User Research – The moderators survival guide

This is a sample chapter from Donna Tedesco and Fiona Tranquada’s new book, The Moderator’s Survival Guide: Handling Common, Tricky, and Sticky Situations in User Research.

Once you’ve understood your role as the moderator and the different styles of moderating, you can start thinking about how to handle the different kinds of situations that may arise during the session. Some of these situations will challenge your interpersonal skills; others will push the limits of your troubleshooting and crisis-handling capabilities. Although there are common circumstances you’re almost guaranteed to encounter, we can’t predict what else might happen. Even after our years in user research, we’re still surprised—and sometimes delighted, shocked, or horrified—by what happens when we’re one-on-one with a participant.

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