The FinLab Toolkit

HUMAN CENTERED DESIGN | DISCOVERY

User Interviews

60 Min+

Collecting first-hand accounts of experiences, needs and concerns from people can be a great source of inspiration. User Interviews are open ended conversations that take place in context (place of use of product or service, or user homes and places of work, etc.) and provide a deep understanding of user needs, attitudes, and behaviours. Interviews can be conducted with all stakeholders, not just users.

USE CASES

  • Build a deep foundational understanding of needs, attitudes, and behaviours of target users and stakeholders.
  • Identify ideas and co-create solutions with users, and stakeholders.
  • Evaluate early concepts and prototypes with users, and stakeholders.

LIMITATIONS

Interviews take time and effort to organise, conduct and synthesise. Codifying qualitative interview data can also be challenging.

Interview Guide | DIY Toolkit

UNDERSTANDING THE TOOL

  • For a smooth interview, an interviewer should prepare a simple Discussion Guide - a repository of questions to be asked in the interview. This will help keep track of the discussion and ensure all the intended topics are covered. Guides should be prepared by looking closely at lines of enquiry and key questions. Experienced researchers may only need brief guides with top level questions. To be safe, a repository of both key questions and follow up queries should be prepared.
  • The ‘Personal Introduction’ helps set the tone of the interview and establish mutual respect. If the session is to be recorded, this is a good time to request consent from the participant.
  • The ‘Icebreaker’ is about putting the participant at ease. Simple questions like their age, professional activity, their hobbies or what a typical day looks like can help get the conversation started.
  • The ‘Open-Ended Questions’ should be formulated in a way that helps participants open up and share their thoughts and experiences.
  • The ‘Follow-Up Questions’ help interviewers better understand participants by going into the depth of things that may have been shared.

STEP BY STEP

  1. Prepare: Outline key lines of enquiry for users/stakeholders.
  2. Open the interview: The focus of the opening part is to clearly communicate credentials and purpose, and establish trust.
  3. Break the ice: This part is about making respondents feel comfortable by asking them some light/easy questions.
  4. Ask open-ended questions: The main part of the interview is focused on getting into the shoes of the respondents and having a conversation.
  5. Follow-up questions: This is about using follow up questions to get into behaviours in detail, discuss motivations and needs.

HOW TO FOR FACILITATORS

  1. At the start: Help participants clearly identify the themes or lines of enquiry they would like to research.
  2. During the exercise: Help them formulate questions that can result in insightful discussions.
  3. At the close: Have participants practice their questions before going out into the field.

FACILITATORS QUESTION BANK

  • What are the main information gaps you‘d like clarity on? Refer to the problem tree and stakeholder mapping if you are not sure where to start.
  • Who do you plan on speaking to? Why?
  • How and where will you reach the respondents? Are they known to you or will you have to find a way to recruit?
  • Are you offering respondents some compensation or reward for their time and input?
  • How will you introduce the purpose of the interview to respondents?
  • What are the key questions we want to ask? Are we looking at behaviours, motivations, needs through the questions we are asking?
  • Are there any sensitive topics in our discussion guide? How can we indirectly approach the topics? Are they necessary?
  • How long are the interview likely to last? If you have less time available, which questions would you like to focus on?

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