UX Researcher: Thanks for joining me—can you start by telling me about your role at the practice, and what’s on your plate most days?

Participant 3: Sure. My name’s Diane, and I’m the office manager, although in a place this size, I do a little bit of everything—phones, scheduling, billing… even ordering the snacks sometimes. If something stops working, usually it’s me who gets the frantic call from the front desk.

UX Researcher: All right, so a real jack-of-all-trades! When it comes to your VOIP phones and router, how involved do you get? Are you doing administration, or is it mostly outside IT?

Participant 3: We don’t really have an IT department, so it’s mostly me, plus a company we call when things get really stuck. I don’t mind handling the phones—usually just unplugging and plugging back in, but sometimes, yeah, I have to log in to the router management screen if the company tells me to.

UX Researcher: How often do you log into the management tool yourself? And what typically prompts it?

Participant 3: Once a month, maybe? Usually because someone says their phone doesn’t work, or we lose the connection. The IT company gave me a list of steps to follow. Otherwise, I try not to touch anything. I don’t want to break it.

UX Researcher: Can you remember the first time you had to use the management interface on your own? What was that like?

Participant 3: Oh, yes—total panic. It was our first week with VOIP. Phones dead, no dial tone, and patients calling. The IT company couldn’t remote in right away, so they gave me step-by-step instructions over the phone—log in here, click here, check that. Honestly, it was nerve-wracking. The instructions said something like, “don’t touch settings you don’t recognize.” That always made me nervous!

UX Researcher: Did you find the management interface easy to understand when you got in?

Participant 3: Not really. There are a lot of buttons labeled with technical words. “Port forwarding,” “SIP trunk,” lots of stuff I’m not sure about. I mostly just follow instructions and hope for the best.

UX Researcher: Are there any routine checks or reports you run now, or do you only touch it for troubleshooting?

Participant 3: Only for troubleshooting. The only thing I know how to check is if the “phones online” number matches how many phones we have. I wrote that one down. There’s a dashboard but I don’t really know what the numbers mean.

UX Researcher: How about adding new phones or users—do you ever handle that?

Participant 3: No, that’s too advanced for me! I call our IT company. They do it all remotely, usually after hours.

UX Researcher: Is there anything you wish the router management software did to make your life easier?

Participant 3: Yes, a LOT. Like, a “fix my phones” button. Or even an automated check—“here are the three things to try before calling for help.” That’d be huge. And a way to talk to someone in real-time from the screen! Even chat would help.

UX Researcher: You mentioned instructions from IT. Do you keep your own documentation, or does everything come from them?

Participant 3: Mostly from them—sometimes a PDF, sometimes I jot things on sticky notes on my monitor. Not very high tech! I would love if instructions were in the tool, step-by-step, with pictures.

UX Researcher: What about alerts or notifications if something is wrong?

Participant 3: We just find out when the phones don’t work. It’d be great if I got a text or something if the connection dropped, instead of waiting for a patient to tell us.

UX Researcher: Have you ever tried to fix something yourself that made things worse?

Participant 3: (Laughs) Yes! I poked at a setting called DHCP, and suddenly nobody had internet, not just phones. So now—I’m a lot more careful. I only touch what IT says.

UX Researcher: How does the office culture shape your approach—do people expect you to be the “fixer” for tech problems?

Participant 3: Kinda, yeah. At a small office, you wear a lot of hats whether you like it or not. But I do wish things were designed for people like me, not IT pros.

UX Researcher: If you could improve one thing about the router’s software for non-technical folks, what would it be?

Participant 3: More explanations in plain English. Pictures, not jargon. Even short videos. And someone you can call or chat with when you’re stuck.

UX Researcher: Is there a moment working with the router that was particularly stressful or rewarding?

Participant 3: (Pauses) The first time I actually fixed it by following the steps, and the phones all worked again—everyone was like, “nice job!” That was a good day.

UX Researcher: Last question: Anything you wish router companies understood about small businesses like yours?

Participant 3: Don’t assume there’s an IT person! Make it simple, clear, with real help. And keep the interface the same even when you update it—we get REALLY confused when buttons move!

UX Researcher: That’s wonderful feedback. Thank you so much, Diane—this will really help us design for everyone, not just the IT crowd.

Participant 3: I hope so! Thanks for listening.