Writing and using discussion guides

We create discussion guides to help us plan and do research activities, like interviews, visits, workshops and usability tests.

They help us to:

• identify the purpose of the research activity and what we want to get from it
• review planned activities with team members and stakeholders so we stay aligned with project goals
• stay on track during research sessions
• make sure different researchers cover the same topics so participants have a consistent experience
• keep a record of what we did in each research activity

The parts of a discussion guide #

Introduction #

This part recaps the goals of the project and the research activity, describes the methods we’ll be using, and sets out the overall structure of the research session.

Preparation #

This part describes anything the researchers need to have or do, to prepare for the session. It references things like the information sheet to send to participants, describes how to set up a prototype we’re be testing, and references the notes template observers should use.

Welcome #

This part sets out the things we’ll tell the participants, so they know what’s going on and feel ready. We often write this out word for word, so we have something to fall back on when we’re tired, or get interrupted or distracted.

In a good welcome we:

• Say thank you - We start off by letting the participants know we appreciate them offering their time (incentivised or not)
• Introduce ourselves - We let them know our name, role, and company, and who we are working for
• State our relationship to the client - We are independent researchers, working on behalf of a client
• Summarise the research purpose - We explain what we’re trying to find out, e.g. We’re interested in how you recruit teachers for your school
• Remind them it is voluntary - They can choose to stop at any time
• Reassure them that there are no right or wrong answers - We’re interested in how the participants think and what influences that
• Ask them to be honest - As researchers we won’t be offended by negative comments, we just want to find out what people really think about a service and how it might be improved
• Describe how the session will go - Let the participants know who is taking notes or observing, how we are recording the session, how long the session will take, and what we’ll be doing in that time, so the participants knows what to expect
• Check consent and non-disclosure - Has this been done? Do they have any questions?

Topics, tasks and activities #

We have a section in our guide for each of the main interview topics, test tasks or workshop activities.

For each one we write out:

• What we are trying to learn
• For an interview topic, the starter questions we’ll ask along with likely follow ups

• For a test task or workshop activity

  • the steps to do
  • explanations and instructions for participants, such asking them to think out loud during a test so we can understand what’s happening
• How long the topic, task or activity is likely to take
• The priority - is this essential, or could we leave it out if we’re short of time

Wrap up #

Describe how we’ll conclude the session with the participants. This can include asking the participants for their final thoughts, asking them how the session went for them, letting them know what will happen next, and thanking them for their time.

Also include any steps for the researchers, like collecting and storing recordings, or deleting data from prototypes.

Three discussion guide templates #

We have template discussion guides for three different kinds of research activities:

• Interviews and contextual research
• Usability tests
• Workshops

Last updated: 5 March 2024 (history)