Welcome to this video, where we will explore the basics of interviews for user research.
Interviews are one of the most straightforward methods of qualitative research we can use to build a better understanding of our service users. They are essentially one-to-one conversations with a user, in which we ask them about their past experiences, current problems and needs, and thoughts on how we can improve our service.
At their heart, interviews are about taking a genuine interest in learning more about a user and their experience and opinions. Simple, right? Well, there are a few more things we should pay attention to when planning an interview.
First, have a clear goal for the interview. What information do you need to progress the project? What decisions are you making that you need more information to help with? Most importantly, what does this user know about that you can’t learn elsewhere?
You should also plan your questions ahead of time. If your user says something interesting that you weren’t expecting, don’t be afraid of going off-script a little to explore this topic more with them. However, you should have a list of questions to keep the interview on track. When writing your questions, keep them open-ended, to give the user space to answer in their own words. Select your questions carefully, to maximise your time with your user. Remember, less questions leaves more room for detailed, thoughtful responses. A good tip is to run a practice interview with a friend or colleague to get a sense of how long it might take and whether your questions are clearly written.
Next, plan the logistics carefully. Ensure you give yourself enough time, so that you are not rushing, but not so long that your participant gets tired or overwhelmed. Usually, we aim for around 30 minutes to an hour. Make sure you have access to a quiet, private space, to put the participant at ease. You should do so whether you are conducting the interview online or in person.
When running the interview, make sure to listen more than you speak. It can be tempting to justify a decision or explain why something happened, especially if speaking to a user who has had a negative experience. Avoid this temptation, and focus on actively listening to and absorbing what the user is saying.
It’s often helpful to record the audio of your interviews. This is useful for several reasons. It allows you to focus completely on the user rather than trying to scribble down notes. It lets you refer back to the audio later, and share it with your team if necessary. It also allows you to produce a transcript of the interview, and extract key quotes when producing reports or other documentation. If you do decide to record the interview, make sure you get the participant’s written permission first. You should also let them know how their interview will be used. For example, who will have access to the recording? Will it be anonymised? Are you planning on publishing it anywhere? Check out our module on “Ethical Research and Design” for more information on this.
Finally, always remember that interviews are essentially just conversations with another human being. Be friendly and kind, and do your best to put your participant at ease. Reassure them that there are no wrong answers, and that they can be completely honest with you without you taking offence. Remember to value their time and input, and let them know how their answers will help you.
In this video, we have discussed some key considerations for organising and running interviews with your service users, including:
Have a goal in mind – what do you need to learn from this user?
Plan your questions ahead of time, and keep them open-ended
Hold the interview in a quiet, private space, and is not too long or short in duration
Listen more than you speak
Record the interview (with permission), to focus on the conversation and for later analysis
Put the participant at ease, and value their input as experts in their own experiences
We hope you have enjoyed this video – check out the rest in this series for more qualitative research methods and tips for Human-Centred Service Design.
About
It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy. Various versions have evolved over the years, sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose (injected humour and the like).
Interviews: The Basics
View Transcript
Welcome to this video, where we will explore the basics of interviews for user research.
Interviews are one of the most straightforward methods of qualitative research we can use to build a better understanding of our service users. They are essentially one-to-one conversations with a user, in which we ask them about their past experiences, current problems and needs, and thoughts on how we can improve our service.
At their heart, interviews are about taking a genuine interest in learning more about a user and their experience and opinions. Simple, right? Well, there are a few more things we should pay attention to when planning an interview.
First, have a clear goal for the interview. What information do you need to progress the project? What decisions are you making that you need more information to help with? Most importantly, what does this user know about that you can’t learn elsewhere?
You should also plan your questions ahead of time. If your user says something interesting that you weren’t expecting, don’t be afraid of going off-script a little to explore this topic more with them. However, you should have a list of questions to keep the interview on track. When writing your questions, keep them open-ended, to give the user space to answer in their own words. Select your questions carefully, to maximise your time with your user. Remember, less questions leaves more room for detailed, thoughtful responses. A good tip is to run a practice interview with a friend or colleague to get a sense of how long it might take and whether your questions are clearly written.
Next, plan the logistics carefully. Ensure you give yourself enough time, so that you are not rushing, but not so long that your participant gets tired or overwhelmed. Usually, we aim for around 30 minutes to an hour. Make sure you have access to a quiet, private space, to put the participant at ease. You should do so whether you are conducting the interview online or in person.
When running the interview, make sure to listen more than you speak. It can be tempting to justify a decision or explain why something happened, especially if speaking to a user who has had a negative experience. Avoid this temptation, and focus on actively listening to and absorbing what the user is saying.
It’s often helpful to record the audio of your interviews. This is useful for several reasons. It allows you to focus completely on the user rather than trying to scribble down notes. It lets you refer back to the audio later, and share it with your team if necessary. It also allows you to produce a transcript of the interview, and extract key quotes when producing reports or other documentation. If you do decide to record the interview, make sure you get the participant’s written permission first. You should also let them know how their interview will be used. For example, who will have access to the recording? Will it be anonymised? Are you planning on publishing it anywhere? Check out our module on “Ethical Research and Design” for more information on this.
Finally, always remember that interviews are essentially just conversations with another human being. Be friendly and kind, and do your best to put your participant at ease. Reassure them that there are no wrong answers, and that they can be completely honest with you without you taking offence. Remember to value their time and input, and let them know how their answers will help you.
In this video, we have discussed some key considerations for organising and running interviews with your service users, including:
We hope you have enjoyed this video – check out the rest in this series for more qualitative research methods and tips for Human-Centred Service Design.
About
It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy. Various versions have evolved over the years, sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose (injected humour and the like).
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