Back to Phase 1: Research & Discovery
Direct interviews are typically the single most effective method for uncovering insight. There are different types of interviews, each serving a different purpose.
Use interviews to examine users, subject matter experts or stakeholders closely, especially to:
Contextual interviews are conducted in the environment in which the user would typically interact with your system (e.g. at their workplace), and generally involves the participant allowing the interviewer to watch them use the system for actual purposes (i.e. while “doing their day job”). This method allows the interviewer to learn, from direct observation, about details that frequently go unaccounted for, or unremembered by the user when out of setting, such as necessary supplemental materials (e.g. a field manual kept next to the computer). It also allows for pain points that have been normalized by the user over time to be noticed and discussed.
Inviting a participant to a direct session (either away from the user’s work station or even just via a dedicated phone call or online meeting) can remove the burden and distraction of routine job obligations and keep the focus on your topics.
Interviewing a large group of users together is best used to get a wide range of input quickly and a shallow exploration of the problem space. This method is best done as an initial session, prior to breaking out individual or small-group interviews.
In individual interviews, topics can be explored in depth, without concern for a “loudest voice” or highest ranking presence inhibiting equitable input.
Structured interviews should be used when you have a specific set of questions to be addressed with your participant, especially when the ability to compare responses between multiple participants is desired.
In unstructured interviews the topics are only broadly laid out. The interviewer does much more listening than interacting, sometimes speaking only to prompt the participant to continue or explain something further. These interviews are effective when the desire is to cover touchy subjects without directly asking about them, or to probe deeper emotional reactions by offering a neutral, safe conversational space.
Findings and even direct quotes from user interviews become the backbone of personas, user scenarios and user journeys, and drive the definition of use cases. Input from subject matter experts and stakeholders form the primary depiction of staff/support actions and processes in service blueprints and user journeys.