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Obvious University
Website
  • 👋Welcome to Obvious University!
  • Strategy
    • Sprints
      • 1️⃣Map
      • 2️⃣Sketch
      • 3️⃣Decide
      • 4️⃣Prototype
      • 5️⃣Test
    • Benchmarking
    • Research
      • 1️⃣Research guide
      • 2️⃣How to recruit users
      • 3️⃣How to conduct an interview well
      • 4️⃣How to take notes
      • 5️⃣How to prep for remote research
      • 6️⃣How to throw a watch party
      • 7️⃣How to create artefacts
  • Working with Features
    • Building with AI
      • 1️⃣Understand the tech
      • 2️⃣Map your product
      • 3️⃣Build a proof of concept
      • 4️⃣LLM Inputs
      • 5️⃣LLM Responses
    • Building Help and Support
      • 1️⃣How to scope a support experience
      • 2️⃣How to design discovery for support
      • 3️⃣How to design a support centre
      • 4️⃣How to write good support articles
  • Product Design
    • Microcopy
      • 1️⃣How to write well
      • 2️⃣How to write phrases
      • 3️⃣How to write messages
      • 4️⃣How to create a voice
    • Typography
      • 1️⃣How to compose type
      • 2️⃣How to create a type scale
      • 3️⃣How to pick typefaces
      • 4️⃣How to pair typefaces
    • Design System
      • 1️⃣Introduction to design systems
      • 2️⃣How to audit a design system
      • 3️⃣How to run a design system pilot
      • 4️⃣How to set up a design foundation
      • 5️⃣How to build components
      • 6️⃣How to document a design system
      • 7️⃣How to enable adoption and govern a design system
    • Mobile Engineering
      • 1️⃣Trunk based development
      • 2️⃣Agile development terminology
      • 3️⃣Git commit messages
      • 4️⃣Code review and pull requests
      • 5️⃣Readings
  • Delivery
    • Project Management
    • Collaboration
  • Hiring and Growth
    • Growth
      • 1️⃣Design growth framework
      • 2️⃣How to give ongoing feedback
      • 3️⃣How to check-in every quarter
      • 4️⃣How to address underperformance
      • 5️⃣FAQs
    • Hiring and careers
      • 1️⃣The Hiring Process
      • 2️⃣Diverse and Inclusive Hiring
  • PEOPLE EXPERIENCE
    • Benefits and Perks
      • 1️⃣Paid time off
      • 2️⃣Insurance and healthcare
      • 3️⃣Continuing education
      • 4️⃣Speaking at conferences
    • Starting at Obvious
      • 1️⃣Introducing Obvious
      • 2️⃣Set up your workspace
      • 3️⃣Onboarding
      • 4️⃣Finances
      • 5️⃣Code of Conduct
    • Employment policies
      • 1️⃣Equal opportunity employment
      • 2️⃣At-will employment
      • 3️⃣Employee records and privacy
      • 4️⃣Prevention of sexual harassment
      • 5️⃣Drugs and alcohol
      • 6️⃣Fraternisation
      • 7️⃣Non-compete and non-solicitation
      • 8️⃣Non-disclosure
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On this page
  • 👋🏼 Introduction
  • 1️⃣ Mindset
  • 2️⃣ Observations
  1. Strategy
  2. Research

How to take notes

👋🏼 Introduction

Note-taking is more than just transcription. The goal is to go beyond surface-level details and capture meaningful insights, mental models, and implicit biases.

1️⃣ Mindset

Look at the world through participants’ eyes.

Try to forget that you know the product. See what the product experience feels like for someone without all that context. Build your intuitive empathy for the user.

Be curious

You’ll see users make choices that you’re excited about, but also do things that may disappoint or frustrate you. Approach all of the sessions with curiosity and an open mind. Don’t dismiss actions that don’t fit your expectations or understanding.

Designate a note-taker

When starting out, it’s helpful to have a note-taker with you. That way, each of you can maintain focus on your roles. It will also help to debrief between calls so you’re capturing information while it’s still fresh.

As you get more comfortable with conducting an interview and better at identifying which observations are insightful, you may choose to play both roles yourself. In this case, have a notebook handy to jot down key observations. Keep 5-10 mins to reflect on your notes and enrich them before moving to the next interview.

2️⃣ Observations

Initial reactions say a lot.

Look for expressions or comments that indicate what the user might be feeling as soon as they see a screen or the prototype.

Don’t jump to conclusions or solutions.

Stay with observations during the interview. There will be time to talk about possible solutions in the debrief at the end of the day and in the following weeks. Don’t make premature changes to the product or prototype during the sessions.

Beware of taking comments literally.

Watch what participants do vs. what they say. Try to observe if their body language mirrors what they are saying. For example: Are they are looking disengeged while saying it’s interesting? Or are they saying that they want to pick one of the options but they look a little confused? These are good conversation openers — ask them why they look confused or what about it they are finding interesting.

Look for opportunity areas

Identify opportunities for improvement or innovation. Frame observations as How Might We (HMW) questions and note the HMWs down in the notes section for each participant.

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Last updated 1 year ago

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