Best Practices for User Interviews
Master the art of conducting effective user interviews with these proven techniques and best practices.
The Foundation of Great Interviews
User interviews are one of the most powerful tools in a researcher's toolkit. When done well, they reveal insights you'd never discover through analytics or surveys alone. But conducting effective interviews is both an art and a science.
The key difference between a mediocre interview and a great one often comes down to preparation and technique. Let's explore the best practices that will help you conduct interviews that yield actionable insights.
Before the Interview: Preparation
Define Clear Objectives
Start with specific research questions. What do you want to learn? Avoid vague goals like "understand our users better." Instead, aim for specific questions like:
- What motivates users to choose our product over competitors?
- What friction points exist in the onboarding process?
- How do users currently solve the problem we're trying to address?
Create an Interview Guide
Prepare a flexible guide with open-ended questions. This isn't a rigid script—it's a safety net that ensures you cover key topics while allowing natural conversation to flow.
Structure your guide in three parts: opening questions to build rapport, core questions addressing your research objectives, and closing questions that invite additional insights.
Choose the Right Participants
Quality over quantity. Five interviews with the right people will yield better insights than twenty with the wrong ones. Look for participants who:
- Match your target user profile
- Have relevant experience with the problem space
- Can articulate their thoughts clearly
- Are willing to be honest and critical
During the Interview: Technique
Build Rapport First
Start with easy, non-threatening questions. Small talk about their day or how they found your product helps participants relax. A comfortable participant provides richer, more honest insights.
Ask Open-Ended Questions
Replace "Do you like this feature?" with "Tell me about your experience with this feature." Open-ended questions encourage storytelling and reveal context you wouldn't get from yes/no answers.
The best questions start with "how," "why," or "tell me about." They invite participants to share their experiences, motivations, and thought processes.
Master the Follow-Up
The magic happens in follow-up questions. When a participant mentions something interesting, dig deeper:
- "Can you tell me more about that?"
- "What did you do next?"
- "Why was that important to you?"
- "How did that make you feel?"
Embrace Silence
After asking a question, resist the urge to fill silence. Pause for 3-5 seconds. Participants often share their most valuable insights after a moment of reflection. Silence also signals that you're genuinely interested in their thoughtful response.
Stay Neutral
Your job is to understand, not to sell or defend. Avoid leading questions and don't show disappointment at negative feedback. Maintain a curious, non-judgmental stance throughout.
If a participant criticizes something you built, respond with genuine curiosity: "That's interesting. Can you help me understand what led to that experience?"
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Leading Questions
Bad: "Don't you think this feature is useful?"
Good: "How do you currently solve this problem?"
Leading questions bias responses. Frame questions neutrally to get honest feedback.
Talking Too Much
You should be talking 20% of the time, listening 80%. If you find yourself explaining features or defending design decisions, redirect the conversation back to the participant's experience.
Taking Requests as Truth
When participants say "I need feature X," dig deeper into the underlying need. Often, the solution they propose isn't the best answer to their actual problem. Ask about the context and what they're trying to accomplish.
Ignoring Non-Verbal Cues
Pay attention to body language, tone changes, and hesitations. These often signal something important that the participant might not explicitly state.
After the Interview: Analysis
Review Notes Immediately
Within a few hours, review and expand your notes. Fresh memories help you capture nuances that raw notes might miss. Add context, impressions, and connections to other interviews.
Look for Patterns
After 3-5 interviews, start looking for recurring themes. What problems do multiple participants mention? Where do their experiences align or diverge? Patterns reveal insights; outliers reveal edge cases.
Document with Quotes
Capture verbatim quotes that illustrate key findings. Real user language is powerful in presentations and helps stakeholders connect with user needs.
Making It Better Every Time
Each interview is a chance to improve your technique. After every session, reflect on what worked well and what didn't. Did certain questions yield particularly rich responses? Did you talk too much? Were there moments of awkward silence you filled too quickly?
Great interviewers are made through practice and reflection. Start with these best practices, but develop your own style over time. The goal isn't perfection—it's continuous improvement in service of understanding your users deeply.