General Guide to Conduct User Interview
Conducting a user interview is a critical step in user-centred design and product development. To ensure a successful interview, you need a structured approach. Here’s an in-depth guide for a user interview, broken down into phases, steps and techniques:
Phase 1: Preparation
Step 1: Define Objectives and Goals
Determine the purpose of the user interview. Clarify what specific information or insights you seek. For example, Are you trying to understand user pain points, test a new feature, or gather feedback on an existing product? Understanding your goals will guide the entire interview process.
Step 2: Identify Your Target Audience
Define the characteristics of the users you want to interview. Create user profiles to identify the ideal participants for your interviews. Consider factors like age, location, job role, and familiarity with your product or service. Request the Product Owner / Business Owner for the list of potential users. Shortlist the participants based on their diverse backgrounds.
Step 3: Recruitment
Decide how you’ll recruit participants. Choose your recruitment method based on your target audience. You don’t need to go overboard when it comes to the number of people you recruit. There are no rules set in stone, but it’s recommended that you start off with 5–7 participants. Ensure you have a clear and enticing recruitment message to encourage participation.
Step 4: Define Team Roles and Responsibility
Specify who will be responsible for each phase or task in the interview process. For example, who will be the interviewer, notetaker, and observer during the interview? Who will be responsible for transcription and analysis afterwards?
Step 5: Create Interview Materials
Create a structured interview guide that includes open-ended questions and prompts. Ensure the questions align with your objectives and user personas. Include sections for introductions, key questions, and follow-up probes. This ensures that all team members ask consistent questions. Additionally, prepare any consent forms required for the interview.
Phase 2: Pre-Interview Setup
Step 6: Schedule Interview
Ensure a smooth interview experience. Send meeting invitations to participants with clear instructions on how to join the interview. Attach any consent forms required for the interview. Ensure that your meeting setup is functional and that you have a stable internet connection.
Step 7: Training and Practice
Conduct training sessions or workshops to help team members practice their interviewing skills. This can involve role-playing, mock interviews, or peer feedback.
Phase 3: Conducting the Interview
Step 8: Welcome and Icebreaker
Start with a warm welcome and brief introduction. Explain the purpose of the interview and obtain consent from the participant. Use a simple icebreaker question to make participants feel comfortable.
Step 9: Interview Questions
Follow the interview guide but remain flexible. Use open-ended questions to encourage detailed responses. Probe for deeper insights with follow-up questions. Pay close attention to what the participant is saying. Take notes for later analysis. Observe body language and expressions for additional insights.
Step 10: Product Interaction (if applicable)
Have the participant use the product. Ask them to share their thoughts and experiences during the interaction. Probe for deeper insights with follow-up questions. Specifically, ask them to think out loud while interacting with the application. This will provide insights into their emotions, cognitive load, etc. Observe body language and expressions for additional insights. Pay close attention to what the participant is saying. Take notes for later analysis.
Step 11: Scenario-Based Tasks (if applicable)
Present specific scenarios and observe how the participant navigates them. Probe for deeper insights with follow-up questions. Specifically, ask them to think out loud while performing the tasks. This will provide insights into their emotions, cognitive load, etc. Observe body language and expressions for additional insights. Pay close attention to what the participant is saying. Take notes for later analysis.
Step 12: Interview Wrap-up
Provide a recap of the interview’s purpose and explain the usage of the insights. Thank the participants for their time and valuable input. Give them an opportunity to ask questions or share additional thoughts. Ask for any feature requests or feedback they might have. Seek feedback on the overall interview experience and look for their interest in future interview sessions. Ensure that you’ve captured all the necessary insights for analysis.
Phase 4: Post-Interview
Step 13: Transcription
Transcribing the interview is the process of converting spoken words from the interview into written text. Take help from the notes that you might have taken during the interview. This step is particularly important because this will guide us in analysis and documentation. Review the transcripts for accuracy, correct any errors, and format them consistently.
Step 14: Analysis
Analyse the data for patterns, insights, pain points and user feedback. Start by creating a digital document (e.g., in Microsoft Word) to store all interview data in one place.
Identify recurring themes, concepts, or issues that emerge from the user responses. Pay attention to phrases, statements, or keywords that stand out. Create a coding system to label and categorize different parts of the data. This involves assigning codes or labels to specific quotes or segments that relate to the identified themes or concepts.
Example: If you’re conducting interviews about a travel booking app, you might code responses related to “payment issues,” “booking process,” “user interface,” etc.
Depending on your research goals, perform both quantitative and qualitative analyses. Quantitative analysis involves counting and quantifying the occurrence of specific codes or themes, while qualitative analysis delves into the context and nuances of user responses.
Phase 5: Reporting and Action
Step 15: Documentation
Document your analysis, findings, and recommendations in a clear and organized manner to communicate the insights effectively to stakeholders and team members. Start by creating a structured report or presentation document. Common tools for this include Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. You can add the following sections to your report –
1. Executive Summary (Optional): For stakeholders or busy team members, consider including an executive summary at the beginning of the document. This should provide a concise overview of the most critical findings and recommendations.
2. Introduction: Begin with an introduction that briefly explains the purpose of the user interviews, the methodology used, and any relevant background information about the project.
3. Participant Demographics: Include a section that provides information about the participants, such as their demographics and any relevant characteristics. This helps to contextualize the findings.
4. Key Insights and Themes: Present the key insights and themes that emerged from the interviews. Use clear headings and subheadings to organize this section. Include quotes or excerpts from the interviews to illustrate each point.
5. Pain Points and User Feedback: Highlight specific pain points and user feedback that were identified during the interviews. Provide details about the issues users encountered and how these issues impact their experience.
6. Opportunities for Improvement: Discuss opportunities for improvement based on the insights gathered. What changes or enhancements could address the pain points and make the user experience better?
7. Data Visualization: Use visual aids like charts, graphs, or tables to illustrate data and patterns, especially for quantitative data. Visualizations can make complex information more accessible.
8. Recommendations: Provide actionable recommendations based on the analysis of user interviews. These recommendations should be specific, measurable, and tied directly to the identified issues and opportunities.
9. Next Steps: Outline the next steps or actions that should be taken based on the findings and recommendations. Include a timeline for implementing changes if applicable.
10. Appendices: Include any additional materials in appendices, such as the full interview transcripts, participant consent forms, or any supplementary data that supports your findings.
11. Visuals and Examples: Use visuals and examples throughout the document to make the insights more tangible. Include screenshots, images, or user journey maps if they help convey the information.
Before finalizing the document, ensure it undergoes review and proofreading for clarity, accuracy, and coherence.
The documentation step is crucial because it’s where you refine the valuable insights from the user interviews into a format that can inform decision-making and drive improvements in your product or service. A well-structured and comprehensive document ensures that the insights gained from the interviews are effectively communicated and acted upon by the team.
Step 16: Sharing Insights
Share the document or presentation with relevant team members, stakeholders, and anyone else involved in the project. Ensure that everyone who needs access to the findings has it. It’s recommended to publish the insights on Confluence.
Step 17: Actionable Steps
Identify actionable steps and recommendations based on the interview data. Prioritize these according to importance and feasibility.
Please Note:
Continuously refine your interview process based on lessons learned. Remember that user interviews are iterative. You may need to conduct multiple rounds of interviews to refine your product or design effectively. Flexibility and empathy are key; be ready to adapt your approach based on participant responses and needs.
By following this step-by-step guide, a team can conduct user interviews systematically and effectively. Ensure that team members are trained on each step and that they understand the importance of adhering to the process for consistent and reliable results. Adapt the guide as needed to fit the specific needs and goals of your projects, and encourage a culture of continuous improvement within the team.
