<aside> ⭐ Interviews give insights into what users think about a site, an application, a product, or a process. They can point out what site content is memorable, what people feel is important on the site, and what ideas for improvement they may have.

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https://youtu.be/5tVbFfGDQCk

A user interview is a UX research method during which a researcher asks one user questions about a topic of interest (e.g., use of a system, behaviors and habits) with the goal of learning about that topic.

User interviews are typically performed with the potential users of a design, as part of an ideation phase or during early concept development. User interviews follow a structured methodology whereby the interviewer prepares a number of topics to cover, makes a record of what is said in the interview, and systematically analyzes the conversation after the interview.

Unlike Focus Group which involve multiple users at the same time, user interviews are one-on-one sessions (although occasionally several facilitators may take turns asking questions).

UX Interviews tend to be a quick and easy way to collect user data, so they are often used, especially in Lean and Agile environments. They are closely related to journalistic interviews and to the somewhat narrower and more formal HCI method called the critical incident technique, which was introduced in 1954 by John Flanagan.

Although you may feel that doing a UX user interview is simple and straightforward, there is more to a good interview than many people realize.

User interviews can be done in a variety of situations:

• before you have a design, to inform Personas , Customer Journey Mapping, feature ideas, workflow ideas
• to enrich a contextual inquiry study by supplementing observation with descriptions of tools, processes, bottlenecks, and how users perceive them
• at the end of a usability test, to collect verbal responses related to observed behaviors
  • (Do defer the interview until after the behavioral observation segment of the usability study: if you ask questions before the participant tries to perform tasks with your design, you will have primed the user to pay special attention to whatever features or issues you asked about.)

How to do a user interview

First and foremost, think of an interview as a type of research study, not a sales session or an informal conversation. Then, use the following tips to make your interviews most effective.

Set a goal for the interview.

Ask product stakeholders what they want to learn. From their desires, determine the main goal, ensuring that it’s realistic. Too broad of a goal, like learn about users, is a likely to make interviews fail, because it will not focus your questions in a direction relevant to your design needs. A concise, concrete goal related to a specific aspect of the users’ behavior or attitudes can bring the team to consensus, and direct how you’ll construct the interview.

Examples of good interview goals:

<aside> ✨ How do nurses feel about logging medical data, and what are the processes they believe they use?

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<aside> ✨ Learn how architects share CAD drawings with engineers, and where they feel there are challenges and opportunities.

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