User Interviews guide from IDEO expert.

Learn how to take user interviews because no one wakes up in the morning thinking they are a user. They are people, friends, family and playing many more roles.

This is what I learned under guidance from Dario Buzzini and Fahmida Azad at Copenhagen, Denmark while researching for the Foodsharing Copenhagen organisation to increase their volunteer engagement.

Start by listening

1. Keep it comfortable, It’s a conversation, not a job interview.
2. Be an active listener, let the other person’s voice resonate and block out your inner voice.
3. Train to control your natural tendency to formulate opinions and voice them before the other person has finished talking.
4. Pick-up on whether it’s a relevant moment and choose when to encourage more expression, or when to move on.
5. Listen to their whole body. What are the emotional drivers behind what they are saying?
6. The Power of Silence — Create a comfortable, short silence that invites the participant to speak first.
7. Don’t interrupt a respondent — let them finish their sentences and give them time to think of additional information.

Never lead the conversation

1. Don’t ask a question that can be answered by Yes / No
2. Don’t ask leading questions. Ask open-ended questions like: “What do you think of..” instead of “Do you like..”
3. Make them tell a story about “the last time they…“
4. Ask naive questions and those you might already know the answer to.

Use additional phrases

1. You said ___, can you tell me more about that?
2. What did you mean…?
3. Can you paint me a picture, describe what you think would be…?
4. Why don’t you…?
5. Tell me about the last time that…
6. Can you give me an example…?

Create a trusted Space

1. Put your phone on silent and wear a watch (so that you are not looking at your phone to check the time)
2. Ask for privacy from neighbours, family members and other onlookers. Politely ask them to wait outside.
3. Have everyone seated at the same level (i.e. if the participant is seated on the floor, the research team should also be seated on the floor)

Look for evidence

1. Have participants show you how they do things on their phone.
2. Ask to see the evidence.
3. Find examples of how people overcome challenges in unexpected ways.

Share comfort

1. Start by setting the right, relaxed tone. Say “there are no right or wrong answers” …. “we’re interested in hearing about your experiences and opinions”
2. Think out loud — If the respondent is silently thinking for a long duration, ask them to tell you what they are thinking about.
3. More show than tell — try to see if you can get the respondent to show you how to do something instead of talking about it.
4. Maintain a neutral, but interested tone.
5. Be comfortable in the space yourself! Fidgeting, nervous glances around, constantly checking your watch erode comfort for the respondent.

Read 10 Mindsets to keep when doing user research also when researching.

Recruit right candidates, have backup participants, conduct practice session, create a schedule of interviews, getting consent from every participant and decide payment to participants for their time are some of the most important parts before start taking interviews. Process in nutshell is -

With many participatory exercises, sharing case studies, fieldwork and solving problem statement you can learn how to define user better, how to take better interviews and how to cluster insights into opportunities to solve real problems.

Sample interview questions when researching users on their experience about Copenhagen metro travel.

Learn complete research principles here.

Thanks, Hope I was able to bring some good learning about how to take user interviews.