How do you elicit meaningful insights from user interviews?

In my experience, one of the most challenging aspects of real-life user research is aligning business objectives with interview goals. Often, there are information silos within an organization that hinder this alignment. Creating a streamlined research roadmap involving all stakeholders can be a great start to bridging the communication gaps and aligning research goals with business objectives. Additionally, adopting a continuous discovery approach can be a game-changer when it comes to shaping better interview questions. This usually leads to more insightful interviews that resonate with various aspects of the user journey, uncovering valuable insights hidden within organizational silos.

In my experience, I often hold a 1-hour workshop with the stakeholders to get their vision on the problem, business goals, expectations, etc. The insights from the stakeholders helps a lot to define the research goals and map out the interviews goals and questions

From the perspective of performing UX research for digital product design, some broad areas of questioning that would help inform design decisions include: 1. WHY is the user using or intending to use the product? 2. WHAT is the user trying to achieve by using the product? 3. HOW does the user envision the ideal process / solution? It’s also helpful to follow-up with many whys to go beyond the obvious, discover the innate motivation, and challenge status quo.

To elicit meaningful insights from user interviews, it's crucial to ask open-ended questions, actively listen, and probe for details. For instance, when researching a fitness app, ask users about their workout routines, challenges, and preferences. Follow up with "Can you tell me more about why you prefer that workout routine?" to uncover deeper insights into their motivations and needs.

Here are 5 areas that I would focus on: 1 - Understand User Needs: Goal: Learn user needs and challenges. Question: Can you describe your typical use of our product? 2- Gather Feedback on Features: G: Assess feature perceptions. Q: What's your opinion on [specific feature]? 3 - Test Usability: G: Evaluate product usability. Q: Can you show me how you perform [specific task] in our product? 4- Explore User Behavior: G: Understand user interactions. Q: Tell me about your recent experience using our product. 5 - Validate Assumptions: G: Confirm or challenge assumptions. Q: Our assumption was [specific assumption]. How does it match your experience? And lastly, discover opportunities from the feedback collected.

Recruiting and scheduling interviewees is crucial, but it's not just about targeting the obvious personas. In my experience, the direct competition or segmentation can be limiting. I've found that exploring adjacent markets can yield unexpected insights and opportunities for innovation. These groups serve as a valuable secondary sampling pool, offering a broader perspective during user interviews. By considering this approach, you can gain a more comprehensive understanding of user needs and preferences, ultimately enriching your research outcomes. So, when recruiting users, don't hesitate to cast a wider net and embrace the potential for fresh insights beyond your primary target audience.

Sometimes it's about a balance and the decision on whether you need to recruit strictly from your target audience or a fresh eye from a "corridor interview" to see what people who have no context think about the product of the task you are aiming to learn about. Online platforms are good for moderated user tests where you can combine the interview with observation of how users interact with your product.

If time and budget allows, and you aren’t discussing anything proprietary or confidential, I’ve found value in including some interviews with people entirely unfamiliar with the issue/product/industry. They can provide fresh perspective against the interviews with people who are deeply entrenched in the issue and may have existing bias or tunnel vision around the problems.

This is not the time to show empathy, as this could skew your views, and proceed with assumptions (because you might feel you understand your interviewee’s perspective). Instead, stay neutral, as a researcher should be. Focus on what the person in front of you is saying, and ask till you’re sure you understand them!

It helps me to imagine I'm also unrelated to the project in any way; I'm just coming in as another 3rd party and my task is to understand what the interviewee is experiencing as they use it.

Conducting interviews requires creating a comfortable space for users, but it's equally essential to maintain impartiality and minimize bias. While empathy is valuable, it's crucial to avoid inadvertently guiding respondents. Staying unbiased ensures that their responses remain genuine and unaltered by external influence. Instead of leading them, focus on active listening and asking probing questions to delve deeper into their perspectives. This approach maintains the integrity of your research, providing valuable insights free from unintended bias or influence.

Empathy and curiosity is always going to be part of the whole design process but make sure you do not make an understanding in a hurry about your user especially around the problem you are designing for. For this, try to cover as many scenario based questions, while you are preparing for the interview. This help you to ask follow up questions to your users based on their response.

???It is better to use ice breaker sentences at first. ???In the interview session, it is better to "listen actively", that is, to ask her/his the following questions according to the interviewee's words. ???Sometimes the order of our questions may change according to the interviewee's words, and this happens, so it is better to let the interviewee tell his/her answers in a story-like manner.

When analyzing interview data, consider these enhancements: Strategic Surveys: Include questions for preliminary validation to detect contradictions and mechanical responses. Data-Ready Reports: Prepare a framework with placeholders during data collection to streamline the reporting process, saving time and allowing a focus on creative analysis. These steps optimize your research process and ensure efficient, insightful outcomes.

To check the interviewee's answers more carefully and analyze them, it is better to : ??? Record the interview session. ??? Write it down after the meeting. ??? Read the articles one or more times and write down the points and ideas we get from them. With this method, more points will be obtained because the interviewee's speech will be analyzed more precisely.

Consider your audience's non-research background when communicating and acting on interview findings. It's vital to present the insights in a logically comprehensive and visually engaging manner. Emphasize visual elements over excessive text to ensure understanding among stakeholders who may not be well-versed in research design. A well-structured report or presentation should highlight key insights, recommendations, and implications. Use these findings to guide design decisions, validating assumptions. Additionally, plan for further research or testing, if necessary, to refine your product or solution. This approach enhances the accessibility and impact of your research for a broader audience.

Summarize interview results without bias. Resist the urge to re-write statements to soften criticism or elevate praise. Use as much of the interview commentary as possible, clarity should be established during the interview, not at the summary phase.

An insight is a precious data artifact. Treat it as such but don't put a face or avatar behind it it could bias all the responses from your audience. I usually frame insights as header of a well designed chart or table. This way you're giving personality to the data and summarizing it's most valuable highlights.

When interviewing people, make sure you give them enough time to think, recollect, and answer. This means that there will be pauses, periods of silence. Prepare yourself for these times, as most people feel Uncomfortable when this happens. You could count to 7-8 silently, and then choose your next move. This provides ample time to interviewee to think and answer your questions. Many times, you will hear something that will lead to a golden nugget. Don’t miss this because you’re uncomfortable with silence.

Organize questions in such a way as to help respondents to recall their experiences. Be chronological to the experience, perhaps including questions to recall an emotional response to a positive outcome as well as frustration to a negative one while using the product. Be intentional when wording questions to avoid ambiguity and misunderstanding.