10 Tips to CYA when Conducting Your Next Interview
Ever wonder why some user research interviews go really well and others fall really short?
There are several seemingly small but crucial things seasoned researchers do to ensure sessions run smoothly. In fact, just a few safeguards can make the difference between a flawless interview and a failure.
CYA
Create a checklist to set yourself up for foolproof sessions. Stop and do not pass go until you list ALL OF THE THINGS to do before, during and after your sessions to make it successful. You might think that after dozens or hundreds of interviews you’ve got it down but distractions AND OTHER CRAPPY things happen. Trust me. That one time you forget to press “record” will be the best interview of your career. (Our Ask Like A Pro students get our three page checklist called the Research Countdown Planner. It’s the bomb.)
10 Steps to Improve Your Interviews and Reduce Risk
1. Pilot your study and everything that goes along with it. After conducting 1,200+ interviews, I still pilot every single study. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.
2. Get consent. Before you record an interview (or record anyone for almost any purpose), you need to get their permission. Explain how the information will be used, the time commitment, etc.
a. When remote, always set Zoom (or cloud recording software) to automatically record in the cloud when the session begins.
b. Ask for consent to record in the first minute or so of your introduction. “Hi my name is Michele. I’m a researcher for Slack. My hope is that we’ll meet for about 45 minutes and have a casual conversation about [high level topic]. Before we get started, I want to make sure we have your consent to record this session for internal purposes. Is that ok with you?”
3. Build a confirmation that you are indeed recording into the introduction portion of your discussion guide. “Great. I am now confirming that this session is being recorded right now.”
4. Confirm the time they can spend with you. Including the session time of 45 minutes, in the second sentence, is a trigger to uncover if they have a different time expectation, or change of plans,and if so, to mention it at the onset. Then you can evaluate whether to continue with their limited availability, reschedule, or let them go before you dive in.
5. Use the first 10 minutes to assess your subject. Yes, we are building rapport but also use this time to see how engaged are they, how quickly they speak, and whether you will need to slow them down or speed them up to complete the interview objectives in the allotted session time. For remote interviews, use this time to also make sure they are positioned close enough to their webcam, and microphone, and are well lit. (Ideally you want to be able to see their crows feet when they smile! The closer they are, the fewer distractions they will have in their purview as well.)
6. Put time stamps in your discussion guide so you know where you should be at certain points in the session in case you have to course correct. NOTE: You should also timestamp your notes for easy retrieval of key quotes later on but we’ll save details on note taking tips and strategies for another newsletter!
7. Flag your “must have” questions clearly so that if you do run out of time, you’ll know exactly which ones to hit to meet your primary research objective(s).
8. Use Zoom Webinar when remote and in-person so your interviewee doesn’t see your observers. This allows you to have dozens of stakeholders observe, in real-time, without the participant seeing how many people are logged in or their names, etc. This reduces any discomfort/intimidation that can come along with knowing people are watching them! NOTE: Always disclose if you have colleagues observing the sessions.
9. Do not attempt to take notes during the session - especially if you are newer to the field. Instead, have your stakeholders take notes according to the agreed upon, and piloted, notetaking strategy). No dice? Then watch the recordings at a faster speed and take your notes after the sessions.
10. Conduct a session and pin the video on yourself. Then complete this moderator checklist three times. Yes. Watch the session 3 times:
a. First watch with full audio and video.
b. Listen to the audio only.
c. Watch the video without sound.
Yes, this will be painful! Yes, you will notice awful things about how you present. Yes, you’ll want to throttle me for encouraging you to do this but you will grow exponentially. For REALS. You will get stretch marks on your face. This is where the artistry comes in. A good method actor is going to watch themselves and critique their own performance. When you are conducting an interview, you have a role to play. Learning to master that role, takes practice and review but the payoff is exponential.
Give these tips a try and let me know how it goes! Download my moderator checklist here.
These ten tips are a great way to improve your user research chops but only skim the surface of the Curiosity Tank!
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- Michele
