How To Structure a User Interview

Design a 45-to-60-minute semi-structured interview protocol that isolates past user experiences from speculative behavior. Apply neutral, open-ended questioning techniques to capture rich qualitative data suitable for persona development without leading participants toward predetermined answers. Learning Objective: By the end of this lesson, learners will be able to construct a semi-structured user interview guide that uses neutral, open-ended questions focused on past experiences to gather qualitative data. Transcript Interview Scope and Environment Selection You start by locking in a forty-five to sixty-minute window. That duration balances building rapport with avoiding participant fatigue, so the conversation stays productive without dragging. You then choose a semi-structured format, which means you begin with a list of questions but allow the conversation to follow a natural path. This flexibility lets you probe interesting comments without forcing a rigid script. Next, you select the environment from four options: over the phone, via video webconferencing tools like GoToMeeting or Skype, in a neutral in-person location, or ideally in the user's actual usage environment. Prioritizing that last option enables contextual inquiry alongside the interview. It grounds the discussion in the real settings where the user interacts with the site. This setup frames the session for rich qualitative data. With the scope and location defined, you can move to designing the questions that will drive the conversation. Key Points: Set the interview duration to 45 to 60 minutes to balance rapport building with participant fatigue. Choose a semi-structured format that starts with a question list but allows the conversation to follow a natural path. Select the interview environment from phone, video webconferencing, neutral in-person location, or ideally the user's actual usage environment. Prioritize the user's actual usage environment to enable contextual inquiry alongside the interview. Neutral Question Design Principles When you draft your question list, ground every item in the participant's personal past experiences. You want them to recall what actually happened, not predict what might happen. Speculation about future actions or other people’s behavior rarely predicts actual behavior, so you strip that out entirely. This means eliminating leading questions that push the participant toward a positive or negative answer. For example, asking "What do you like about pseudoCorporation.com?" implies there is something to like, which biases the data. Instead, keep your tone simple, neutral, and open-ended. This approach ensures you gather unbiased qualitative data without steering the conversation. By focusing strictly on past behavior and removing directional cues, you maintain the integrity of the insights you collect. Key Points: Focus questions strictly on participants’ personal past experiences rather than future intentions. Avoid asking participants to speculate on what they may do in the future or what others may do, as this rarely predicts actual behavior. Eliminate leading questions that imply a specific answer or direct the participant positively or negatively, such as 'What do you like about [Site]?' Maintain a simple, neutral, and open-ended tone in all questions to ensure unbiased data collection. Core Content Areas for Inquiry The content of your interview rests on four distinct areas of inquiry. First, you need to uncover the participant's relevant experience with the site or the subject matter itself. You are looking for concrete history, not hypotheticals. Second, you assess the company’s brand exactly as the participan