Are you interviewing users? Remember these 8 rules!
When I started interviewing users, I ran straight into the conversation and asked questions—a lot of them. A lot of questions don’t necessarily correlate with better interviews.
What does correlate with good interviews is, however, how well you prepare for them! I’ve found at least 8 things that help me make the interviews so much better and easier for both myself and the interviewee.
1. Treat them like an expert!
This one was an eye-opener for me. By treating the interviewee like the expert, (which they are…) they tend to relax and talk a lot more. I usually start the conversation with a ridiculously simple question, which makes me look somewhat like a person who doesn’t know ANYTHING, putting them in the superior position.
For example, if you are interviewing Uber Drivers, you may start with the question, “How many rides have you completed?”. They will probably answer with a pretty high number. This is a golden opportunity to put the person you are talking to in a superior position. “Wow, have you completed so many rides?! I’ve only completed x (lower number) rides…”
2. Listen to the Story
Every person has a different view of the world. You must try to understand their viewpoint. They are telling you the story, but unfortunately, it’s up to you to piece it together.
These stories can come from different perspectives. But the one I have noticed the most is when users explain their processes. For example, in which situations they use your product, or during what circumstances they are reminded of it.
When you want to piece together their story, you always need to start with how they ended up there in the first place. Try to ask for the process and listen to what they’re trying to tell you.
3. Recruit carefully
Don’t just randomly interview people who agree to get interviewed because they receive a gift card in the end. This will skew your results.
Always make sure that you recruit carefully.
By that I mean, understanding why you are conducting these interviews and what for. Are you doing it to understand what motivates your power users? Or why a specific cohort of people are churning at a higher rate than others?
When you know this, make sure that you recruit people based on those segments and not just by random.
4. Don’t answer product questions(!)
A big exclamation point on this one. When someone asks you “How much will this cost?”, DON’T ANSWER. If you hear the words “How do I do X?”, DON’T ANSWER. You will then put yourself in a leading expert role again.
Remember that you are trying to understand their story and motivation. If they ask, answer with another question, such as “How important is that to you?” or “What do you expect to happen?”.
5. Watch them
If you don’t understand something and it’s related to the product, ask to watch them in action. Asking politely if they could share their screen when they are performing an action and they will usually accept.
6. Use their language
Speak with the same vocabulary your users have. There is nothing more frustrating when there is miscommunication and the flow of the conversation is prohibited by not knowing the terminology of your audience.
Take time before interviewing your users to write down the most common “buzzwords”.
7. Fix it afterward
It’s related to number 4 on this list. Questions like “Will you add X to feature Y?” or “Why can’t I do X here?” are things you want to answer after your interview.
Why? As before, you don’t want to be perceived as the expert.
Good answers to these questions are “Would that be important to you?” or “What do you believe that would solve for you in that situation?”.
8. Keep quiet. (Shh….)
This is impactful, but it also touches a bit too close to manipulation.
In western culture, we have a specific cue time for when we start feeling awkward after a pause of silence.
You can utilize this to make your interviewee open up more and give you insights.
So next time you have asked a question and they have answered, wait for a second or two longer than the norm allows. It will definitely work its magic…
Ludwig Lidell
Growth Product Manager & Analyst at scilla.studio
Would you like to know more about how to kick-start experimentation and data-driven processes in your team or organization? Send me a message!
