1-minute Free Course: Conducting User Interviews

“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