UI Breakfast: UI/UX Design and Product Strategy

Episode 280: User Interviewing Techniques with Steve Portigal

9 snips
Mar 8, 2024
In this discussion, Steve Portigal, a seasoned user research consultant and author of "Interviewing Users," shares invaluable insights into effective user interviewing techniques. He emphasizes the importance of preparation, including crafting insightful interview guides and understanding participant dynamics. Steve highlights the duality of excitement and anxiety in interviews and offers tips on reading non-verbal cues. He also compares the roles of a podcast host and a research interviewer, and stresses the need for ethical sensitivity while building meaningful connections with users.
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
ANECDOTE

Adapting When Interviews Go Off-Track

  • Steve Portigal shares an experience where the prepared interview questions did not work as expected because participants were uninterested in the topic.
  • He adapted and uncovered unexpected insights about human connection that redirected client focus effectively.
ADVICE

Prepare Research Purpose First

  • Collaborate with stakeholders to clarify business challenges and research questions before interviews.
  • Prepare an interview guide and manage participant expectations to align on the interview purpose and flow.
ADVICE

Craft Detailed Interview Guide

  • Build an interview guide as a detailed map with topics, questions, and estimated timings.
  • Prepare more questions than needed and allow flexibility to improvise during the conversation.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app