1. Listening Deeply

About This Course

Listening deeply is a powerful skill. Most people are surprised to learn how much their own inner voice and emotions distract them from truly hearing another person. This course teaches how to pay rapt attention. And it teaches when and why to do it.

• Section 1 – Build Awareness
• Section 2 – Listening Session Techniques
• Section 3 – Transitions & Trust
• Section 4 – Handling Complexity

Listening is the foundation for inclusivity, for new opportunities to support more people, and also for powerful team efficiency. Having clear techniques for understanding a person’s interior cognition–for developing cognitive empathy–allows professionals the foundation for later finding patterns that will reveal gaps and inclusive, intentional direction for your solutions.

Some of the video topics:

• How the word “listen” includes written, drawn, and physical forms of communication
• Starting a listening session with a germinal question, with no interview questions at all
• Seeing the conceptual layers of a topic, and aiming for the core interior cognition
• Allowing the person to lead the conversation, to speak about their experiences as it is pertinent to them
• Developing trust with the person, showing that you see their thinking and emotions as valid, and becoming wary of your own assumptions
• Recognizing where there might be more interior cognition
• Self-care with regard to a listening session and to a career in product strategy
• Triggers, knowing your threshold in advance, and handling various situations with both the person’s safety and yours in mind

It may seem counter-intuitive to take time to listen when you want to solve problems, but it’s foundational. In product and service design, listening deeply allows you to learn other people’s thinking and approaches to the purposes your organization intends to support. It is the path to discovering whole new opportunities. To this point, listening deeply is the way to create an opportunity map and thinking styles. These let you consider how well you are helping people achieve their purpose using an approach matched to them. And it helps you explain clearly to your stakeholders how your solutions are actually harming people. Listening is the key.

Course Features:

• Videos that don’t require you to look at the screen
• Self-assessment quizzes
• Practice instructions and reflections
• Downloadable hand outs
• Closed captions for each video, along with descriptive transcripts
• Accessible PDFs
• Downloadable transcripts
• Membership in Indi’s Slack workspace (no time limit)

Listening has so many applications: developing relationships, forming rapport, connecting with people, seeing new perspectives. Any hope of improving support for users, colleagues, or leadership is rooted in being able to shape relationships.

Everyone in Design especially should sign up - from writers to editors to researchers to designers to design leads - because we can all learn from listening deeper!

– Pei Ling Chin - Aug-2019

I already had read the books and some articles, so watching these sessions motivated me to practice and see what I can get done with the listening sessions.

– Renato Caliari - Apr-2018

Great course for learning how to connect at a deeper level with a person before conducting a formal user interview.

– Susan B - Aug-2019

The Listening Session series was a joy to be part of. Indi was so accommodating and accessible, even via zoom, across the globe.

– Sasha Abram - Oct-2018

The courses have a lot of information and provide good value for the time commitment.

– David Bixby - Aug-2019

This course helped me to be more aware of my own judgements, assumptions, and allows me to filter in my mind, what I should say (or not say) before speaking so that I can be a better, deeper listener.

– Pei Ling Chin - Aug-2019

Listening sessions are unlike user interviews. It has more in common with ethnography or therapy. But that shouldn't scare you away. It's challenging and at the same time truly worthwhile.

– Sonja - Oct-2018

A Listening Session is more than a research method. It's a practice that makes you notice how people speak and how you listen to them.

– Raul - Aug-2019

It's important and beyond what most people in this industry do when they do research. It's an actual methodology to practice and improve upon. It's not just stenography.

– Steve Grieshaber - Oct-2020

If you really want to understand what listening is and a safe place to practice, take this course.

– Francesca Barrientos - Aug-2019

I attended the listening sessions in hope to improve how things are done at work, and I'm thoroughly surprised on how these skills apply to every aspect of my life.

– anonymous - Oct-2018

Consider a group discount to get training with other people in the company so you can discuss the sessions and practice listening homework together.

– Maria P. Arrilucea - Oct-2018

Unlike most online courses, Indi's classes are very in depth and she gives practical advice on its applications.

– anonymous - Aug-2019

The course is a great way to practice the skills you learn from the book. And you get real time feedback from Indi and everyone attending the course!

– anonymous - Oct-2018

There is no other training like this for user researchers that want to learn how to listen, understand and empathize with people.

– Maria P. Arrilucea - Oct-2018

It was an absolute treat to have such an intimate and informative learning space. Just like the Listening Sessions themselves, Indi created a safe space for learning about each other and ourselves.

– Sasha Abram - Oct-2018

Practicing the lessons taught in the course is hard, but practice is important. It is so valuable considering how well I'm able to connect with people now.

– anonymous - Oct-2018

Stop thinking, start registering! You'll definitely learn things that you can directly use at your work.

– anonymous - Aug-2019

Be prepared to have your preconceptions challenged and your definition of research modified and expanded. But you'll emerge wanting to do problem space research and deep listening all the time.

– Amy Silvers - Oct-2020

Good use of time - active sessions and very worthwhile. The sessions are delivered well. Indi is an expert and its a great opportunity to learn.

– Jane Cockburn - Oct-2018

Really great course with good interaction. Make sure you dont have anything booked during the 4 live classes. I missed a class and watched the backup recording once, which wasn't quite the same.

– anonymous - Aug-2019

These skills help you connect better with other humans in every scenario.

– Raul - Aug-2019

Do it. It's incredibly useful regardless of your experience. Classes feel personal because the groups are small and there is plenty of opportunity for practical work to help you understand it better.

– Debbie Sit - Oct-2018

Prepare to reevaluate how you have been listening to people you want to learn from as you are preparing for - and executing on - creating experiences.

– Lija Hogan - Oct-2020

You're gonna love it. The group format really helps. People bring interesting questions you'd never think of and Indi answers each of them. The discussions that follow are invaluable and rare online.

– Raghav Agrawal - Oct-2018

There is no better person than Indi to teach you how to go beyond generalities with people and really understand their perspectives.

– Sonja - Oct-2018

You'll not feel rushed and left out. Indi makes sure every participant feels heard via the live exercises she does and homework review.

– Raghav Agrawal - Oct-2018

Be sure to make enough time to see the recordings, which are each 2 hours in length. Plan to watch them twice to make sure everything is well understood.

– Maria P. Arrilucea - Oct-2018

Indi's listening session approach is a great learning opportunity if you are already practicing user research and want to refine your skills and expand your perspective on research.

– Raffaella Roviglioni - Oct-2020

Listening sessions are a great way to learn skills doe strong techniques on developing empathy. Indi has written a book about listening sessions, which is great too! I highly recommend both!

– anonymous - Oct-2018

You'll learn really deep foundational kinds of research techniques and even get to practice them via the exercises and while talking to people in real life.

– Raghav Agrawal - Oct-2018

We can do with more empathy because so often we're loaded with our own assumptions in all the conversations we come to.

– Pei Ling Chin - Aug-2019

Don't expect that you'll magically be able to apply these techniques at your fast-paced workplace immediately. It will take a year for the skills to internalize, as Indi herself mentions.

– Raghav Agrawal - Oct-2018

Although I watched the recordings, it was inspiring to listen to tips, watch live exercises among the people, and listen to questions about the topics. I feel like I know the people in each session.

– Renato Caliari - Apr-2018

Just do it! It is awesome! The content is academic and practical at the same time, and it pushed me out from my comfort zone.

– Amyris Fernandez - Oct-2020

Definitely do it. It's excellent to improve your skillset in design and in life

– Bibiana Nunes - Aug-2019

Whether your purpose is to work through a challenge with a colleague or to deepen your understanding of people your company is supposed to serve, there is no better course.

– Sonja - Oct-2018

Who is this for?

If you are a researcher, a listening session is very different than an interview. Learn how to let the participant direct the conversation and how to encourage the participant to uncover a trio of concept types that provide the richness of understanding you need in your data.

If you are a leader or team member, listening deeply is how you build relationships, giving other people the gift of feeling heard. By understanding their guiding principles, you are able to collaborate more effectively, with less strife and misunderstanding.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: If I have questions about the course content, will Indi answer them for me?

A: Asking a question in the Slack community will give Indi, her team, and many other Slack members a chance to see the question and respond to it.

Q: Do the recordings qualify me for Indi’s Problem Space Certification Program?

A: Not quite. You will also want to join the Live Practice series for each course. In these Live Practice meetings, you get to work on exercises together with Indi and others. This is where we discuss nuances of context and share experiences that help others prepare to conduct their own research. Live Practice meetings give you a chance to double your knowledge and demonstrate your understanding.

Other Languages

Take this course in Chinese through UXOffer:

Take this course in Spanish with Bibiana Nunes:

Take this course in Portuguese with Amyris Fernandez: