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Hey UXer, are you really listening?
Developing awareness of how well we listen, why we listen poorly, and how to listen better by using a technique from social psychology.
Listening well is essential for user researchers. However, our relationship with sound is much older, it starts way before we begin user research. We start to listen in the womb and absorb our mother tongue. Our mother’s heartbeat inside the womb comforts us and shapes the way our brains develop.
We survive, grow, and thrive by listening, spending up to 60% of our communication time listening. And yet listening is endangered because we are constantly distracted by screaming headlines, vibrating phones, loud surrounding noises, headphones in our ears, or by our own inner voice. So, let’s look at how well we listen and how can we listen better to our stakeholders, study participants, and loved ones.
Hearing vs. Listening
Close your eyes for a moment and try to see how many different sounds you can perceive.
