Interviewing

Interviewing is asking people a series of questions and asking for their response.

Steve Portigal offers the following palette of useful questions:

Ask about sequence “Describe a typical workday. What do you do when you first sit down at your station?-Then what do you do next?”
Ask about quantity “How many files would you delete when that happens?”
Ask for specific examples “What is the last movie that you streamed?” – Compare this to “What movies do you stream?” The specific is easier to answer than the general and becomes a platform for follow up questions.
Ask for the complete list “What are all the different apps you have installed on your smartphone?” – This requires a series of follow up questions, e.g., “What else?” because few people will be able to generate an entire list of something with some prompting.
Ask about relationships “How do you work with new vendors?” – This general question is especially appropriate when you don’t even know enough to ask a specific question (e.g. in comparison to the earlier example about streaming movies). Better to start general than to be presumptive with a too-specific question.
Ask about organizational structure “Who does that department report to?”

Ask for clarification “When you refer to “that” you are talking about the newest server, right?”
Ask about code words/native language “Why do you call it the ‘Batcave?’”
Ask about emotional cues “Why do you laugh when you mention ‘Best Buy?’”
Ask why “I’ve tried to get my boss to adopt this format, but she just won’t do it-” “Why do you think she hasn’t?”
Probe delicately “You mentioned a difficult situation that changed your usage. Can you tell us what that situation was?”
Probe without presuming “Some people have very negative feelings about Twitter, while others don’t. What is your take?” – Rather than the direct “What do you think about Twitter?” or “Do you like Twitter?” this question introduces options that aren’t tied to the interviewer or the interviewee.
Explain to an outsider “Let’s say that I’ve just arrived here from another decade, how would you explain to me the difference between smartphones and tablets?”
Teach another “If you had to ask your son to operate your system, how would you explain it to him?”

Ask your question and then stop.
Maintain eye contact and open body language.
Show you are listening.
Ask follow-up questions.
Reference earlier statements. “Earlier you said that…”
Circle back when necessary. “I want to go back to what you said earlier.”
Be careful about your body language (like nodding) and sounds (like “mmm-hmm”). You want to balance encouraging participants with seeming like you’re judging their statements.
Be selective about when you talk about yourself or your opinions. Remember, this interview is about them, not you.
Avoiding interrupting. Let there be a little bit of silence.

Progress between phases:
Warming up
Establishing the basics
Diving deeper
Key questions
Summing up
Reflecting and verifying
When you’re changing topic, say so.
Let participants be winding and pick up disparate threads later.
Let participants know what your goal or “arc” for the session is.
Give people an out if they get uncomfortable.
Give people an opportunity to ask their own questions as well. Those questions can be revealing.

Instead, ask people to:

Follow our guidelines for respecting participants’ privacy. Work with our policy team to create an ATIP-approved consent form before you get started. Speak to the policy analyst on your product team or ask Colin for more help.
Interviewing, as part of user research, is generally exempt from Government of Canada Public Opinion Research regulation. But follow our POR tips to steer clear of potential problems.
You can use our equipment and/or listening room for interviews.

- Last updated by Colin on March 14, 2019

CDS design research handbook