The value of Active Listening in UX Research

Listen to understand, not to reply.

There are two foundations in communication: the art of speaking and the art of listening. Correctly coupled, you’ll be the King of communication. Unfortunately, I don’t see many UX Researcher talking about it…
So let’s start with active listening. It is a communication sub-skill that involves listening to understand. I admit it sounds silly. Because you could say to me “everyone listens to understand the other, it’s obvious”. Well, actually, not so much.
First, you need to know that communication isn’t just about transmitting and waiting. It’s not just about talking. Communication is also about receiving, and it works both ways. For good communication you have to hear and listen to understand.

Passive listening in everyday life.

Sometimes, in everyday conversation, we get distracted and can’t concentrate on what the person in front of us is saying. This is called passive listening. It’s a normal phenomenon, very useful in everyday life. Firstly, because active listening would take up too much energy and time, and secondly, because not all conversations require active listening.
For example, when your work colleague shows you his family holiday photos for the tenth time. You simply reply “ah great, that looked cool!”. But have you really listened to understand? The answer is no. You listened to be polite and simply to have a common-everyday conversation.

Obviously, as a UX Research, it’s not in your interest to pretend to listen the user. Because you need to collect valuable information for your project. You also need to spot business opportunities. So you’re not passive. But listening actively and authentically is a skill. It’s a communication skill.

Active listening with a user in UX Research.

It’s essential to master active listening for the UX Reserach. During a user interview, you must listen attentively to the person without giving instructions. Establishing a climate of trust allows the other person to express himself freely, without fear of being judged.
Above all, the user needs to be comforted and reassured that you’re listening to him without prejudice. He needs to feel that he has your full attention.
You need to look at him throughout your conversation. Try to avoid having anything in your hands or consulting your phone during the interview. Be sure that this kind of detail does not go unnoticed by your user. And before you know it, your conversation will be corrupted or biased. Don’t force your user to attract or catch your attention because you have to give it to him from the very beginning.

Your user has biases, but so do you.

Try to put aside your own personal experience. Listen carefully to the answers without comparing yourself, even if you’ve already experienced the situation in question. Sometimes your empathy works against you. It lets you be touched by what the user is saying and project your own feelings onto it.
Redirect this empathy back onto the user, without focusing on your own feelings. Otherwise, you’ll progressively lose the essence of what’s being said by focusing solely on your own experience.

This is what we call projective listening. It’s a trap to avoid, especially if you’re just beginning in this profession.Without active listening, you hear what you want to hear.

That’s why, depending on the topic you’re interviewing your user about, you need to adapt the context of the interview. Some people open up best over a cup of coffee in a bar or other public place that gives them confidence. But others prefer more intimate or formal environments. In any case, you need to adapt to the user’s personality if you want to get the best insights. An interesting way of letting your interlocutor know that you’re actively listening is simply to rephrase what he’s saying. Be careful not to change the words of the sentences for more intense or more serious ones. Don’t exaggerate your interlocutor’s comments, and don’t over-react in an attempt to validate his emotions. To adapt, you need to imitate.
When you explore a topic with a user, don’t add intensity in your answer and don’t push him in one direction or another.

Also, avoid asking close-ended questions that might result in a simple “yes” or “no”. Otherwise, you’d be forced to ask follow-up questions, but you wouldn’t get a spontaneous answer.
Active listening also means focusing 100% on what the person is saying, without getting distracted. It’s much more complicated than you might think. It demands a high level of concentration to capture every sentence and every movement.
As communication isn’t 100% verbal, you also have to concentrate on other elements at the same time.
Sometimes your interlocutor’s attitude doesn’t necessarily correspond to the ideas expressed. This is where we can try to explore further with the user.

Active listening means keeping quiet.

During UX Research, you are here to listen, not to give your opinion. Sometimes it’s tempting to interrupt, or to help the other person find the right words. You should avoid this, even if you’re late and the user is too talkative. You’d better allow extra time for cases like this. Of course it’s difficult because we’re Human and we make mistakes. Especially if we’re tired at the end of a busy day. But we have to think about all these elements to avoid biasing our Research.

Ultimately, active listening is an art that requires concentration and focus on the other person. And this is of course, what the UX is all about: placing the user at the center.

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