How to conduct a user interview?

Interviewing is an essential generative technique in UX research. Productive methods (interviews or focus groups) create knowledge, and evaluative (usability testing) tests hypotheses. When the interview conducted well, we can find out:

• what the user thinks about;
• about his views;
• his model of thinking;
• his experience.

This knowledge helps us at Sannacode create products and services that will solve real user problems, not imagined ones. After spending a lot of time talking with users, we learned something that we would never have guessed, even with constant usability testing.

At the same time, bad interviews lead to bad decisions. A great UI won’t help if you’re developing features that no one needs.

In this article, we’ll show you how to conduct user interviews.

Step 1. Prepare a list of questions

An interview requires a lot of planning and preparation. Depending on the size of your research, it can take about seven weeks to prepare for an interview. Plus, you will need a few days for the interviews and a few more hours to collect and organize all the notes made in the process.

First, define the purpose of the interview, the method, and the scope of its conduct. At this stage, you should make a list of topics to cover during the user interview.

Then put together a team to help you evaluate the topics and prepare questions about them.

Follow a logical sequence when composing your list of questions. Do not use language that might influence your answer.

Wrong question:

“Does it annoy you when something doesn’t work when ordering an item online?”

Correct question:

“Try to remember the last time you wanted to buy an item online, and something didn’t work. How did you feel? “

If you ask the user about a specific situation, his answers become more accurate. Respondents are more honest and more detailed about real experiences.

To keep all of your interviews productive and not ending early, ask as many open-ended questions as possible. We usually answer closed questions quickly, but open questions require reflection.

Do not ask tough questions about income, religion, politics. This can negatively attune the respondent.

Please note that respondents always exaggerate their level of participation, income, importance.

Step 2. Build a pool of respondents

For an existing business or product, we usually recruit respondents from our current user base.

The easiest way is to write to your email list asking for an interview.

You can also send a small survey by email (TypeForm, Google forms are great for this) if you need more specific types of users. In an email, you ask people if they are ready for a 30–45 minute conversation to improve their experience. It’s always good to use language that makes them feel important and can change them.

Another option is to reach out to loyal users through social media. For several products that the Sannacode team has worked on, we have created testing groups on Facebook. However, one of the downsides to creating a Facebook group is that it skews the results a little.

If you’re doing a user interview for a startup or validating an idea, we can recommend Pat Flynn’s book “Will It Fly?”. It describes how to test your product/idea and conduct research before launch. You need to understand who your users are to find them. Once you paint a portrait of your ideal user, you can see the Facebook or Reddit groups that they might be a member of or the websites you might advertise on. Then you post a message asking for participation, which usually will need an incentive for this approach.

Step 3. Begin the interview

You should prepare a separate interview room where there are no strangers.

The interviewer should be neat, cleanly dressed, smell good, look well-groomed and friendly.

Set up a camera and record the conversation, so it will be easier to analyze the results and user reactions. But first, ask the respondent’s consent to video filming.

Get to know the respondent and make sure they feel comfortable. Ask a few off-topic questions:

“How did you get there?”

“Would you like some water or coffee?”

“How are you in the mood?”

Your body language should convey your affection for the respondent. It will help get as much information as possible from the user. Maintain eye contact, lean forward, don’t cross your arms, and respond positively — no matter what the respondents say.

The most important thing is to smile. A smile will even make your voice sound friendlier.

Explain that there are no right or wrong answers. They need to understand that you are not testing their ability to do something, but on the contrary, you are trying how clear, valuable and easy-to-use your product is.

It is best to start an interview with simple questions. Try to learn more about your users. In the future, this will help in drawing up a portrait of the target audience. For example:

“Where do you work?”

“What is your hobby?”

“How often do you buy products online?”

Step 4. Move on to the main body of the interview

After your respondent relaxes and you have an honest conversation, you can move on to your script.

You need to get an honest opinion about your product. There is no goal of convincing people that your product is the best. Therefore, keep yourself in control, even if you hear unpleasant things about your product, which you are proud of.

Ask a question and allow the respondent to answer honestly and in detail. Let the users speak, don’t interrupt or try to fill in the gaps.

At Sannacode, we always briefly repeat the respondent’s response in our own words when conducting user interviews. It allows you to correctly interpret users’ thoughts and not build a conversation on false guesses.

Pay attention to users’ non-verbal gestures. If the respondent frowns slightly while looking at your product, something is not clear to him, but he is embarrassed to ask. Ask yourself what the matter is.

Step 5. Analyze the results

After the user interview, all the data obtained needs to be analyzed. It became difficult to work when you had many respondents.

It leads to the fact that:

Unique insights documented and analyzed. Many important things are left out.

The written conclusions take on a vibrant flavor. It is effortless to agree with the findings that have already been assumed.

That’s why we at Sannaсode always record interviews on video. Be sure to warn the interviewee about the recording. You can also use a voice recorder or take notes as you answer.

Connect the team to data analysis. It will help build empathy for your users.

Document frequently repeated messages. The final paper should include technical and business information, information about the desired time frame, etc.

Send the interviewee for approval if needed (be sure to get a formal answer that you understood everything correctly!). Include the approximate date of the following interview in the letter, if necessary, and thank him for the time and information provided.

Step 6. Implement improvements

Next, create a backlog of tasks and prioritize them.

First, you should fix frequency problems. Next, rank the tasks depending on your vision. Always remember that the product must be user-friendly and intuitive.

You can turn to Sannacode for help. We provide full-cycle development services, including marketing, design, testing, and support. Write to us by mail to get a free consultation on your project.