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While there's no exact way to conduct a user interview, there are definite questions and styles you should avoid so you can encourage honest and helpful answers.
What to Avoid in a User Interview
- Don't intimidate. Standing while your interviewee is sitting is not a good idea. You're intimidating them.
- Don't ask sensitive, personal questions. They make your participants uncomfortable.
- Don't ask yes/no questions without asking why.
- Don't ask long questions. By the time you finish, they forget what you asked.
- Don't use jargon because they don't understand it.
- Don't talk too much.
- Don't explain your questions.
- Don't ignore body language. While they might say one thing, their body language might be saying something else.
- Don't ask for product feedback. You don't want feedback, you want to observe behavior.
- Don't ask to predict the future. We talked about that.
- Don't pitch your product. This is not a sales call. This is an interview.
- *Don't analyze the answers in your mind. * You'll have time for that later.
The following are things you should
definitely avoid during user interviews.
0:00
Don't confuse your interviewee,
mess up your data, and
0:04
result in invalid unreliable conclusions.
0:09
Don't intimidate.
0:12
Standing while your interviewee
is sitting is not a good idea.
0:14
You're intimidating them.
0:18
Don't ask sensitive personal, questions,
they make your participants uncomfortable.
0:20
Don't ask yes or
no questions without asking why.
0:27
Don't ask long questions.
0:32
By the time you finish,
they forgot what you asked.
0:35
Don't use jargon because
they don't understand it.
0:39
Don't talk too much.
0:43
Don't explain your questions.
0:45
Don't ignore body language.
0:48
While they might say one thing, their body
language might be saying something else.
0:50
Don't ask for a product feedback.
0:56
You don't want feedback,
you wanna observe behavior.
0:59
Don't ask to predict the future.
1:04
We talked about that.
1:06
Don't pitch your product.
1:09
This is not a sales call,
this is an interview.
1:10
Don't analyze the answers in your mind.
1:15
You'll have time for that later.
1:18
That's a lot to remember,
but practice makes perfect.
1:21
In the next step, I'll walk you through
a transcript of a user interview.
1:25
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