USER RESEARCH METHODS

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Field Prep

User Interview
User Interview

Conducting useful user interviews.

Conducting useful user interviews.

✅ Select Interview Types

Adopting a specific type of interview largely depends on the data and insights one wishes to gather.

INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEW

Allows you to probe user attitudes, beliefs, needs, desire and experiences. Ask them to rate or rank choices and preferences.

In person and or virtual. Can be Structured/ Formal or Unstructured / Informal. Breakdown virtual meetings into smaller segments to reduce fatigue.

GROUP INTERVIEW

Used to uncover motives, opinions and reactions to product concepts and ideas.

Convene and meet on a neutral place, which is convenient and comfortable for all. Ensure everybody participates and the meeting is not overpowered by one individual.

EXPERT INTERVIEW

Used to gather key insights on history, context, innovation, system level view, perspectives on stakeholders, and specific technical/ legal inputs.

Determine the kind of expert you need to speak to. Ensure diverse experts are engaged else you get similar insights and opinions.

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✏️ Scripting the Interview

Prepare a questionnaire to guide you and the team in the interview process. Have a list of questions as well as rating/checkbox style tables to quickly note down the response.

Here are some Tips:

Keep the whole interview script short. If it takes 10 minutes to read the script, it is probably too long.

Use clear, commonly understood terms, avoid jargons, slang, abbreviations, geek speak or terms that could be unfamiliar to the user.

Stay in the present. An interview fails when we try to ask users to remember how things happened in the past, or ask them to predict the future. Eg. Will you use this product?.....they mostly always say yes...they don't want to hurt your feelings.

Adapt and use the script as a guideline. Explore interesting topics and responses to pursue a fruitful conversation.

Avoid, Refine and modify questions that are:

Leading or biased

Yes/No response limiting

Vague

Rhetoric

Stacked

Don’t get trapped into talking about your product/service/solution.

🔖 Sample Question Bank

Start with Broad Questions, Observe Physical Manifestations in Response, Then Go Deep - the T-approach.

What you hear is only a data point. Be sure to observe the users body language and surroundings and see what you can learn from the observation with reference to the context of research.

PURPOSE

PURPOSE

PROBLEM DISCOVERY

Ask questions to learn about the problems that a user has with the topic/subject related to your product/service.

OPPORTUNITY VALIDATION

Use these questions if you plan to showcase a demo, feature or prototype to get feedback and reactions. The goal of these questions is to help validate your solution.

SEEKING FEEDBACK

These questions are meant to identify suggestions or ideas that the user has. Ideally, these are asked after the user has used the product/service or you’ve walked them through doing a few related tasks.

PROBLEM DISCOVERY

Ask questions to learn about the problems that a user has with the topic/subject related to your product/service.

OPPORTUNITY VALIDATION

Use these questions if you plan to showcase a demo, feature or prototype to get feedback and reactions. The goal of these questions is to help validate your solution.

SEEKING FEEDBACK

What is your relationship like with [topic ... e.g. money, fitness, etc.]

How do you currently go about [problem / task]?

How much time do you typically spend on [problem / task]?

Tell me about the last time you tried to [problem / task]?

What do you like about how you currently [problem / task]?

What is the biggest pain point related to [problem / task]?

Why do you keep doing [problem / task] ... why is it important to you?

What type of work-around have you created to help you with this?

What is the hardest part about [problem / task]?

What are you currently doing to make this [problem / task] easier?

How does this [problem / task] impact other areas of your life / work?

What other products or tools have you tried out?

Have you paid for any of these other products or tools?

How did you hear about these other products or tools?

What do you like or dislike about these other products or tools?

Are you looking for a solution or alternative for [problem / task]?

What do you think of this product/service? (meant to gauge initial reaction)

Why do you think someone would use this product/service?

Can you see yourself ever using this product/service?

Why do you think you can trust this product/service?

How do you think this product/service is going to help you?

Would you use this product/service today?

What might keep people from using this product/service?

What is the most you would be willing to pay for this product/service?

Does this remind you of any other products/services?

What is most appealing about this product/service?

What is the hardest part about using this product/service?

Was there anything surprising or unexpected about this product/service?

What could be done to improve this product/service?

Was there anything missing from this product/service that you expected?

Would you keep using this product/service after what you saw today?

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Tips for Conversation

Tips for Conversation

Context

What is the person’s background?

Where do you work?

How long have you been with the company?

Past and Present

How have things changed at the site?

What’s new here recently?

How has this place changed?

Process and Routines

What do day-to-day routines and processes look like to you?

What’s your routine like when you come here?

Do you do the same things, or talk to the same people every time?

Trust & Risk

How does the person you are talking to assess or evaluate the people, things, processes etc, in the surroundings?

What do they think about a place?

What objects or systems have you come to rely on when you come here?

Do you have confidence that they will work?

Challenges & Opportunities

What are daily pain points for the informant?

What goals do they hope to achieve?

What is the most challenging thing about this place?

How do you/they address the challenges?

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🏧 Question Bank Practice Template

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BUILD USER INTERVIEW QUESTIONS TEMPLATE IN MURAL⁠

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[MURAL is a team collaboration tool; works best in Chrome; You can access the MURAL BOARD by signing in with a current MURAL account. If you don't have an account, you will be prompted to create a new one. Once you create your password, you will be able to access the mural/room or workspace you were invited to. It's that easy!]

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BUILD USER INTERVIEW QUESTIONS TEMPLATE IN PDF⁠

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