How to gather "post-experience" user insights
I want to gather some user feedback about an application process. I was thinking it would be ideal to 1) do real-time usability testing and 2) gather some feedback from people who completed the application in the last few months
I am a bit worried about gathering feedback from folks who completed the application already, since everything would be based off of their memory and their answers may be influenced by whether or not they passed the application. Are there any suggestions on how to best approach gathering this type of "after-the-fact" user insights? I want to make sure I ask questions that will give me reliable answers.
I'm thinking of providing screenshots of the application to jog their memory, and then asking questions like:
- Why did you choose to complete our application?
- What do you remember liking about the application process?
- What do you remember finding confusing about the application process?
What do you guys think about this approach and the reliability of info I might collect from this type of "after-the-fact" interview?
P.S. Is there a name for this type of "user evaluation"? Thanks in advance for anyone who can help!
Edit: I found this article from Nielson Norman. My takeaways are that a post-experience interview might be good for:
- Exploring general attitudes
- Exploring how users think about a problem
- The "critical incident" method is useful for post-experience interviews. Specific instances when something worked well or didn't work well are more vivid in a user's mind and can provide useful details.
- Beware of asking leading questions, and make sure questions aren't so specific that you are asking the user to make up an opinion about something that isn't necessarily important.