How to create a user interview checklist

Interviews often progress through key moments: introductions lead to warm-up questions, which lead to topic-specific questions, and so on. 

This checklist outlines those key moments, and suggests things to do as you go through them. 

Pre-interview preparation (10 minutes)

Help your team intentionally transition to an inquiring mindset, to clarify with your colleagues their respective roles, and to check any technologies on which the interview will rely.

Make sure to:

• Remind your team of the purpose of the interview.
• Establish clear roles for anyone who will join (for example, moderators, observers, and notetakers).
• Confirm with teammates, especially remote ones, how they might ask questions during the interview (for example, in a shared chat room).
• Do a tech check: confirm that screen sharing and recording works.
• Check receipt of a signed participant agreement.
• Double-check any links, files, or other resources that participants will need to evaluate. 

Introductions (5 minutes)

Clarify with the participant the parameters of the interview and give them a chance to ask any logistics-related questions.

Make sure to:

• Thank the participant for their time.
• Introduce yourself, and anyone who is joining you.
• Explain the purpose of your research.
• Provide an overview of the plan for the interview, including any required logistics (for example, screen sharing).
• Confirm the expected length of the interview.
• Explain how you will take notes (for example, video recording)
• Explain how you will use any notes you take (for example, unattributed quotes)
• Verify the participant signed the agreement.
• Ask the participant if they have questions at this time.
• If the participant consents, turn on the recorder.

Warm up and icebreaker (5 to 10 minutes)

Establish the cadence for the interview as a conversation rather than a stilted back and forth. Help the participant feel comfortable, and focus on gaining important context for the body of the interview.

Make sure to

• Be polite. You are a guest in the participant’s world.
• Give the participant your full attention. Show active listening through attentive body language and verbal acknowledgement. Be aware that taking notes, especially on a laptop, can distract from the conversation itself.
• Ask open-ended questions that will give you relevant information and help you form a better understanding of who this person is.
• Understand the degree to which this person is comfortable talking about themselves and their work, and at what speed. Be mindful and respectful of anything the participant is uncomfortable talking about.
• Give the participant time to respond. Do not be afraid of awkward pauses.
• Ask the participant to walk you through any organizations, tools, rituals, or processes they use.
• Start broad (such as “What is a day in your work-life like?”), and then slowly direct the interview toward any planned activities (such as “Could you share your screen and show me how you do that?”) or topic-specific questions (such as “How often do you file reports?”).

Activities or topic-specific questions (25 minutes)

Explore the topics or lead the participant through the activities (for example, screen sharing) the research was designed around.

Make sure to:

• Know what you want to learn.
• Demonstrate genuine curiosity.
• Let the conversation flow naturally, and try to get the participant to tell stories related to the things you are studying.
• Default to open-ended questions, for example: “Tell me about a time… ”, “Can you explain…”, “What is your thinking here….”, or “What made you choose that…”.
• Ask clarifying questions or ask your interviewee to repeat themselves if you missed something.
• Use a wide variety of question types, such as context-gathering questions about sequences of events and relationships, clarification questions, and comparing and contrasting questions.
• Use transition phrases to help participants understand when you are moving between parts of the interview (such as “Can we go back to something you said before?”).
• Test your own assumptions and understandings without asking leading questions. Ask “how,” “what,” and “why” multiple times, and give the participant sufficient time to think about their answers.
• Note the exact words and phrases people use. Capture participants’ language as they use it. Avoid paraphrasing or correcting terminology.
• Use verbal and nonverbal cues to show active listening.
• If you ask the participant to share their screen:
  • Caution them to close anything they do not want recorded beforehand.
  • Assure them that there are no wrong answers — you are testing the design, not them.
  • Ask them to think out loud.
  • Ask, “How would you expect this to work?”
• Periodically check to see if your teammates have any questions.

Wrap-up (5 minutes)

Thank the participant, communicate any next steps, and give the participant a chance to ask any questions they might have.

Make sure to:

• Thank the participant for their time and reiterate the value of their contributions.
• Ask the participant if there was anything they think we missed or that they would like to add.
• Ask if it would be okay to contact them again with any follow-up questions.
• Provide next steps and timelines to receive any agreed-upon compensation.
• If appropriate, tell participants whether they will receive a summary of the research findings.
• If desired, ask them who else you might talk to.
• Turn off the recording.

Post-interview activities (15 minutes)

Once the interview is complete, hold a post-interview debrief. Tend to any post-interview logistics.

Make sure to:

• Move any recordings to the project folder.
• Engage the team in a virtual or in-person post-interview debrief to discuss surprises and reflect on what you heard.
• Update the interview guide if you have learned something that should change future interviews.
• Identify who will send any promised follow-up communication and when.
• Send the participant agreed-to compensation
• Update your study contact list.