User Interviewing Basic Essentials

Conduct user interviews at every stage of product development to validate problems, refine ideas, test prototypes with potential customers, and iterate toward a more concrete product-market fit.

Prioritize user interviews to put people first, then design your product around user needs to drive sustainable profit.

Set specific research objectives for user interviews, focusing on one concept such as the heart rate monitor, and collaborate with product owners to prioritize goals.

Identify and recruit participants by engaging in social networks and building genuine presence, then use targeted surveys to ensure the sample matches your user persona for a fitness application.

Choose a quiet, comfortable but not too comfortable, office space for the interview, avoid glass walls behind the user, and set up equipment in advance while informing participants about recording.

Choose semi-structured interviews to balance conversation and exploration. Prepare a bullet-point spreadsheet and map the journey from point a to point z, allowing tangents before guiding back.

Ask open questions to uncover how users think and act, encourage show-me demonstrations, and focus on personal, real examples; listen more, take notes, stay on time, and end with thanks.

Identify what to avoid in user interviews: don't pitch or bias with improved versions, avoid intimidation and leading questions, and don't point to where to click.

Apply mirroring by repeating crucial phrases to keep the speaker heard and guide the conversation. Ask open questions, seek clarification, and circle back to gather tailored data from personal experiences.

Explore user interviewing essentials with Yale University–inspired question templates that help you know users, assess behavior, gather opinions, awareness, goals, and feedback.

Engage in a practical class project by examining an essential feature in popular apps, crafting questions, and recording brief 5-10 minute interviews with friends or online communities for feedback.

Recommend three books for user interviewing: The User Research by Stephanie Marsh; Interviews in Qualitative Research by Nigel King, Christian Horrocks, and Joanna Brooks; and Interviewing Users by Steve Portugal.