Semi-Structured Interview for PMs (and other stakeholders)
Before the interview:
Define what is the goal of the interview
What are you are trying to answer, your questions will lead towards the goal.
Define your interviewee
What do you need from the person in front of you, who are the persona(s) you need to interview, is there more than one.
Is this the right time for an interview?
All-time is the right time for an interview - as long as you set the goal & choose the right candidate.
Set the meeting & agenda enough time ahead
This will help your interviewee feel more comfortable with the situation and be prepared for what’s coming. A stressed interviewee is less valuable.
Interview cannot take longer than 1 hour for each interviewee
If you have more questions rising, set another meeting with the interviewee. Be sensitive to time of others.
Reduce stress by adding as little participants as possible to the interview
Best: 1 interviewee, 1 interviewer, 1 note taker.
How many is too many
You’ll need at least 3 interviewees to represent each persona (e.g. persona 1: mothers at their 40th living in the US play once a week, persona 2: elderly from Australia first time player = overall of 6 interviewees).
REC
Video, chat, sound. The more you have, the more value you’re going to gain from the interview.
Bureaucracy
Prepare ahead all legal documentation you need (NDA, Privacy Policy, etc.).
During the interview:
Ask for permission to REC
Legally you need their agreement recorded.
Avoid WHAT IF questions
The interviewee cannot speculate about something they have not experienced yet.
Do not interrupt while they answer
Even if the discussion is going off-topic somewhat, you will connect the dots later on.
If Online - Ask them to open their cameras
(if possible)
Inform them in the Agenda and kindly remind during the interview itself. There’s no replacement for a facial expression for creating personal engagement.
If the interviewee does not know the answer to a question
Make him/her feel it’s on you, not them. They are not the ones to blame.
Stay focused: Prepare your questions ahead and make sure it covers one specific topic
If needed, set another meeting with the interviewee on other topics
Take notes during the session (even if there is no one to take those with you)
You will not remember tomorrow what you thought, felt, experienced today during the interview.
After the interview:
Make sure to have time for the interviewee to respond
At the end of the interview, ask if they would like to add anything, always keep the door open for them for further discussion.
Complete your notes
You will not remember tomorrow what you thought, felt, experienced today during the interview.
Be sure to present your summary of the interview(s) to others
Sharing is caring. You’re not working in a vacuum and your colleagues will be interested in your findings and thoughts.
Mark in a shared file
When, why, with whom you conducted the interview. You cannot bother the same person over and over again.
In the course of my work, I have collected some tips on applying semi-structured interviews with customers and end-users.
Originally created for Product Managers now greatly helps a variety of teams such as development teams, product, and UX designers to hone their capabilities and enable efficient and pleasant work for all involved.
The list will be updated, so stay tuned!