Conducting User Interviews That Will Actually Help You

When you’re developing a business idea it can be tempting to build the product as quickly as possible in order to launch it early. Often, this is a fatal mistake because it can result in building a solution to your problem rather than something the users will value.

Although market research might seem like a boring and daunting task, it is still a vital component of any software development project. I’m going to run you through the basics of conducting user interviews so that you can avoid crashing and burning and understand the power that they have. While there are many ways to get feedback from your users, this article is focused on getting thorough insights through user interviews that will actually give you information that you can use.

Proper Preparation

Conducting user interviews isn’t just a matter of asking questions and jotting down the answers. For an interview to be effective you’ll have to put effort into your preparation. You’ll need to ensure that your questions cover the following areas:

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  Who: Identify the demographic your product is targeting and tailor your questions to that group. Ask yourself, “Who is my ideal customer for this offering?”

  
  


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  What: What are the problems you intend to solve? The best way to frame this is to think: “What are the biggest pain points my potential users are experiencing?”

  
  


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  When: As you draft your interview, keep in mind the times users will use your product or service. This is best covered by asking yourself, “is this something essential to a users life, or is it something they’ll only use once in a while.”

  
  


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  Where: To further help with identifying context, you’ll need to consider where the product or service is used. For example, users on a mobile device will have a shorter attention span than those on a desktop device. There are many potential answers to this question, but in general you’ll want to focus on whether the product is for work or recreation and whether the user will be on the go or at their desk.

  
  


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  Why: Understanding the psychology of customers is crucial since it’s difficult to change existing behavior. Dozens of companies offer email, but there are plenty of unique aspects that make them appeal to different audiences. Ask your potential users, “What are the biggest reasons you use product X?”

  
  


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  How: Consider how users commonly perform tasks already. Although you can’t really address this without in-depth analytics such as session tracking and more. Having a handle on this is vital to identifying ways to improve the users experience. This isn’t something you can address by asking specific questions. You just need to observe how users interact with different offerings.

  
  

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by Charles Costa via SitePoint