Design practice

Conduct a User Interview

Plan a screener, write a discussion guide, moderate a session, and synthesize findings

Start the exercise

01 / Prepare

What you’ll
work on.

Conduct a full user interview with professional-grade planning: participant screening, discussion guide, moderation, and synthesis. This builds on the introductory interview exercise from the Branding to UX path with deeper rigor on screening, moderation technique, and synthesis quality.

Before you begin

  • Familiarity with open-ended questions and qualitative research
  • Access to 2–3 willing participants who are NOT close friends/family (reduces social desirability bias)
  • Recording capability (Zoom, phone recording, or note-taking partner)

02 / Practice

The work,
step by step.

Work through these 4 parts at your own pace. Keep your notes and work together so you can review them when you finish.

  1. Research Planning

    60 min

    1. Define the research question — What are you trying to learn? Frame it as a question about behavior or motivation, not about a feature.

    2. Write a screener survey — 5–7 questions to qualify participants: demographics (only if relevant), behavioral qualifiers ("How often do you [relevant behavior]?"), and disqualifiers (people too close to the problem, competitors, researchers).

    3. Write a discussion guide — 12–15 questions organized into: warm-up (2–3 questions for background and context), core exploration (6–8 questions on behaviors, motivations, frustrations, workarounds), specific probes (2–3 questions for reactions to concepts or scenarios), and closing (1–2 questions for anything else and referrals).

  2. Recruit and Schedule

    Variable

    1. Screen 5–8 people using your screener.

    2. Select 2–3 who best match your target profile.

    3. Schedule 45-minute sessions.

    4. Send confirmation with logistics and consent information.

  3. Conduct the Interviews

    90 min

    1. Brief (2 min) — Purpose, duration, consent, "no wrong answers."

    2. Warm-up (5 min) — Easy questions to build rapport.

    3. Core exploration (25–30 min) — Follow the guide but follow interesting threads.

    4. Specific probes (5–10 min) — Dig into areas relevant to your research question.

    5. Close (2–3 min) — Thank them, ask if there is anything else, explain next steps.

    6. Practice moderation techniques: the 5-second pause (wait after they finish — they often continue), "Tell me more about that," "What happened next?", "You mentioned [X] — can you walk me through that?", and redirect without leading: "That's interesting — going back to [topic]..."

  4. Synthesize

    60 min

    1. Review notes/recordings within 24 hours.

    2. For each interview, write 8–12 key observations.

    3. Affinity map across all interviews: group observations into themes.

    4. Write 3–5 insight statements: "[User type] [behavior/need] because [motivation], which means [implication for design]."

    5. Identify 2–3 open questions for follow-up research.

03 / Review

Look at what
you’ve made.

Gather your deliverables, then use the criteria to find what worked and what you would change. They also give a peer something specific to respond to.

What to bring together

  • Screener survey (5–7 questions)
  • Discussion guide (12–15 questions, organized by section)
  • Interview notes for 2–3 sessions
  • Affinity map (photo or digital)
  • 3–5 insight statements with supporting evidence
  • 2–3 open questions for further research

How to assess your work

Screener quality
Qualifies on behavior, not just demographics
Guide structure
Questions flow naturally, open-ended, non-leading
Moderation
Evidence of follow-up probing, not just reading the script
Synthesis rigor
Insights grounded in participant quotes/observations, not assumptions
Actionability
Insights point toward design implications, not just observations

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