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Interview questions

3:26 with Tomer Sharon

We'll go over a list of recommended interview questions.

Credit to Google Ventures’ Design Staff blog and Steve Portigal, Interviewing Users (Rosenfeld Media, 2013)

27 Powers of Persuasion by Chris St. Hilaire (Power of Silence).

  • 0:01

    The following is a list of recommended interview questions.

  • 0:04

    Remember, your goal is to gather stories about their recent past.

  • 0:08

    You're looking for insights into user needs and pain points.

  • 0:13

    Sequence.

  • 0:15

    Walk me through your day.

  • 0:17

    Let's take yesterday, for example.

  • 0:19

    Be ready for interviewees to say something such as, but today was not a typical day.

  • 0:24

    Don't worry about that.

  • 0:25

    No day is a typical day.

  • 0:27

    Ask them to walk you through yesterday, anyway.

  • 0:30

    Examples, tell me about the notes you took on a piece of paper yesterday.

  • 0:35

    Examples help your interviewee avoid generalizing or averaging.

  • 0:40

    If he or she says something such as there's a smart way and

  • 0:43

    a stupid way to take notes.

  • 0:45

    An example for both will clarify things.

  • 0:49

    Exhaustive list.

  • 0:50

    What are all the situations where you pull out a piece of paper and

  • 0:54

    write something down?

  • 0:56

    Are there any others?

  • 0:58

    Try to exhaust a comprehensive list from your interviewees.

  • 1:03

    Quantitative/inventory.

  • 1:05

    How many times did you take notes yesterday?

  • 1:07

    Quantities do not matter for any statistical calculations in interviews.

  • 1:12

    They do matter to give you an idea of what your interviewee means.

  • 1:16

    For example, if the interviewee says, I take a lot of notes, you might ask,

  • 1:21

    how many times did you take notes yesterday?

  • 1:24

    To understand what the interviewee means when he or she says a lot.

  • 1:29

    Ten times a day might be a lot for one person or very few to another.

  • 1:34

    Suggestive opinion.

  • 1:36

    Some people have very negative feelings about taking notes while driving a car.

  • 1:42

    What are your feelings about it?

  • 1:44

    This is an excellent example of a question that asks about the interviewer's opinion.

  • 1:49

    Keep in mind opinions are less of interest to you.

  • 1:53

    You ask questions that help you generate stories about recent behavior.

  • 1:58

    This question might generate such a story.

  • 2:01

    Activities.

  • 2:02

    What do you typically do when you get ready for a trip?

  • 2:07

    Exceptions.

  • 2:08

    Can you tell me about a time when you had a problem taking notes with an app?

  • 2:13

    Exceptions can teach you a lot about frustrations and

  • 2:16

    challenges interviewees experience.

  • 2:19

    Reenactment.

  • 2:20

    Could you please show me how you do that?

  • 2:23

    If an interviewee says something such as,

  • 2:25

    I always do it with this app on my phone, ask them to show you.

  • 2:30

    Don't settle for

  • 2:31

    the story if they can easily demonstrate what they're talking about.

  • 2:36

    In many cases, you will learn that the story doesn't really match the behavior.

  • 2:41

    Failures.

  • 2:42

    What would be the worst case scenario?

  • 2:45

    Can you tell me about a time when this didn't work?

  • 2:48

    This is an excellent way to attract stories about pain points,

  • 2:52

    frustrations, and challenges.

  • 2:54

    Fill in the blank.

  • 2:56

    So in that situation, you, and then you take a long pause.

  • 3:01

    The power of silence is unimaginable.

  • 3:04

    As humans, we feel silence must be filled in.

  • 3:07

    It's a vacuum.

  • 3:08

    So just shut up, trust your question, and wait for them to answer.

  • 3:13

    This is true for every question.

  • 3:15

    After you ask it, you will feel a need to explain what you meant,

  • 3:19

    especially if the interviewee is quiet for a few seconds.

  • 3:23

    Hold yourself and just shut up.

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