“To find ideas, find problems. To find problems, talk to people.” — Julie Zhuo
Part 1/3: Before the interview
Set a goal
- Define what you want to learn or ask stakeholders what they need
- The goal should be specific and brief
Recruit your respondents
- Establish target criteria for respondent recruitment
- Recruit from your user base or externally (e.g.Respondent.io)
- Use a screener survey
Prepare the discussion guide
- Prepare the intro:
- what the talk is about
- how long will it take
- Prepare the questionnaire:
- it should be based on the goal you set before
- no leading questions
- no closed questions
Part 2/3: During the interview
Develop mutual trust
- Introduce yourself
- Ensure comfort, safety, and clarity of instructions
- Smile, make eye contact
- Do not interrupt, except for reassuring phrases like “OK, I understand”
Conduct the interview
- Use the discussion guide, but ask follow-up questions to clarify and elaborate
- Record if you get permission
- Embrace silence
- Take your time
- End: say thanks, but ask if there’s anything to add
Part 3/3: After the interview
Your next steps
- Transcribe (e.g. Otter.ai)
- Structurize the data
- Synthesize the data using methods like affinity mapping
- Triangulate with evidence from other methods
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Arnas Aleksandravičius on LinkedIn