the demonstration. Participant compensation, café etiquette, and tipping Designate a team member to pay the participants upfront. In our Silver Lake scenario, the event coordinator was in charge of this, but it could just as easily be the stakeholder, team lead, or UX researchers. Get the money out of the way early so that the participants don’t wonder about it. Pass it to them in an unsealed envelope as opposed to handing it to them under the table like it’s a drug deal. Sometimes, participants are concerned about what the compensation means — will this interview be used against them somehow? In the case of the treatment center operation, this was a real concern because we were documenting personal and emotional experiences. Because you’ve screened them beforehand, however, you know that they have a personal interest in helping you; it’s just a matter of reassuring them to participate sincerely. Pay them upfront, and be genuine. Explain that you are paying for their honest feedback. Tell them that you’re not here to pitch the product. This isn’t a “beta-test.” This is just the concept of a new potential product. My team even sometimes says they’re not the people designing it (even though we are) to put some participants at ease. Because you are using this café or eatery location for free, be cognizant that it is a place of business; don’t be a cheapskate. Spend some money on beverages and food, and most importantly overtip. The team lead or event coordinator should bring a big wad of bills broken into smaller denominations. I have on several occasions put $10 in the tip jar while making eye contact with a barista to ask if it was possible to turn down the music. Conducting the interviews Conducting a good interview for gaining worthwhile insights is an art form to be mastered with practice. To learn more, check out a book called Interviewing [62] Users by Steve Portigal. It is an outstanding primer focused specifically on interviewing techniques for conducting user research out in the wild. If you are shy or new to talking to customers, practice with team members and friends beforehand. Here are my basic guidelines for conducting your guerrilla user research interviews: Always greet people with a warm smile. I typically stand up to shake hands and immediately thank them for coming. Do not begin interviews with small talk. Be professional. You want to quickly