Writing and conducting user interviews
How do you gain clarity about a problem by asking questions? User interviews are all about defining a problem.
Preparing for the Interview
1. START WITH A CLEAR GOAL. WHAT ARE YOU FOCUSED ON?
It’s ok to have an assumption of the answer or direction of the conversation, but you need to stay open minded.
2. IDENTIFY THE DEMOGRAPHIC YOU WANT TO TALK TO.
Start by creating attributes of the person (ex. Gender, occupation, values, etc.). Verify that this demographic is tied to one of the personas that the brand is aligned with.
With this created, do you need to screen people before you meet with them or is your demographic general enough that you can walk up to strangers? Do you need to speak in a specific location. People feel more at ease in their own environment.
3. PREPARE A DISCUSSION GUIDE.
There are two types of questions you’ll want to have “Intro Questions” and “Product-Specific Questions”. Questions should be open ended, don’t make any assumptions. Ask questions that you think you know the answer to. What you assume ahead of time may be incorrect. What you think is a dumb question can be worded to show that you’re authentically interested in their view of the world.
After your first stab at a discussion guide, you’ll want to rearrange the questions so it feels like a natural progression. The typical progression of an interview goes:
Introduction
Opener questions
Product Specific
Future
Wrap up
Be sure to star questions you absolutely need to have answered. As you start talking, you may get wrapped up in conversation, but the highlighting questions that need to be answered will help you to stay on track.
During the Interview
It helps to have a lead interviewer and a support interviewer. The lead interviewer runs the interview. The support interviewer can help take notes and actively listens to formulate more questions.
4. SET THE TONE
Introduce yourself. You can talk about yourself, but be selective. Let them know you’re a human interested in their point of view, but this isn’t about you. Check your ego at the door and make the interview about the interview.
Try to be in the moment. It’s easy to be distracted by the next question on your list or something else going on in your life, but put the rest of the world aside. Focus only on the person you’re interviewing. Sometimes what they say can trigger a thought. Try to put your opinions aside, but if it’s something important, jot it down to reference later.
5. LISTEN AND MAKE SURE THEY KNOW THAT YOU’RE LISTENING
Use follow up questions to have them expand or naturally continue the conversation. Show them that you’re interested and actively listening. Try anchoring back to previous points made by using “Earlier you told me that …" to make them feel heard.
Signal your transitions. As much as you’re trying to focus on the interview, be aware that they’re focusing on you. Think about your body language, lean in when you need to show engagement, turn the page when the moment is right with the conversation. If you start to flip through your notebook or if you’ve been feverishly taking notes and then stop all together they will take it as you’re not interested in what they have to say. Your reaction feeds their confidence.
6. TRUST THE SILENCE.
As humans in this day in age we are trained to hate silence. Silence makes us feel awkward. But silence can actually help you learn more. So when you ask your question, be quiet and be patient. They will naturally respond to fill that void. After they respond, stay quiet to let them fully finish their thought. This is the key time to observe body language and words. Are they still thinking? Do they start reiterating thoughts to fill the quiet? Are they exuding awkwardness?
This can be incredibly frustrating at times (from both sides), but filling in the silence with your own commentary just trains them to feel anxiety. Don’t fill the silence trying to fill the gaps for them. It cannot be reiterated enough, you are there to observe not change.
8. YOU ARE NOT AN EXPERT SO DON’T TRY TO BE.
The best way to create a level playing field, is to discount yourself. Not to an awkward amount, but let yourself sound a little dumb. If they mispronounce something, don’t correct. Don’t make them feel dumb. It will shut down the conversation. If they get a fact wrong and you know it’s wrong. Let it play out. You’re there to get their perspective.
9. GIVE THE INTERVIEWEE THE FLOOR.
Let them describe their dream or projections of what could be.
After the Interview
10. THANK THEM - A LOT.
They owe you nothing. You’re taking time out of their life to help you so appreciate that. Show them you’re grateful.
11. SUMMARIZE THE INTERVIEW.
This can be super informal or formal depending on the scenario:
Informal - this is usually early after the interview and in your head
Create a Topline Report - this is a simple word doc that collates reflections and thoughts, the premise of the overall conversation and maybe a quote that stands out. This does not include the hard data or findings
Articulate and identify themes
Process your experience
Formal - this can take time and should be done collaboratively
Share the transcripts, notes, recordings with a team of 2-4 people. They can be people who were not at the interview.
Analyze the interview individually by reading the transcripts and adding notes around anything that catches your interest. Be descriptive and reactive.
As a team, have everyone share their analysis. Use Post-Its to share ideas. These can be quotes, themes, feelings, etc. Anything that you made a note about should be on a Post-It
Create a shared point of view beyond “Findings”. Bucket your Post-Its and start drawing higher level conclusions.
Constantly challenge each other until you feel like you find true truths