User research

It is easy to believe you know what your user wants until you sit down to listen and discover they use the product in a way you never imagined. Without research, a team designs for the user in its head, who almost never matches the real one.

This board takes a study from planning the interviews to findings that truly guide decisions, moving through talking to people and sorting what they say. The key is the synthesis: unanalyzed interviews are just anecdotes, and seeing the study by phases forces you not to skip that step.

From the plan to the finding

The board moves through plan, interviews, synthesis and findings. Each column is a phase of the study, and it closes before moving to the next.

Plan

Before talking to anyone, be clear about what you want to learn and who to ask.

• Define the key questions you want answered
• Recruit participants who fit the profile
• Prepare the script so the sessions are comparable

Interviews

Listen more than you talk, and keep a record of what each person says and does.

• Run the sessions without leading the answers
• Take notes on what surprises you or repeats
• Record with permission so you can review later

Synthesis

Turn many loose conversations into patterns that actually say something.

• Group the observations by theme
• Look for patterns that repeat across participants

Findings

Close with clear conclusions the team can use to decide.

• Write the conclusions with concrete examples
• Share with the team so they guide the design

How it works in Foco

When you import it, Foco creates the "Research" workspace with these columns in the Kanban view. You drag each card from one phase to the next as the study advances, with drag and drop on desktop and by swiping between columns as tabs on mobile.

In Panorama you see the tasks from all your workspaces at once, each in its own color, so the study does not get lost among the rest of your projects. On each interview you set a date and an assignee, and voice notes let you leave a quick jot right as you walk out of a session, while it is still fresh.