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Jumpstart your interviews with this list of recommended interview questions.
Types of questions:
- Sequence. Walk me through your day.
- Exhaustive list. What are all the situations where you pull out a piece of paper and write something down?
- Quantitative/inventory. How many times did you take notes yesterday?
- Suggestive opinion. Some people have very negative feelings about taking notes while driving a car. What are your feelings about it?
- Activities. What do you typically do when you get ready for a trip?
- Exceptions. Can you tell me about a time when you had a problem taking notes with an app?
- Reenactment. Could you please show me how you do that?
- Failures. What would be the worst-case scenario?
- Fill in the blank. After you ask a question, hold yourself back and give them time to respond.
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The following is a list of
recommended interview questions.
0:00
These are just examples.
0:04
You don't need to ask all of these
types of questions in every interview.
0:06
Remember, your goal is to gather
stories about their recent past.
0:10
You're looking for
insights into user needs and pain points.
0:15
[SOUND] Sequence,
walk me through your day.
0:18
Let's take yesterday for example.
0:22
Be ready for interviewers to say something
such as, but it was not a typical day.
0:25
Don't worry about that,
no day is a typical day.
0:30
Ask them to walk you
through yesterday anyway.
0:35
For example, tell me about the notes
you took on a piece of paper yesterday.
0:38
Examples help your interviewee
avoid generalizing or averaging.
0:43
If they say something such as, there is a
smart way and a stupid way to take notes.
0:48
An example of both will clarify things.
0:53
[SOUND] Exhaustive list, what are all
the situations where you pull out
0:56
a piece of paper and write something down?
1:01
Are there any others?
1:04
Try to exhaust a comprehensive
list from your interviewees.
1:06
Quantitative or inventory.
1:09
[SOUND] How many times did
you take notes yesterday?
1:11
Quantities do not matter for any
statistical calculations and interviews.
1:16
They do matter to give you an idea
of what your interviewee means.
1:20
For example, if the interviewee says,
I take a lot of notes.
1:24
You might ask, how many times
did you take notes yesterday?
1:29
To understand what the interviewee
means when he or she says a lot.
1:33
Ten times a day might be a lot for
one person or very few to another.
1:38
Suggestive opinion.
1:43
Some people have very negative feelings
about taking notes while driving a car.
1:45
What are your feelings about it?
1:50
This is an example of a question
that asked about their opinion.
1:53
Keep in mind opinions
are less of interest to you.
1:57
You asked questions that help you
generate stories about recent behavior.
2:01
This question might generate such a story.
2:05
Activities.
2:09
[SOUND] What do you typically do
when you get ready for a trip?
2:10
Exceptions.
2:15
Can you tell me about a time when you
had a problem taking notes with an app?
2:16
Exceptions can teach you a lot
about frustrations and challenges,
2:21
interviewee's experience.
2:25
Reenactment.
2:27
Could you please show me how you do that?
2:28
If an interviewee says something such as,
2:31
I always do it with this app on my phone,
ask them to show you.
2:34
Don't settle for
2:39
the story if they can't easily
demonstrate what they're talking about.
2:40
In some cases, you will learn that the
story doesn't really match the behavior.
2:44
Failures, what would be
the worst-case scenario?
2:50
Can you tell me about a time
when this didn't work?
2:53
This is an excellent way to
attract stories about pinpoints,
2:57
frustrations, and challenges.
3:01
Fill in the blank, this is a technique
you need throughout the interview.
3:03
After you ask a question, you'll feel
a need to explain what you meant.
3:08
Especially if the interviewee is quite for
a few seconds.
3:12
As humans,
we feel silence must be filled in.
3:16
Hold yourself back and
give them time to respond.
3:19
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