Don’t be afraid to ask “dumb” questions

Everyone has a fear of sounding stupid. Well, I definitely do.

But we’re not born like this. Think of all of the little kids you’ve had conversations with. They are not afraid to ask anything. Maybe they drove you insane as they repeatedly asked ‘why’ to every answer you gave them. Or maybe they asked you questions you’ve never thought about yourself. Little kids don’t have this innate sense of fear to ask things and it helps them learn about the world around them.

At some point in our lives, we become afraid to ask all of these questions. Maybe you raised your hand in class and asked something that all of the other kids laughed at. Or maybe you went to your parents and broached an “adult” topic and were met with shock or embarrassment.

As we gain experiences like this, we start to become afraid. Afraid to sound stupid. Afraid to sound like the only one who doesn’t know what is going on. We want to appear intelligent and capable. Unfortunately, that can hold us back from fully understanding or discovering new things. Especially when it comes to user research.

Ask it!

As a user research, it’s your job to ask questions and try to understand users. I’ve found that I’ve had to re-program how I approach conversations so that I can gather as much information as possible. When I first transitioned to UX, I knew this would be an important part of my role, but it’s still taken some getting used to.

The current project I’m working on is in the healthcare space, and whether or not you’ve had any experience in this field, you can imagine how much there is to learn. There is an acronym for everything and so many different job roles, it can be hard to wrap my head around it all. On top of that, I’m typically talking to users that may have as much as 20 years of experience in their roles. And oftentimes, those users mistakenly assume I have more experience than I do or that I always know what they are referring to.

Talk about intimidating!

So, I had to re-train myself. When a user is talking animatedly about this and that and then mentions something she assumes I’m familiar with, I make a note of it. When I have the chance, I may ask her to explain what she just referred to. Sometimes I phrase it as, “Sorry, I’m not sure I quite caught that, could you re-explain X?” Or I might say, “I’m not entirely familiar with X, could you tell me more about that?”

And you know what? No one has ever laughed at me. That may sound ridiculous, but I have this fear that someone will wonder how on earth I can do my job without knowing X. But that isn’t the case at all. Typically, the users are happy to go back and give more details or re-explain. I’ve also found that my coworkers or other observers during the research session often have the same sorts of questions.

This has really improved my user research. Because I’m not afraid to ask about those things I don’t originally understand, I’m able to have deeper and better discussions. I don’t leave thinking, shoot I should have asked about this!

Every once in a while….

Very occasionally, you may have a participant who is not quite as friendly. I have had an experience with someone who was a bit more shut off. As I asked questions, he questioned me back and said, “What’s with all of these repetitive questions?” Oof. But I tried to take it in stride and explained to him that I wanted to make sure I completely understood everything so that we could make the most of his insights.

I can’t know for certain what this user thought of me or if he truly listened to my explanation. But he did continue with the session and I was able to draw some valuable insights. I didn’t let it impact my thoughts about myself as a researcher or how capable I am.

So don’t be afraid to ask questions. Even when you’re afraid the answer may be obvious. The truth is, if you have a question, then the answer can’t be obvious! Most users will respond with informative and even friendly answers that will help guide your research and the conclusions you draw from it. And for those few who respond harshly, don’t take it personally.

Questions don’t make you look dumb — they can only make you smarter.