Conducting User Interviews for UX Research

A lot of communication is non-verbal. This means that it's essential to clearly communicate using your body and also be able to read other people's body language.

A truly engaged interviewer is just as important as the questions they ask.

Here's how you can communicate that you're paying attention:

• Ensure your body is on the same level as the person you're interviewing. For example, don't stand over a sitting person.
• Make and keep eye contact, smile and nod to communicate that the participant has your full attention.
• Avoid empathetic phrases like "I understand how you feel" or "something similar happened to me." Your job is to hear and record exactly what the person is telling you, not to insert yourself into the conversation.

You also need to pay attention to the participant's body language. Often, you can read more into an answer by how someone speaks and acts. These non-verbal cues help show you when to follow up, ask for clarification, or shift topics.

Some common non-verbal cues to look out for include:

• Crossed arms
• Fidgeting or twitching
• Not making eye contact
• Rushing through answers^[1]

In an interview, let participants do the bulk of talking. The last thing you want to do is to cut them off. Instead, become comfortable with awkward silences. Not only will it ensure that the participants say everything they want to say, but it can also prompt them to think more and elicit even more information.

Research shows that English speakers feel uncomfortable with silence longer than 4 seconds in a conversation.^[2] Humans, as social creatures, tend to try to fill the silence to form connections.

If your participant stops talking, don't feel awkward and try to fill the space. Start counting in your head and give the participant 5-10 seconds to respond. At this precise moment, you're forcing someone to think beyond their gut reaction and dig deeper for something to say.

Listening isn't just about hearing sounds. Active or engaged listening involves taking in information in a conversation. Just like any other skill, it can be improved with practice.

To improve your active listening skills:

• Focus your attention: Instead of multitasking, concentrate on what the person is saying.
• Show that you're listening: Make eye contact, nod, smile, and encourage the speaker with small verbal comments like “yes,” and "uh-huh."
• Ask relevant questions: Open and personalized questions are better for building rapport and engaging the other person.
• Clarify: Clarifying ensures you don't misunderstand the participant or miss out on deeper insights. It can be as simple as asking, "Sorry, what do you mean by that?"
• Paraphrase: Repeating what the other party has said in your own words is another way to clarify that you understand correctly. Use assumptive expressions like "Did I get this right?" and allow the other party to correct you when needed.
• Defer judgment: Interrupting frustrates the speaker and limits the full understanding of a message. Allow the speaker to finish each point before asking questions.
• Summarize at the end: Restate why you were talking in the first place and what conclusions were reached.^[3]

It's crucial to make users feel comfortable from the beginning of the interview so they're more likely to give candid answers. Here are some things you can do to create rapport right off the bat:

• Smile and project a positive attitude: This makes people relax and feel positive.
• Introduce yourself and any people present: Jumping into a video call with strangers can be intimidating, so make sure the participant knows who everyone is.
• Ask permission to record: Even if the participant has already signed the consent form, now’s a good time to confirm their consent.
• State your objectives: Let them know exactly what you're trying to learn and how the interview will progress.
• Tell them how long the interview will last: Set expectations for yourself and your subject.
• Ask personal questions first. Build rapport by asking the subject about themselves and trying to find a connection beyond just being on the same call. Ask them easy questions about their technology habits and why they wanted to try out your tool or prototype. Stick to 3–5 short answers at the beginning of each interview.^[4]

We go into an interview knowing nothing and hoping to know everything when we come out the other side. As a result, it's easy to ask a whole bunch of questions all at once. By the time we've finished our line of questioning, the participant will likely be overwhelmed. So they will end up answering only the last question asked or the one they remember best, leaving a whole bunch of questions unanswered in between.

Instead, use self-restraint to ask just one question at a time. As soon as you hear the metaphorical question mark leave your mouth, close it. Let the participant fully respond before you ask the next question. This will allow you to control the rhythm of the conversation and create a much more fluid back-and-forth.

People don't always give detailed answers to every question, so you might need to help them to provide you with the information you need. Repeating the same question isn't a good strategy. Instead, use follow-up questions to come at it from a different angle.

Here are some best practices for asking follow-up questions:

• Ask your original question in a slightly different way. If you get a vague response, it's worth rephrasing the question for better clarity.
• Connect your interviewee's answers together. This helps clarify the participant's position and shows that you're listening. For example, link their response to a previous one by saying, "Is that what you meant earlier when you said…?"
• Dig deeper by using the 5 whys method. This technique helps you get closer to the root cause. For example, the participant says they think your interface is too messy. Ask them why they think it's messy. If they think it's messy because the navigation bar has too many items, ask them why they don't like having too many items in the navigation bar, and so on.[1]

Avoid asking questions that will lead users to give you the desired answer instead of the real answer.

For example, if you're interviewing someone about how they listen to music, you might ask, "How often do you listen to music on Spotify?" However, this question leads participants in two ways: it assumes they're active Spotify users and pushes them to only think about listening to music through streaming platforms.

Instead, ask a more neutral, open-ended question like "How do you normally listen to music?" This way, you're likely to get more insightful responses.

The value of interview recordings can't be underestimated. Knowing that you can rewatch the interview will ease the anxiety of missing something important. You can also use the recording for later reference or note-taking after the session.

Consider transcribing the recording — it will help you scan through important moments in a session without needing to rewatch the whole thing. You can use digital transcription tools or work with a live transcriber. The latter is typically more accurate but also more expensive.

Always ensure the user knows the conversation will be recorded and get their consent.

While taking notes during the interview may sound like a good idea, it's actually not. Studies show that multitasking hinders work performance, especially if the tasks are complex and require our active attention — as in the case of engaging listening.^[5] During an interview, you want to focus on the user, not on your notes. Not to mention that note-taking can make some people nervous.

The best option is to bring in a dedicated notetaker who can concentrate solely on capturing and organizing insights. Don't forget to introduce them to participants at the beginning of the interview. If you're meeting remotely, you can mute them right after the introduction.

If you absolutely have to take notes at the same time as your interview, make sure that you are recording the interview. In this case, write down keyword-related insights with timestamps in the video. But generally, try to minimize note-taking during user interviews.

User interviews usually last from 30 mins to an hour. Sometimes, when you need to dive deep into details, it can take up to 1.5 hours — but these cases are rare exceptions. Generally, people lose attention during longer interviews. This means that the quality of information you'll get will decline.

Aim for 30-45 mins per session. This will give you enough time to break the ice at the beginning and wrap up at the end. It's also short enough so that interviews don't feel like an unmanageable time commitment for you or the participant.

Try to wrap up the interview on time, showing users that you respect their time. If you run out of time before asking all questions, ask participants if it'd be ok to reach out for a follow-up.