Sandra here. I love British crime dramas. Not the cute and cosy ones with a “mystery of the week” to solve, but ones where the weather is bleak and the characters’ lives are even bleaker. The gritty ones where the characters look like everyday people and have crooked teeth and bad haircuts. Bonus points if the show has Scottish characters where they roll the ‘r’ in murder. Extra bonus points if David Tennant plays one of those characters.
During a recent binge of Scott & Bailey, it struck me just how much the user research work we do at True North Content mirrors the high-stakes world of homicide investigation. Maaaybe that’s a wee overstretch. While a web crime doesn’t warrant the same solemnity as a murder investigation (with a rolled ‘r’ please), there are similarities between the process behind the two. Substitute “suspect” with “user” and “detective” with “UX researcher” and swap out a sparse police interview room with a Teams video chat, and now we’re talking. And while we ask to record the interview, we don’t have the irritatingly long and loud beep that happen at the start of a police interview.
Here’s how I see those similarities play out.
Start with the end in mind
Investigations begin with a central question. For a detective, it’s usually “who dunnit?” (said with a dash of a Scottish accent). For us, it’s more like “Why is Harold from HR calling the IT help desk 17 times a week asking where the expense form is?” (Especially when it’s the first card on Finance’s home page).
Like good little detectives, we structure our user questions to gather the evidence and data we need to identify the reasons for the issue.
Prepare and plan
Detectives prepare an interview strategy. And so do UX researchers. We develop a discussion guide with themes to explore – it’s not a rigid script. Our guides give us the flexibility to pursue interesting topics that pique our curiosity and that help us understand the user’s problem better. Like “Would you rather have coffee with Sergeant Catherine Harwood from Happy Valley or DS Ellie Miller from Broadchurch?” (Okay, not really. But I want to ask that even if it is a leading question.)
We find different ways to ask the same question to get to the core of the issues we’re trying to uncover and help us understand the user’s problem better.
Build rapport and trust
Detectives and UX researchers both start with establishing comfort and credibility. Detectives often begin with offering a cup of tea (always tea!) and small talk or softer questions, just as UX researchers warm up participants with easy questions before diving into core topics. While we can’t offer a cup of tea and an Iced VoVo through the screen, we do settle participants in by asking them an easy question about their role. Bonus points if my cat’s butt makes an onscreen appearance, which to be honest, has fewer holes than the plot of most US crime shows.
Ask open-ended questions
Good detectives and researchers ask open-ended questions like “Tell me about…” or “Walk me through…” rather than closed questions that will only draw a yes or no answer. We want to hear the participant’s experience in their own words.
We don’t ask leading questions to confirm predetermined theories. For example, if someone says they found the search function difficult to use, we’ll ask “Why did you find the search function difficult to use?” and not “Did you find the search function difficult to use because there are too many search results that don’t relate to the keywords you’re searching for?”
In Scott & Bailey, I like how the detectives listen to the suspect’s alibi, then strategically present a piece of evidence that counters the suspect’s narrative and then ask, “What can you tell me about that?” Though sadly, unlike TV detectives, we can’t slide a manila folder across the table and ask Harold from HR to explain his IT call centre logs.
Follow up on inconsistencies
UX researchers and detectives must both be good listeners. They have to keep their antennas up, listening out for inconsistencies. When something doesn’t quite add up, like a user claims they never have problems with the intranet but describes creating 17 workarounds to get the information they need, skilled interviewers probe deeper without being accusatory.
Unlike TV detectives, we don’t lean back in our chair, exchange knowing glances with our partner, and let the silence hang uncomfortably in the air. Instead, we say “Help me understand…” in a friendly voice while one of us furiously takes notes about the 17 workarounds Harold has invented.
Read between the lines
Both detectives and UX researchers watch for non-verbal cues, hesitations and what’s not being said. For example, a detective notices when someone crosses their arms when asked about an alibi. A researcher notices when users gloss over pain points they’ve normalised. Although looking for non-verbal cues when the interview participant’s screen freezes rendering them perpetually in an unflattering way increases the challenge.
Avoid bias
In crime shows, bias often causes detectives to fail after they fixate on a suspect and ignore other contradictory evidence. As user researchers, we have to fight the dangers of confirmation bias, too, and actively seek evidence that challenges our hypotheses rather than just validating assumptions – ours and our client’s. (But Catherine would be a better coffee date than Ellie…)
Create psychological safety
The best interrogations (and user interviews) happen when subjects feel safe enough to reveal uncomfortable truths – whether that’s “I was there” or “I can never find the *&%$ expense form.”
The key difference? User researchers genuinely want to understand the participant, while TV detectives are trying to catch the crook.
Use evidence for good
Just like how detectives are strategic about how they gather and use evidence, UX researchers must do the same. To develop a truly effective content strategy, we must understand the user’s motivation – why are they not finding the information or why are they making mistakes?
Just like the skilled detective, as skilled UX researchers, we must use empathy to connect with and understand the user, transforming the evidence we gather into relatable human truth.
So, the next time you’re watching a bleak detective in a bleak Scottish landscape trying to extract the truth from a crook, just remember that somewhere, a little ole UX researcher like me is playing the same game with Harold from HR. Less murder, but no doubt there’s a Janet on an IT help desk out there with a strong motive for Harold’s non-accidental unaliving.
My fave crime shows
When I’m not solving web crimes – and for those who are curious – my all-time favourite crime shows are Happy Valley, Line of Duty, Broadchurch and Shetland (where there’s always a murder with a rolling ‘r’).
Get in touch
If you’d like to uncover your users’ issues through UX research, get in touch.
