How to conduct an interview

Introduction

Hello, my name is [moderator], and I am going to walk you through today’s session. As I mentioned over email, my office is currently working with [partner] to [broad purpose; for example, inform a redesign of agency.gov]. Joining us on the call are [observers, and their affiliation].

I would like to begin by thanking you for making time to speak with us. Your feedback is valuable, and will help us determine if our website functions as intended. Just to confirm, we would like to keep this interview to [duration; for example, 30 minutes]. Does that still work for you?

If you need a break or to stop at any time, please let me know.

During this session, I will start by asking you a few questions around your work. Later on, I will ask you to share your screen and accomplish a few tasks using the [prototype: for example, a website or draft content] we are evaluating.

Please be aware that there are no wrong answers. Also, please do not worry that you are going to hurt our feelings. We are doing this to improve the site, so we need to hear your honest reactions.

If you have any questions as we go along, just ask them. I may not be able to answer them right away, since we are interested in how people do when they do not have someone sitting next to them to help. But if you still have any questions when we are done I will try to answer them then.

With your permission, I would like to record this call. The recording will only be used to help us figure out how to improve the site, and it will not be seen by anyone except those working on this project. Recording this call also helps me, because I can really focus on our conversation instead of being distracted by taking notes. Is that okay?

Do you have any questions for me at this time?

Warm-up

To start, I would like to hear a little bit about you:

• What is your occupation? 
• What do you do all day?
• What kind of person does your kind of work, generally? 
• Is this something that requires a specific kind of training or experience?
• What are your goals in doing your work? 
• What motivates you?

A specific topic

Thank you. This context is helpful. Now, I would like to ask you a few questions about [topic]. 

• Can you tell me about the last time you tried to complete [topic or task]?
• If you had to explain this in the simplest terms possible, how would you do it?
• How does [topic] tie back to your goals?
• What do you do when you have questions about [topic]?
• What is one thing you wish were more straightforward about [topic]?

Demonstration

Thank you. Now I am going to ask you to consider how you might respond to the following scenarios using this website. I am going to read each scenario out loud, and I will also share the text of the scenario via chat.

• When was the last time you did [task]? Tell me more.

Next I would like you to share your screen, but before you do, make sure to close anything you do not want recorded. You can share your screen by [direction for sharing]. 

• Can you show me how you do [task]?

Wrap-up

Thank you so much for your time. Before we finish:

• What did we forget to ask about?
• If you had a magic wand and could instantly change one thing about this process, what would it be? Why?
• Would you be open to speaking with us again in the future?
• Do you have any questions for us?
• Who else should we talk to?