Click through the steps below to explore the Playbook process.
1/10Informal User Research: Talk to people
Like backgrounding a story: you're building a sense of what's happening before you know the central question.
What you'll do
Have informal conversations. Ask "what's annoying, slow, or broken?" "What do you wish you could do if you had a magic wand?" Your job is to capture experiences and aspirations - not to evaluate or suggest solutions. You'll write everything down without filtering.
Outcome
A collection of real pain points, friction moments, and unarticulated needs from the people closest to the work.
Why it matters
People will tell you what they need if you're not already pitching them a solution. Solutioning too early narrows what you're willing to hear. This step only works if you stay genuinely curious about the problem, not the fix.