😔  You spend time doing user tests with the wrong users.

When we first started running Design Sprints and user tests, this happened to us. We'd get on a call and start a user test, only to realise that the user wasn't in the product's target audience.

This is demoralising and frustrating. It makes you wonder, "Why am I even interviewing this person? It's a waste of my time, their time and our incentive."

🤯  There's a poor or nonexistent screening process for user testers.

There's a simple reason for this issue — poor screening. Perhaps anyone could book a user test by just selecting a Calendly link, or perhaps the form to sign up was little more than a name and email.

📑  Create an application with relevant profiling questions.
📞  Do a quick screening call, if possible.

It's important to make sure you're screening for the right user testers. Recruiting the wrong people can result in irrelevant insights, waste your time, and even defeat the purpose of the sprint.

Selecting user testers should involve two key steps:

😍  People only had positive feedback during user tests.

Lo and behold, the user tests went surprisingly well! When you're presenting the results of your user tests, you're excited to report that everyone only said nice things. But is that actually a good thing?

😢  You made people think that criticising the prototype meant criticising you.
😡  You got defensive during the user tests.

There are a couple things you may have accidentally done to encourage positive feedback.

First, you may not have separated yourself and your emotions from the prototype. You may have started the user tests by talking about how amazing the product is and how much work you put into it. This could even be followed by demoing everything in the product and talking about how you designed it. If you build up the idea that you care about the prototype and worked really hard on it, people will feel like they shouldn't criticise it.

Second, you may have gotten defensive and argued back during user tests. For example, if someone critiqued a feature, you may have responded with "This is the reason we did that" or "Here's why that will work". These types of answers signal to user testers that criticism isn't welcome, and they'll stop sharing their feedback.

📏  Create distance between yourself and the prototype.
✨  Don't hype up the prototype.
⁉️  Stick with open-ended questions.

Negative feedback is important for finding problems and improving the prototype, so make sure that you invite criticism during user tests.

First, create some distance between yourself and the prototype. Tell the user that you didn't create it (even if you did), so they won't be insulting you if they don't like it. Explain that the more they critique it, the more honest their feedback, the more helpful the session will be.

Second, don't demo or hype up the prototype. There's no need to walk through the features, because you may be inclined to explain them in a positive light. Just set a bit of context about the product, then let the user play with it. Observe them, but don't critique what they do or say.

Third, if you need to ask them something, stick with open-ended questions. Never ask leading questions like "Do you like this?" You're already suggesting the answer within your question. Instead, ask questions like "What do you think about this?"

🤬  Someone doesn't have a single nice thing to say about the prototype.

A user opens the prototype and they launch straight into criticism. It seems like they have nothing nice to say about the product, and you feel like you're under attack.

😳  The user is very honest or poorly chosen.

If a user tester wasn't chosen well, they may not be in the product's target audience. That means they'll completely misunderstand and dislike the product since it doesn't make sense for them.

Other user testers may understand the product well and have valuable insights. But if they are naturally blunt and critical, their feedback may sound harsh and overly negative.

🙈  Gently clarify misunderstandings, or just ignore them.
😅  Sit back and let the criticism roll in. It's good for you!

In the first case, when someone is off track or misaligned with the product, try giving a bit of explanation. If someone doesn't understand the problem the product is solving, explain it. If they're not clear on the intent of a feature, clarify it. As long as you're not defensive, this could help set them on the right track. And if it doesn't, just nod along and toss their results once you finish.

In the second case, when someone justifiably dislikes your product, consider yourself lucky! Critical users can result in the best user tests, since they give feedback that no one else has dared or bothered to give. Their insights can be the deciding factor in how to move forward. If you discourage their input or become defensive, you'll lose their valuable perspective.

Regardless of its cause, sit back and let bad feedback happen. It's either super helpful or meaningless, and trying to stop it will only cause more trouble.

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