Assignment 4 - Interviews

For Assignment 4 we were asked to construct an interview with a person who doesn't know you based around a chosen question that related to one of this semesters previous assignments. The question i decided to use was "What is most valuable to you?". The whole point of this was not to prove anything but how to access meaningful  in-depth data which can then be used through a design process.

I sketched up a mind map of how i would expand on my question and most effectively receive the best answer from my volunteer. I ended up with 9 basic questions, some having variable options depending on what is initially most valuable to them. . . 

I used my flatmates friend from class "Gavin" who i had only met twice before. . . 

The first stage of my interview was to choose an environment which would help Gavin feel comfortable and relaxed in answering my questions. I decided to carry out the interview in his own flat, accompanied by my flatmate, as this would ease any feeling of any awkwardness / shyness. At first i decided to play along with the kind of question i  was about to ask, telling him "its a difficult question but everyone has something . It could be from a family member to a physical object". Next, i asked the first question : What is most valuable to you? After slight hesitation and with a slight smirk on his face he answered "My Car". From this i began asking simple questions like "When and where did you get it?". Once i reached question 4 "What makes it yours?" i began to gather a sense of what Gavin's current life is like and perhaps how being a student has effected the way he treats his possessions. As he answered "my personal registration plate and not having to share it with anyone" suggested that it means a lot to him to have something with your own mark on it that can only be used by yourself and having to share e.g with your student flatmates.  I noticed after this question he seemed more relaxed in the interview, giving more in-depth answers, adding extra bits of information. Thus showing that easing slowly into personal information takes time and carefully planned previous stages. 

Gavins answer to question 6 "Do you like it as much now from when you first bought it?" surprised me as he portrayed he wasn't fully happy with his valuable possession. I was expecting a different answer. The final two questions ended well.  I received a deeper insight into why his car his most valuable to him. The fact that his Dad bought it for him and that he would only trust his family with it shows that he believes they simply have the right to. It also shows how Gavin perceived the word "value", meaning he chose his most expensive possession but shows personal insight because he would only let his family the right to use his most expensive object, not his friends.

Overall, i believe my interview technique worked fairly well. I learned that there is always a key word in the main question that will play a major roll in what you have learned at the end. Also, that different people will have a different understanding of how they perceive this word. In my case, the word "value" was important as i can understand now that its difficult to describe a personal feeling towards something which the interviewer may not feel the same about. Also, that it takes time to understand someones personal feelings and that you have to explore it at all angles.