{"id":8421,"date":"2023-05-10T10:33:39","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T10:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/?p=8421"},"modified":"2023-10-17T14:25:57","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T14:25:57","slug":"user-interviews-for-ux-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/user-interviews-for-ux-research\/","title":{"rendered":"How to conduct effective user interviews for UX research"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">User interviews are a popular UX research technique, providing valuable insight into how your users think and feel. Learn about the different types of user interviews and how to conduct your own in this guide.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">User research is fundamental for good UX. It helps you get to know your users and design products that meet their needs and solve their pain-points.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the most popular UX research methods is user interviews. With this technique, you get to hear from your users first-hand, learning about their needs, goals, expectations, and frustrations\u2014anything they think and feel in relation to the problem space.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But when should you conduct user interviews and how do you make sure they yield valuable results?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Follow this guide and you\u2019ll be a user interview pro. We explain:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#what-are-user-interviews-in-ux-research\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What are user interviews in UX research?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#what-are-the-different-types-of-user-interviews\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What are the different types of user interviews?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#when-should-you-conduct-user-interviews\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When should you conduct user interviews?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#what-data-and-insights-do-you-get-from-user-interviews\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What data and insights do you get from user interviews?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#how-conduct-effective-user-interviews-for-ux-research\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to conduct effective user interviews for UX research: A step-by-step guide<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#what-happens-next-how-to-analyse-your-user-interview-data\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What happens next? How to analyse your user interview data<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First things first: What are user interviews?<\/span><\/p>\n<section id=\"promotion\" class=\"promotion-content-raw inlinepromo inlinepromo_professional-certificate-in-user-researchp-1 my-4\" style=\"\">\n\t<div class=\"w-container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"row align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-md-12 promotion-info\">\n                <a class=\"link-content\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/courses\/user-research?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=%20blog_panel_text&utm_campaign=blog_promo\" style=\"\">\n                    <p>[GET CERTIFIED IN USER RESEARCH]<\/p>\n                    <span>Take our Professional Certificate in User Research<\/span>\n                <\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<h2><strong><a id=\"what-are-user-interviews-in-ux-research\"><\/a>What are user interviews in UX research?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Interviews are one of the most popular UX research methods. They provide valuable insight into how your users think, feel, and talk about a particular topic or scenario\u2014allowing you to paint a rich and detailed picture of their needs and goals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">interviews take place on a one-to-one basis, with a UX designer or <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/what-does-a-ux-researcher-do\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UX researcher<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> asking the user questions and recording their answers. They can last anywhere between 30 minutes and an hour, and they can be done at various stages of a UX design project.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong><a id=\"what-are-the-different-types-of-user-interviews\"><\/a>What are the different types of user interviews?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are several different types of user interviews. They can be:<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Structured, semi-structured, or unstructured<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Generative, contextual, or continuous<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remote or in-person<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s explore these in more detail.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Structured vs. semi-structured vs. unstructured user interviews<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><b>Structured interviews<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> follow a set list of questions in a set order. The questions are usually closed\u2014i.e. there\u2019s a limit to how participants can respond (e.g. \u201cYes\u201d or \u201cNo\u201d). Structured interviews ensure that all research participants get exactly the same questions, and are most appropriate when you already have a good understanding of the topic\/area you\u2019re researching.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Structured interviews also make it easier to compare the data gathered from each interview. However, a disadvantage is that they are rather restrictive; they don\u2019t invite much elaboration or nuance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Semi-structured interviews <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are based on an interview guide rather than a full script, providing some pre-written questions. These tend to be open-ended questions, allowing the user to answer freely. The interviewer will then ask follow-up questions to gain a deeper understanding of the user\u2019s answers. Semi-structured interviews are great for eliciting rich user insights\u2014but, without a set script of questions, there\u2019s a high risk of researcher bias (for example, asking questions that unintentionally lead the participant in a certain direction).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Unstructured user interviews <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are completely unscripted. It\u2019s up to the interviewer to come up with questions on the spot, based on the user\u2019s previous answers. These are some of the trickiest types of user interviews\u2014you\u2019re under pressure to think fast while avoiding questions that might bias the user\u2019s answer. Still, if done well, unstructured interviews are great if you have very little knowledge or data about the domain and want to explore it openly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Generative vs. contextual vs. continuous user interviews<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><b>Generative user interviews <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are ideal for early-stage exploration and discovery. They help you to uncover what you don\u2019t know\u2014in other words, what insights are you missing? What user problem should you be trying to solve? Which areas and topics can you identify for further user research? Generative interviews are usually unstructured or semi-structured.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Contextual user interviews <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">take place in a specific context\u2014while the user is carrying out a certain task, for example. This allows you to not only observe the user\u2019s actions\/behaviour first-hand, but also to ask questions and learn more about why the user takes certain actions and how they feel in the process. Contextual interviews tend to be semi-structured.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Continuous user interviews <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are conducted as part of continuous UX research. While traditional <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/what-is-user-research\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">user research<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is done within the scope of a specific project, continuous UX research is ongoing, conducted at regular interviews (e.g. weekly or monthly) with the goal of continuous product improvement. Continuous interviews are like regular check-ins with your users, giving you ongoing insight into their needs, goals, and pain-points.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<section id=\"promotion\" class=\"promotion-content-raw inlinepromo inlinepromo_professional-diploma-in-ux-designp-1 my-4\" style=\"\">\n\t<div class=\"w-container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"row align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-md-12 promotion-info\">\n                <a class=\"link-content\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/courses\/ux-design?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=blog_panel_pdux&utm_campaign=blog_promo\" style=\"\">\n                    <p>[GET CERTIFIED IN UX]<\/p>\n                    <span>Take our Professional Diploma in UX Design course<\/span>\n                <\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<h3><strong>Remote vs. in-person user interviews<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A final distinction to make is between remote and in-person interviews.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>In-person user interviews <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">take place with the user and researcher in the same room. A big advantage of in-person interviews is that you\u2019re privy to the user\u2019s body language\u2014an additional insight into how they feel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Remote user interviews <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">take place via video call. Like any kind of remote work, they\u2019re more flexible and may be more accessible for research participants as they don\u2019t require any travel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong><a id=\"when-should-you-conduct-user-interviews\"><\/a>When should you conduct user interviews?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">User interviews provide value at various stages of a design project. You can use them for:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Discovery and ideation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014when you want to learn more about your target users and the problems they need you to solve.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>UX testing and product improvement<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014when you want to get user feedback on an existing design concept or solution.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Continuous UX research<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014you can run regular interviews as part of a continuous UX research framework.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s take a closer look.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>User interviews for discovery and ideation<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">User interviews can be useful right at the beginning of a UX project, when you don\u2019t know much (or anything) about the domain and don\u2019t yet have a design direction. At this stage, everything is pretty open and your user interviews will be exploratory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conducting user interviews early in the process will help you to answer questions such as \u201cWho are our target users?\u201d, \u201cWhat problems do they need us to solve?\u201d and \u201cWhat are their goals and expectations in relation to the problem space?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here you\u2019ll be focusing on generative user interviews (i.e. finding out what you don\u2019t know), and they\u2019ll likely be unstructured or semi-structured.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>User interviews as part of UX testing and product improvement<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">User interviews also come in handy when you have an idea or concept you want to evaluate, or even a working product you want to test.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At this stage, you might present the user with a prototype and ask them questions about it. If you\u2019re further along in the design process, you can run user interviews as an add-on to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/why-ux-testing-is-so-important\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UX testing<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014having the user interact with a working prototype (or the product itself) and asking them questions at the same time. These are the contextual interviews we described earlier.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conducting user interviews at this stage will help you gain insight into how your users feel about a concept\/product\/experience and to identify pain-points or usability issues within the existing design.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>User interviews as part of continuous UX research<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">User interviews are also valuable as part of a continuous UX research framework. Here, there is no project-specific goal\u2014rather, you\u2019re interviewing users regularly to gain ongoing user insights. This enables you to maintain a user-centric design process and to evolve your product continuously as you learn more about your users.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can learn more about <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/pulse\/importance-continuous-ux-research-william-haas-evans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the importance of continuous UX research here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong><a id=\"what-data-and-insights-do-you-get-from-user-interviews\"><\/a>What data and insights do you get from user interviews?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">User interviews allow you to hear from the user, in their own words, how they think and feel about a particular problem space\/experience\/task. This provides rich insights into their thoughts, beliefs, experiences, problems, goals, desires, motivations, and expectations, as well as the rationale or thought process behind certain actions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As such, user interviews generate <\/span><b>qualitative data<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. That is, data which tells you about a person\u2019s thoughts, feelings, and subjective experiences. It\u2019s the opposite of quantitative data which is objective, numerical, and measurable. You can learn more about <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/quantitative-vs-qualitative-research\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the difference between quantitative and qualitative user research data here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Note that user interviews generate <\/span><b>self-reported data<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Self-reported data is based on what the user chooses to share with you (you\u2019re not observing it; rather, you\u2019re hearing it from the user). It\u2019s how they <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">report <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to be feeling or thinking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you conduct contextual user interviews, you\u2019ll gather a mixture of observational data (based on what you observe the user doing) and self-reported data.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After conducting user interviews, you\u2019ll end up with lots of data in the form of interview transcripts, audio or video recordings, and your own notes. We\u2019ll look at how to analyse your user interview data in the final section of this guide.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First, though, here\u2019s a step-by-step plan you can follow to conduct effective user interviews.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong><a id=\"how-conduct-effective-user-interviews-for-ux-research\"><\/a>How to conduct effective user interviews for UX research: A step-by-step guide<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ready to conduct your own user interviews? Follow our step-by-step guide to get started.<\/span><b><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Determine what type of user interviews you\u2019ll conduct<\/b><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Write your user interview script (or guide)<\/b><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Set up the necessary tools<\/b><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Recruit your interview participants<\/b><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Perfect your interview technique<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s walk through our plan step by step.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>1. Determine what type of user interviews you\u2019ll conduct<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Earlier in this guide, we outlined the different types of user interviews: Structured, semi-structured, and unstructured; generative, contextual, and continuous; and remote and in-person.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first step is to determine what format your user interviews will take. This depends on:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What stage you\u2019re at in the project\/process<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What your research goals are<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re at the very early stages of a design project, you\u2019ll likely want to keep your user interviews open and exploratory\u2014opting for unstructured or semi-structured interviews.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps you\u2019ve already got a design underway and want to interview your users as they interact with it. In that case, structured or semi-structured contextual interviews may work best.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consider what you want to learn from your user interviews and go from there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>2. Write your user interview script (or guide)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How you approach this step will depend on whether you\u2019re conducting structured, semi-structured, or unstructured user interviews.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For structured interviews, you\u2019ll need to write a full interview script\u2014paying attention to the order of the questions. The script should also incorporate follow-up questions; you won\u2019t have the freedom to improvise or ask additional questions outside of your script, so make sure you\u2019re covering all possible ground.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For semi-structured interviews, you\u2019ll write an interview guide rather than a rigid script. Come up with a set list of questions you definitely want to ask and use these\u2014and your users\u2019 answers\u2014as a springboard for follow-up questions during the interview itself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For unstructured user interviews, you can go in without a script. However, it\u2019s useful to at least brainstorm some questions you might ask to get the interview started.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regardless of whether you\u2019re conducting structured, semi-structured, or unstructured interviews, it\u2019s essential that your questions are:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Open-ended<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. These are questions that cannot be answered with a simple \u201cyes\u201d or \u201cno\u201d. They require more elaboration from the user, providing you with much more insightful answers. An example of an open question could be \u201cCan you tell me about your experience of using mobile apps to book train tickets?\u201d versus a closed question such as \u201cHave you ever used a mobile app to book train tickets?\u201d<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Unbiased and non-leading<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. You want to be very careful about how you word your questions. It\u2019s important that you don\u2019t unintentionally lead the user or bias their answer in any way. For example, if you ask \u201cHow often do you practise app-based meditation?\u201d, you\u2019re assuming that the user practises meditation at all. A better question would be \u201cWhat are your thoughts on app-based meditation?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s worth having someone else check your questions before you use them in a user interview. This will help you to remove any unintentionally biased or leading questions which may compromise the quality of your research data.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>3. Recruit your interview participants<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your user interviews should involve people who represent your target users. This might be existing customers and\/or representative users who fit the persona you would be designing for.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some common methods for recruiting user research participants include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Posting on social media<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Working with a dedicated agency or platform which will connect you with suitable participants<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recruiting from your own customer or user database<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The good thing about user interviews is that you don\u2019t need loads of participants to gather valuable data. Focus on quality over quantity, recruiting between five and ten interviewees who closely match your target group.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>4. Set up the necessary tools<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now for the practical matter of getting your user interviews underway. If you\u2019re conducting in-person user interviews, you\u2019ll need to choose an appropriate setting\u2014ideally somewhere quiet and neutral where the user will feel relaxed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For remote user interviews, you\u2019ll need to set up the necessary software, such as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/zoom.us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Zoom<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dscout.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dscout<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lookback.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lookback<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Consult <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/best-ux-research-tools\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this guide for more UX research tools<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ll also need to consider how you\u2019re going to record the user\u2019s answers. Will you use good old fashioned pen and paper, a simple note-taking app, or a recording and transcription software?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Make a list of all the tools you\u2019ll need for a seamless user interview and get everything set up in advance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>5. Perfect your interview technique<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the interviewer, you have an important role to play in ensuring the success of your user interviews. So what makes a good interviewer? Here are some tips to help you perfect your interview technique:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Practise active listening<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Show the user that you\u2019re listening to them; maintain eye contact (try not to be too distracted with taking notes), let them speak without rushing, and don\u2019t give any verbal or non-verbal cues that you\u2019re judging their responses.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Get comfortable with silence<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. In everyday conversations, it can be tempting to fill silences. But, in an interview situation, it\u2019s important to lean into the power of the pause. Let the user think and speak when they\u2019re ready\u2014this is usually when you elicit the most interesting insights.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Speak the user\u2019s language<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Communication is everything in user interviews. Don\u2019t alienate the user by speaking \u201cUX speak\u201d\u2014they may not be familiar with industry-specific terms, and this can add unnecessary friction to the experience. Keep it simple, conversational, and accessible.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ultimately, the key is to put your users at ease and create a space where they can talk openly and honestly. Perfect your interview technique and you\u2019ll find it much easier to build a rapport with your research participants and uncover valuable, candid insights.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong><a id=\"what-happens-next-how-to-analyse-your-user-interview-data\"><\/a>What happens next? How to analyse your user interview data\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ve conducted your user interviews. Now you\u2019re left with lots of unstructured, unorganised qualitative data\u2014i.e. reams of notes. So how do you turn all those interview answers into useful, actionable insights?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most common technique for analysing qualitative data is <\/span><b>thematic analysis<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This is where you read through all the data you\u2019ve gathered (in this case, your notes and transcripts) and use \u2018codes\u2019 to denote different patterns that emerge across the dataset.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ll then \u2018code\u2019 different excerpts within your interview notes and transcripts, eventually sorting the coded data into a group of overarching themes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At this stage, you can create an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/affinity-diagrams-everything-you-need-to-know\/\"><b>affinity diagram<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014writing all relevant findings and data points onto Post-it notes and \u2018mapping\u2019 them into topic clusters on a board. This is a great technique for physically working through your data and creating a visualisation of your themes, allowing you to step back and spot important patterns.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With your research data organised and categorised, you can review your findings in relation to your original research objectives. What do the themes and patterns tell you? What actions can you take from your findings? What gaps still need to be filled with further UX research?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a final step, you might <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/presenting-ux-research-findings\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">write up a UX research report and present your findings<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to relevant stakeholders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Learn more about UX research<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We hope you now have a clear understanding of what user interviews are, why they\u2019re such a valuable UX research method, and how to conduct your own user interviews. If you\u2019d like to learn more about user research, continue with these guides:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/card-sorting-in-ux-what-is-it\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A complete introduction to card sorting: What is it and how do you do it?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/what-are-ux-personas\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What are UX personas and what are they used for?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/mitchell-wakefield-on-the-future-of-ux-research\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What\u2019s the future of UX research? An interview with Mitchell Wakefield, User Researcher at NHS Digital<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>User interviews are a popular UX research technique, providing valuable insight into how your users think and feel. Learn about the different types of user interviews and how to conduct your own in this guide. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":8425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[278,279],"tags":[357,356],"class_list":["post-8421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-design","category-ux-explained","tag-user-interviews","tag-ux-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8421"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9223,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8421\/revisions\/9223"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}