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How to test the skills of a UX researcher when hiring?
…if there is no researching competence in the team yet.
An example of a test task, questions, a set of skills and methods of verifying them.
When I was first hired as a UX researcher, it went something like this:
– Nataly, what will you do for us?
– Oh my God, I want users to enjoy the service so that they will be delighted to use the service (I had zero experience at this time). So they will be happy and satisfied.
– Fine. What about web analytics, Nataly, what can you do with it?
– Yes, sure, web analytics, mobile analytics, cohorts, segmentation, scenarios.
– Fantastic, Nataly, you’re hired!
I landed this job because of the spark in my eyes, the enthusiasm in my speech, and my professional terms.
How can you understand whether you’ve hired a good researcher if you don’t have anyone in your team who can specifically verify the knowledge and experience in the researching competence?
It’s difficult to predict the quality of results without having studied the person in depth at the interview stage.
Over the years of hiring researchers, I’ve created an example of a test task and questions, which helps to identify their skills and relevant background, or their absence.
An example of a test task:
1. To form a hypothesis about the existing user problems of a service (just like any service which you frequently use, I usually take an Uber or Airbnb).
2. To write a guide for an in-depth interview.
3. To run a real interview with you, with meeting, questions, and conclusions.
You should structure the interview in such a way that the in-depth interview only takes 20–30 minutes, the rest of the time is for questions.
The task of the applicant is not to ask as many questions as possible, but to extract as…
