Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights

interviewing customers is tremendous for driving reframes, which are crucial shifts in perspective that flip an initial problem on its head.

“I want to go back to something else you said....” Not only does this help the person know that you’re looping back, it also indicates that you are really paying attention to what they are telling you, that you remember it, and that you are interested. If

My own expectations are muted, blunted, and distributed.

interviewing (by whatever name you want to call it) is a deep dive into the lives of customers.

Don’t do this. Ask your question and let it stand. Be deliberate about this. To deal with your (potentially agonizing!) discomfort during the silence, give yourself something to do—slowly repeat “allow silence” as many times as it takes. Use this as a mantra to calm and clear your mind (at least for the moment). If the person can’t answer the quest

Most people are at least conversationally familiar with the Kübler-Ross model of the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargain, depression, and acceptance. This model describes a consistent set of elements in a very human experience. At the same time, Kübler-Ross pointed out

Near the end of the interview is a great opportunity to ask more audacious questions. Because you’ve spent all this time with your participants, talking through a topic in detail, they’ve become engaged with you. You’ve earned their permission to ask them to go even farther beyond the familiar. Two questions that work really well here are: • If we

Insights don’t simply leap out at you. You need to work hard and dig for them, which takes planning and deliberation.

Are you asking the question in a way they can answer? In a study about customer service, a participant complained passionately about the poor telephone service he received from a retailer.