UR
Co-discovery Sessions
A practical research method for understanding collaboration, shared reasoning, and how people make sense of things together.
How to use co-discovery sessions to observe collaborative behaviour, richer verbalisation, and how shared understanding develops in real time.
What it is
Co-glossaryDiscoveryDiscovery is the phase of understanding problems, users, and opportunities before building solutions.Open glossary term glossarySessionA session is a single period of user interaction with a product, from entry to exit within a defined timeframe.Open glossary term are a qualitative UX serviceUser ResearchUnderstand user behaviour, validate ideas, and make clearer product decisions with evidence you can act on.Open service method where two participants work through tasks together while thinking aloud and discussing what they are doing.
They are often used in guideUsability TestingObserving users complete tasks to identify usability issues, friction, and barriers to success.Open guide and exploratory serviceUser ResearchUnderstand user behaviour, validate ideas, and make clearer product decisions with evidence you can act on.Open service to observe how people collaborate, explain decisions, and react in real time.
Unlike individual glossarySessionA session is a single period of user interaction with a product, from entry to exit within a defined timeframe.Open glossary term, co-glossaryDiscoveryDiscovery is the phase of understanding problems, users, and opportunities before building solutions.Open glossary term introduces social glossaryInteractionInteraction refers to any action a user takes within a product and how the system responds. It includes clicks, taps, gestures, and inputs that drive the user experience.Open glossary term. Participants naturally question, challenge, and explain things to each other.
The goal is to uncover glossaryBehaviourBehaviour refers to how users interact with a system, including actions, patterns, and responses.Open glossary term, reasoning, and shared understanding through conversation and collaboration.
Co-discovery sessions are useful when the interaction between people tells you as much as the task itself.
When to use it
Use this method when collaboration or shared understanding is part of the experience.
It is most useful when:
It is less useful when:
Co-discovery sessions are often used alongside usability testing and interviews to provide both behaviour and reasoning.
Key takeaway
Use co-discovery when collaboration itself is part of the behaviour you want to understand.
How to run it
Set up properly
Be clear on the tasks, whether participants should already know each other, and how collaboration fits the real glossaryContextContext is the set of surrounding conditions that shape how someone behaves and decides, including their goal, their environment, their time pressure, and what happened immediately before. The same action can mean different things in different contexts.Open glossary term. Pairing people who would never work together produces an artificial dynamic.
Choose tasks with enough substance to discuss. Trivial tasks produce narration rather than reasoning.
Run the method
Co-glossaryDiscoveryDiscovery is the phase of understanding problems, users, and opportunities before building solutions.Open glossary term puts two people through a task together. Because they explain themselves to each other rather than to you, you hear reasoning that a think-aloud protocol never surfaces.
- Introduce the task and make clear they should talk to each other, not to you.
- Encourage genuine conversation, including disagreement about what to do next.
- Let them work through the task together, and tolerate longer silences than feels comfortable.
- Observe how they explain, question and decide. The explanations one gives the other are the glossaryMental ModelA mental model is the way users understand how a system works based on their past experiences and expectations. It shapes how they predict interactions and outcomes.Open glossary term, stated aloud without prompting.
- Intervene only to keep things moving. Every intervention converts the glossarySessionA session is a single period of user interaction with a product, from entry to exit within a defined timeframe.Open glossary term into a moderated test.
Let the pair glossaryLeadA lead is a potential customer who has shown interest in a product or service, typically by providing contact information or engaging with content.Open glossary term. The method works precisely because you are not the audience they are performing for.
Capture and make sense of it
The value comes from naturally verbalised reasoning. After the glossarySessionA session is a single period of user interaction with a product, from entry to exit within a defined timeframe.Open glossary term, document:
- Explanations participants gave each other, which reveal glossaryMental ModelA mental model is the way users understand how a system works based on their past experiences and expectations. It shapes how they predict interactions and outcomes.Open glossary term
- Points of disagreement about how something works
- Questions they asked each other, which are the gaps in your glossaryInterfaceAn interface is the point of interaction between a user and a system, where inputs are made and outputs are received. It can be visual, physical, or conversational.Open glossary term
- Where they collectively got stuck
Use this where reasoning matters more than glossaryPerformancePerformance refers to how quickly and efficiently a system responds to user actions and processes tasks.Open glossary term. It suits complex or unfamiliar products better than routine ones.
What to look for
Focus on:
Where it goes wrong
Most issues come from:
If the glossarySessionA session is a single period of user interaction with a product, from entry to exit within a defined timeframe.Open glossary term feels controlled, you lose the natural dynamic.
What you get from it
Done properly, this method gives you:
Key takeaway
It helps you see how understanding is formed, not just what people do.
Get in touch
If this sounds like something you need, we can help you understand how people think, decide, and work together.
No guesswork. No assumptions. Just clear insight you can act on.
FAQ
Common questions
A few practical answers to the questions that usually come up around this method.
What are co-discovery sessions in UX?
Co-discovery sessions are a research method where two participants complete tasks together while discussing their actions and decisions.
When should you use co-discovery sessions?
Use them when collaboration is natural or when you want more verbal insight than individual sessions provide.
What is the difference between co-discovery and usability testing?
Co-discovery involves two participants working together, while usability testing typically involves one participant working alone.
Should participants know each other?
It depends. Familiar participants may collaborate more naturally, but unfamiliar pairs can reveal different behaviours.
Are co-discovery sessions better than individual sessions?
They provide different insights. Co-discovery reveals interaction and discussion, while individual sessions show independent behaviour.
Quick take
If you want to see how people figure things out together, not alone, run co-discovery sessions.
Related Services
