User Interviews
There's no substitute for sitting down with your users and listening.
What is it?
User interviews are one-on-one conversations designed to understand users' experiences, motivations, and pain points. They uncover the 'why' behind behaviors that analytics and surveys can't explain.
When to use it
Conduct interviews in the discovery phase to understand needs, during design to validate concepts, or post-launch to understand adoption patterns.
How to do it
Prepare an interview guide with 8-12 open-ended questions.
Recruit 5-8 participants per user segment.
Start broad, then probe deeper. Follow the user's thread, not just your script.
Record (with consent) and take structured notes.
Synthesize across interviews: look for patterns, not individual opinions.
Pro tips
Ask 'Tell me about a time when...' instead of 'Do you like...?' Stories reveal truth.
Silence is powerful. Let uncomfortable pauses hang. Users will fill them with gold.