You’ve finally convinced your business sponsor to conduct customer interviews. You’ve cut through the red tape. You’ve secured the right permissions and approvals. You’re ready to dive into the session.
And… you end up coming away from the conversation with less accurate, actionable data than you could have.
Why? Because you might be asking about imaginary situations, not real ones.
Huh, you say?
Let me explain.
Imagine that you want to learn more about how people plan vacations so that you can improve your travel booking website. How would you kick off the discussion? What question would you ask first?
Whenever I teach workshops on how to interview customers about their current habits and practices (often called the “process,” “as-is,” or “current-state” interview), I start with this scenario. I ask attendees to pair off, with one person acting as the interviewer and the other acting as the interviewee. In all my time conducting this exercise, be it with university students or corporate professionals, every new interviewer begins the same way:
“What’s your vacation planning process?”
The problem with this question is that it’s not focused on a specific instance that the interviewee can recall. Because the conversation is not grounded in context of an actual, memorable event, it invites oversimplification at best. At worst, it leaves the door open for users to invent facts based on what they wish they did, what they think they should do, or what they think you want to hear. It’s also easier for participants to leave out important nuggets.
A simple flip makes the question significantly more effective. Instead of asking about an imaginary, “typical” instance, ask about the last time the person did the thing you’re studying – preferably one that’s fresh in their mind.
For our vacation example, this becomes: "Tell me about the last time you planned a vacation."
As the interviewee shares their story, you can ask follow-up questions to understand each step in their process:
What made you start vacation planning?
What did you do first?
Was anyone else involved?
What happened next?
etc.
This technique is called retrospective analysis. In a retrospective analysis, the interviewee reconstructs from memory a detailed narrative of a past event.
Once you’ve explored the participant’s example in-depth (in our case, the last vacation they planned), then you can ask about their “typical” process: “Was this typical of how you plan vacations?” If yes, ask the user to describe an atypical vacation planning example for comparison. If no, ask them to describe a time that felt more typical. Note that for both responses, however, the discussion of “typical” always connects back to a specific instance.
This simple rephrase will help you to maximize your time in session and ensure that you're collecting specific, accurate data. Because nobody wants to waste valuable time in front of customers.
What tips have you found most helpful when conducting customer interviews? Please share your suggestions below.
PS: If you enjoyed this post, check out New to Usability Testing? Avoid These Newbie Mistakes.
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