Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Conversation guide

Create a conversation guide so you can focus your research sessions on getting answers to the questions you identified for your research sprint.

Creating a conversation guide

The conversation guide is a guide; it’s not meant to be a script. Each research session with a participant will evolve organically. Use the conversation guide to keep track of the questions you want your participants to answer.

See an example conversation guide (after completing the onboarding steps, you’ll be able to see this content).

Template: Conversation guide

Moderator logistics

  • Before the session, send out observer instructions with reminders about session etiquette.

  • Make sure everyone except the participant is on mute.

  • If the tool you’re using plays sounds when people enter and exit, set this option to off.

  • Check your setup and that screensharing works.
    • Tips for using GoToMeeting, but useful guidance for any tool (after completing the onboarding steps, you’ll be able to see this content)
  • Project-specific setup
    • Include links to session artifacts, e.g., a clickable prototype
  • When the participant is ready, begin the session with the intro.

Intro

Thanks for joining us today! My name is [NAME] and I also have some colleagues on the line observing and taking notes. We work with the team at the Department of Veterans Affairs on a website called Vets.gov, and we’re excited to talk with you today to get your feedback on the website.

Before we start, a few things to mention:

  • This entire session should take about 45 minutes. I want to be sure not to keep you much longer, so I may occasionally move us along to the next topic.
  • In this session, we want to hear your honest opinions. We are not testing your ability. We just want to improve the application to better meet Veteran’s needs. I will not be offended by any opinions you express, and I welcome your feedback.
  • You’ll be interacting with a prototypes and a demo tool. Some areas of the prototype will be clickable, and some will not. Since it’s a demo, none of your actions will affect your actual VA information or benefits.
  • If for any reason and at any time you want to stop the session, please let me know. You will not be penalized in any way if we need to stop.
  • Are you comfortable if I record the screen and audio as we talk today? We use the recordings to confirm that we have captured your opinions accurately.

Start recording.

Warm-up Questions (Optional) - X minutes

Before we look at the website, let’s start with a few warm-up questions.

  • You should already have the participant’s background info from the person who did the recruiting. So use this time to ask any other questions that you feel will help with the session. This warm-up is not required.

First Task: [TASK NAME] - X minutes

  • Step 1
  • Step 2

Things to watch for:

  • [Does the participant understand meaning of xyz?]
  • [Does the participant notice xyz?]
  • [Etc]

Second Task: [TASK NAME] - X minutes

  • Step 1
  • Step 2

Things to watch for:

  • [Does the participant understand meaning of xyz?]
  • [Does the participant notice xyz?]
  • [Etc]

Third Task: [TASK NAME] - X minutes

  • Step 1
  • Step 2

Things to watch for:

  • [Does the participant understand meaning of xyz?]
  • [Does the participant notice xyz?]
  • [Etc]

Thank-You and Closing - X minutes

We appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us. Your feedback is helpful as we continue to work on the site and make sure it works for Veterans.

As a thank you for your participation, we’d like to offer you a $25 gift [describe the thank-you option(s), e.g., Amazon giftcard or PayPal]. Do you have a preference?

  • Be sure to confirm the email address to send the gift to.

Would you be willing to share this feedback opportunity with other Veterans or Veteran groups you’re a part of? If so, I can send you an email with a blurb that you can pass on.

Thanks and bye!