like that I just want to see if anyone's in the chat saying anything about yeah anyways I'm keeping an eye on the chat so if anyone does have any thoughts on other ways to engage or respondent when they're really just not opting in let me know I want to see yeah some user testing does require close proximity that's actually the big challenge we're faced in the automotive sector you can imagine I need to have people getting into cars right so I'm really struggling with how I'm going to come up with a virtual version of that kind of research oh client has paused the TDI project when is the right timing to encourage them to restart what needs to happen wow that's a good I don't I don't have an answer to that I think that that's that's the question the entire world is trying to answer right is is when do we restart yeah frightened yes um Wendy I like that thank you thank you for the humor I appreciate that I feel like I know you a little bit better even though it's just an online chat so see we're building some rapport um you know one thing that we've been talking about at work is looking at different geographies and what is China doing right now versus what is Italy doing right now versus what is New York City and state doing right now and trying to see if there are things that we can learn from how you know we're forward so we have co-workers in China we have co-workers in Italy we have co-workers in New York you know like to ask them where are they in their process and can we start to kind of project okay if if China has started production again then that means that people can kind of be in kind of sort of proximity again they're getting ready to relaunch their HMI their human machine interface research and X X amount of weeks have passed over in China versus where we are right now so we can be looking ahead like that that's really like the best I can get best advice I can give you Wendy is um to maybe look for any any similar geographies that you know that you know that line up and that you could say okay clients maybe maybe we can look at what they're doing over here and project ahead and say we we can be ready to launch in two months I don't know I don't know I would love to get back to being in the field some more but yeah let's see Sharra's posted what have you seen with car sales and demand tanked most people are not buying cars consult with an automotive client and they put our studies on hold well they have pulled advertising and would be test markets yes right very few people are buying cars right now and yet so really interesting I can't share too much information because it's proprietary but I have seen data from China to indicate that there are some people essentially they've paused but the the demand is just getting it's becoming pent-up demand so there's a possibility that as soon as car sales can kind of really like proceed in a way that everyone's comfortable that they'll actually spike pretty quickly so I think that it really is a case of deferred demand as opposed to delayed demand like I don't I don't think that people are saying yeah that's I'm just not buying a car this year they're still ready they're just they're just waiting until things are better so you might you might see that with your client they might all of a sudden be ready to turn on a dime and get going yeah sure mentions again reading that so many people are researching real estate because they're at home right so yeah you can you can literally spend hours like looking at your dream property right and it's just a matter of when can you take the action to engage with the seller or whatever Sherrie posted an interesting anecdote that a friend who works in financing at a car dealership said she's been super busy with people coming in for new leases in her particular area that is really interesting right um I've been reading a lot about consumer habits this is unrelated to the work that I do just kind of me as a consumer being interested I've been thinking about my own spending habits during this time and I've been breeding that um you know obviously we're you know we're maybe spending more on kitchen items right for baking or cooking elaborate meals or things like that and so it really is that people are still spending we're spending less we've kind of pivoted our spending to certain categories but we're still spending less overall and for a lot of people a lot of people just to be really frank I mean there are a lot of people who are hurting and this is really really a bad economic time for many many people and I don't want to downplay that but there are also a lot of people who still have money to spend and this is again just a matter of deferring not delaying their purchases they fully intend spend all of the discretionary income they have available they just can't do it as easily now that they can't you know just wander into the department store and you know try on clothes and jewelry and that sort of stuff so I think that as different geographies reopen we're going to see spikes in spending on certain you know let's call the quasi luxury items yeah so anyways what what other are there other other questions or comments or discussion and if not I certainly don't want to keep everyone you know we can we can break but I'm enjoying reading the chat so thank you for posting there I actually have a question yeah go ahead Lexi um well first off I'm just kind of curious about how you think Kovan 19 is gonna have an impact if at all on you know methodology selection in the future so once this all goes away assuming it does hopefully here futures for us fingers crossed not jinxing it here how do you think it's gonna have an impact you know are we going to transition more into a world of just online interviewing or we do you think that people are want to pick back up and start you know doing in person again and I think it's not going to ferdi yeah I think online is really going to become dominant online was already cheaper faster and I think that we're going we're essentially being forced right now to figure out ways to do online with the same confidence level that we maybe felt we had when we were doing in person so I think that online it was never going to go away yeah but I think that it is going to become the dominant force and so people like me who thrive on just like going and hanging out somewhere and watching people you know I I am sure I'm not going to be spending as much time in the field as I really like to and as I used to and and that's okay in a way this makes this makes research more accessible and more democratic for a lot different researchers and participants right I don't think in-person is going to completely go away I think that in-person is going to become probably really tied with certain markets and or certain commodities you know cars I got to sell cars you know like there's there's there's literally no way for me to learn everything I can learn about how people use their cars just by talking to them online right but if you don't if you don't absolutely have to go observe someone in this 3d setting then it's gonna be harder to make the case that that's a you know good use of time and money let's see sherry posted could you ever see a time where a participant could come in person explore the car on their own and then participate interview with yes with it sorry let me finish reading this then participate in an interview with the interviewee being remote not the participant yes I actually have been thinking about proxies right so if I want to understand a door handle what is what what Karma what existing car models already have that I don't actually do door handles that's the HMI the other people do that the Ergo people but it's just an easy example for me to give what what exists seen products in the market already have that then I recruit for the people who have access to that product and then like that's that or yes I'm putting in a car in a space and I think I would probably actually still be in the space I'd have to clean the vehicle in between uses and that's something we had a conversation about today what are different ways to kind of quickly clean test vehicles and then you know get them ready for the next participant but I think I think that we will absolutely be figuring out ways to kind of seed a physical study and like have people go and do it and then they leave and then we kind of like sanitize and then someone else comes in and in that sort of thing and you know the whole point of qualitative research is a really deep understanding of a nuanced situation so we don't really need that many people to go through one in-person experience you know like representing this particular situation so I totally think that's doable and that's that's something I really want to work towards let's see a lane posted how do you manage confidentiality terms of future product images yeah when conducting research online so if you're showing vehicle interiors or exteriors or anything like that we don't we don't show if it is truly secret we effort we distinguish between confidential and secret and something else if it's secret or higher we don't show it at all we only show it if it's confidential we do stress the confidential nature of the images that we're showing and remind the person that they're under an NDA but bottom line is they they can they can figure out a way to grab an image so if we are really truly concerned about that we will not do it online just won't I've heard lots of I know some platforms that say they can kind of mitigate for that but there's there's too much risk for our business so we can Doug posted in person versus online seems like clients do like to observe in-person research and have discussions about findings on the spot yep they aren't as engaged when doing that online that is absolutely true absolutely true I will sometimes invite my internal customer since I work for Ford all my customers are other four teams right and I'll invite them to dial in to you know like they can kind of silently you know without the interview we know that they're there they can be observing the interview and not not interrupted at all and I rarely get taken up on that offer and the energy that they get from being in the same physical space is really hard to replicate that said I have often had the experience when my internal clients are with me in the field and they're observing they're observing but they're they're mainly just excited to be there and they're not necessarily picking up on the stuff they really should pick up on they kind of get easily distracted by one thing that someone said or one point that's made or I've even had a case where we were doing some testing that involved interacting with a prototype and we had it indoors and we had and we actually two prototypes so we were sitting in a room where you had a clear view of people interacting with one prototype in that room just on the other side of the wall and then we were live-streaming and footage from the other room so that you could also see the probe that interactions going on there then two sets of engagements they could be watching my internal client they could be watching like literally through the plexiglass or the one my one-way mirror or they could be watching a live stream and they weren't really watching either of them they were just like talking about work stuff and using they were using the opportunity to come be in the field and observe me do research they were using that as kind of a retreat of their own to kind of get away from the office and avoid daily meetings and think strategically so I think that being really honest with your clients about what is the value that they should be getting out of any research and then helping them to get scaffolded to that point what what is the value of them being there in person what have they really gotten out of that before critical assessment might indicate that they were you know they were it was it was just the excitement of being in the field of being out of the office you know having that kind of intense time away together and it really it really wasn't the research per se and there might be other ways that they could achieve that and then with what I like to do then to actually engage them in the online research I've done and this is after the fact I'll put together clips and quotes and try to get them to know some of the people that I spoke to so that they feel really engaged with and invested in the data that I'm bringing back and video clips are really useful for that audio clips are useful as well screenshots all sorts of things so so yeah it's an issue and I think there are ways to mitigate it Cheryl I actually conducted ideas with people checking out a new car design with use of a virtual reality set up nice in person but that could be done remotely nice yeah we were talking a little bit about what can we do with VR and I am NOT a technical person at all as evidenced by me not really knowing how do you zoom but I am I am hoping that the brilliant technical minds at Ford can kind of yeah like they've already built the car virtually anyways right and can't so you know can we just figure out a way to have people engage thank you I'm glad to hear that you've you've done that that's that's nice to know thank you yeah let's see I think I think that's everything anything else all right well great seems like everybody's wrapped up their questions so if anybody has a question that they you know didn't get to ask Jenny or think of later feel free to reach out to her after this presentation is over and I'm sure she'll be happy to answer them for you I would be happy to answer it and I'm look me up on LinkedIn too because that's um I actually like like really love connecting with other researchers on LinkedIn to kind of you know that's that's the that's the speed of social media media I can manage so alright well thank you so much Jenny and hopefully this gives everybody a little bit of extra time to go grab something to eat before our next presentation so great alright thank you everyone have a great rest of our quarantine conference by lexi bye-bye everyone