Understanding Body Language in UX Research

Body Language and UX Research

When conducting user research, there are so many variables a UX researcher must control to ensure the participant feels comfortable and is willing to share—such as temperature, the environment, the number of people in the room, and lighting. But even with all these variables in perfect order, there may be times when the participant’s words fail.

At such times, you can learn a lot from the way people conduct themselves and from their body language. As a researcher, you can gain many valuable insights into the way a person actually feels about an issue through simple observation and by prompting interactions.

When engaging with participants, be sure to create rapport with them. However, you shouldn’t mirror their body language because you could come across too strong. If you observe participants moving or changing their expressions, probe further into the cause of any change. Avoid being too intense because this could shut the participant down.

When observing nonverbal communication gestures, it is important to group them in clusters. This prevents your relying on a single gesture or movement in determining a person’s emotional state. One gesture does not indicate something concrete. So don’t jump the gun. Observe everything, then put the pieces together after the research session.

Researchers’ Body Language

It is important to note that, just as you can gauge a research participant’s body language, participants can gauge yours. Therefore, ensuring that you are projecting a friendly and inviting atmosphere at all times is crucial to your receiving honest, candid feedback. You can accomplish this by employing a few nonverbal techniques yourself, such as the following:

1. Ensure you are sitting at the same level as the participant. If you are towering over participants, they can easily start to feel intimidated or like they are being interrogated.
2. Try to take up as little space as possible. The more space you take up, the more powerful and dominant participants perceive you to be. Because you are trying to make participants feel that they are your equal, your taking up the least amount of space possible makes them feel more at ease.
3. Try not to cross your arms or legs. This can be a sign of withdrawal, defensiveness, or disinterest. Instead, lean forward slightly. This shows that your attention is on the participant.
4. Use micro-expressions such as nodding or saying mmhmm or okay. This indicates that you are truly listening to participants and understanding what they are saying.
5. Be careful to avoid too much eye contact. While it is important to show participants that you are paying attention by maintaining your gaze, staring intently would make them feel uncomfortable.

There are many more nonverbal techniques you can adopt. Find what works best for both you and your research participants, then stick with it. Ensuring that your body language remains consistent and neutral and that your reactions don’t affect participants in any way can make all the difference.

Conclusion

When it comes to UX research, body language plays a crucial role. Never forget this. By focusing your attention on your research participants’ gestures, facial expressions, movements, and more, you’ll be able to resolve any inconsistencies participants are exhibiting and ensure that you’re generating the most accurate information from your participants.

Using and honing these observational skills can help you to greatly improve your future interactions with participants during user research. By restraining your own body language, you can ensure you’re not the reason your participants aren’t opening up.

There are countless nonverbal skills that you can learn about and utilize. Be sure to use them to maximum effect in all of your research sessions. You’ll see that this can make all the difference.