Understanding a new player in the game
Leveraging the power of moderated interviews to uncover a deeper layer of understanding for a new user type.
The problem
Our newly acquired product, SkySlope Books, was an exciting opportunity. This opened the doors for an entirely new user type in our ecosystem: The real estate accountant.
However, on a deeper level, we had no foundational knowledge of user needs and behaviors around this user persona.
Our first area of focus involved needing to understand their mental model around payroll and instant payments.
The Details
Goal
Talk to our newest role type, the accountant.
Understand their workflows today in regards to payroll and instant payments.
Derive clear insights from speaking directly to users and create a path forward for ensuring our product aligns with their mental model and needs to complete critical accounting tasks.
My Role
Lead researcher
Led kick-off with stakeholders to align on topic prioritization and the impact these insights will have on our upcoming roadmap
Collaborated with customer success to identify these users in our system
Execute outreach, scheduling, and user-relationship management
Conducted moderated interviews through OptimalWorkshop’s tool, Reframer
Delivered clear research deck that designer referenced for design decisions
It can be a journey to get to the interview sessions
Getting the script just right.
After having a confident understanding of what we wanted to learn, I crafted a script that would fit into a 30-minute session.
I prioritized the most important topics first in the event that we ran out of time.
We had an extremely limited amount of users we could reach out to.
With a brand new product, we didn’t have any users from past surveys we could reach out to, as we normally do. Instead, I worked with customer success to gather as many potential participants as I could.
Making it to the moderated sessions is a personal “Aha” moment
The key to successful interviews is to listen.
It’s always a breath of fresh air to connect with our end users.
While it’s important to stay on track of the script to ensure we capture the insights we’re looking for, I always make sure to leave five minutes at the end for them to express anything on their mind.
This opens a door for users to share nuggets of gold that might’ve otherwise been missed, whether it’s related to tension or how much they love using SkySlope (great for pull quotes).
The vast amount of raw data from interviews can be overwhelming, but also exciting
I gained a deep understanding for each individual’s workflow around payroll and how agents get paid out…
but it was a lot to take in for a stakeholder.
