The biggest mistake you can make, is to assume that everybody thinks just like you. Perhaps even a graver mistake would be to assume that people are rational beings.

The basis for each successful design project is a holistic and more nuanced knowledge of your customers – the key to that are well-prepared and skillfully performed interviews. However, interviewing is not about following the questionnaire, it is not a discussion, it is not a pitching of your great ideas.

The goal of this workshop is to give the participants basic skills in how to raise empathy through user interviews. The leaders of the The Center for Applied Anthropology of Estonia will share their experiences with interviewing and the reasons why they always strive to conduct these in the everyday environment of the participants. In the workshop, a short overview of interviewing basics will be followed by practical exercises that focus on open-ended questions, sincere listening and quick analysis of the discussion. Special emphasis will be placed on achieving the right mind-set that makes it possible to peek into someone else’s bubble.