Sure, you take notes in some meetings. But how much thought have you given to HOW you take notes?

Notetaking forms new pathways in the brain, which makes recall easier. On top of that, storing the info allows you to revisit it later and reinforce what happened initially.

In user research, taking notes is an art, a science AND a key process; here are some tips taken from our world that you can apply to your own notetaking:

1. Don’t try to capture every word; instead focus on the big ideas and essential observations.

2. If you need every word, record and transcribe the audio later… but still take notes. It will help you synthesize key points and l the meeting with better retention.

3. Only take notes to the extent you still notice the non-verbal information being shared. If you are always head-down, you’ll miss quite a bit.

4. To gain multiple perspectives, consider swapping notes afterwards with other meeting attendees.

5. For more nuanced takeaways, try capturing feelings, stories, thoughts, observations and behaviors in your notes.

6. To speed your notetaking and the actions that follow, assign codes to different categories or topics. Eg a +/- for positive/negative remarks, check boxes for followups, all caps for a-ha’s, etc