Questions to Ask in a User Interview
For UX researchers, product managers, designers and founders who want questions to ask during a user interview: a one-to-one discovery conversation about someone's work and its problems, held before any product is shown. The list follows the conversation in order, from a warm-up, through the last time the person did the task, the tools and workarounds they rely on and what the problem costs them, to the probes that keep an answer going and the close. 'This' in a question stands for the task you are studying, and each note says what a strong or a worrying answer sounds like, or what to do with it.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Warm-up
Can you tell me a little about what you do and what a normal week looks like?
Why ask it
An easy opener that lets the person hear their own voice before anything harder is asked. Notice whether the task you are studying turns up in their week without you naming it. If it never does, you may be talking to someone who does not have the problem, and it is better to learn that in the first five minutes.
What are you responsible for, and who is counting on you for it?
Why ask it
Job titles hide a lot, so ask about duties instead. The second half tells you whose deadline or approval shapes how they work, which often explains choices that would otherwise look strange later in the conversation.
How long have you been in this role, and what were you doing before?
Why ask it
A newcomer and a ten-year veteran will describe the same task very differently, and you need to know which account you are hearing. Veterans have often stopped noticing steps that still trip up a beginner, so ask them to slow down when you reach the walk-through.
Where does this fit among everything else you have to get done?
Why ask it
You are finding out whether your topic is a main part of the job or a chore squeezed in at the edges. A worrying sign is someone straining to make it sound important because they can tell it matters to you. Take a shrug at face value and write it down.
How often does this come up for you, and when was the most recent time?
Why ask it
Frequency tells you how fresh their memory will be. Something done last Tuesday can be retold in detail, while something done once a year comes back as a tidy summary and should be treated as one. The second half gives you the date to anchor the next group of questions on.
Who else is involved when you do this?
Why ask it
Few tasks are done alone. The names that come out, a manager who signs off, a colleague who supplies the numbers, a client who waits on the result, are people whose needs shape the work and whom you may want to interview next.
Last time
Tell me about the last time you did this. What set it off?
Why ask it
The rest of the interview hangs on this one, because a specific occasion can be retold while 'how I usually do it' gets invented on the spot. If they answer with 'typically' or 'normally', bring them back gently to the one occasion and its date. The trigger tells you where a solution would have to show up to be noticed.
Can you walk me through what you did, from the first step to the last?
Why ask it
Stay quiet and let the account run in order. Steps that sound dull to the teller, such as copying a figure from one screen to another, are often the ones worth the whole interview. When they skip ahead, ask what came in between.
Would you be willing to show me how you did it?
Why ask it
A shared screen, a photo of the whiteboard or the actual spreadsheet will contradict the spoken account in small, useful ways. Ask them to hide anything private first, and check what your own organization and theirs allow before you record or keep a copy. If they would rather not, move on without pressing.
What were you ultimately trying to get done that day?
Why ask it
The task is rarely the goal. Someone building a report wants to walk into a meeting without being caught out, and that larger aim is what any alternative has to serve. If the answer just restates the task, ask what the finished thing was for.
What was the hardest part?
Why ask it
Ask it plainly and do not suggest candidates. A good answer points at one step in the story they just told. If they say nothing was hard, believe them for now and listen later for the places where they sighed, waited or did something twice.
Why was that part hard?
Why ask it
The step they name is a symptom, and the reason behind it is what you can design for. 'The export is slow' and 'I never trust the export, so I check every row' are different problems with the same first answer. Keep your tone curious, since a bare 'why' can sound like a challenge.
Where did you have to stop and wait for someone or something?
Why ask it
Waiting rarely gets mentioned because it does not feel like work. Each pause, for an approval, a reply or a file, is a point where the task leaves this person's hands, and it tells you whether the delay is theirs to fix at all.
How did you know when you were finished?
Why ask it
It draws out their own standard for good enough, which may be a checklist, a manager's nod or simply running out of time. An answer like 'when it was due' suggests quality is being traded for the deadline, so ask what got left out.
What did you do with the result, and who saw it?
Why ask it
Following the output downstream shows who the real audience is. If it went into a folder nobody opens, the task may be a ritual, and making a ritual faster is a weak thing to build on.
Was that occasion typical, or was something different about it?
Why ask it
One story is one data point, and the person can say how far it generalizes better than you can guess. If the last time was unusual, ask for the time before it and compare the two accounts yourself instead of asking for an average.
Can you tell me about a time this went badly wrong?
Why ask it
A failure is usually remembered in detail, including who was upset and what it took to recover. If nothing comes to mind after a real pause, the stakes may be lower than you assumed. Do not coach an example out of them. Note the absence and continue.
Tools
What do you use to get this done today?
Why ask it
Expect more than software: a notebook, a shared inbox, a colleague who 'just knows'. Write the list in their words and ask what each item is for. Whatever they name is what you are really competing with, however humble it looks.
How did you end up doing it this way?
Why ask it
The history shows how much of the current setup was chosen and how much was inherited. Someone who picked the tool has reasons you can learn from. Someone who was handed it may have no attachment to it, or no power to change it.
What do you like about the way you do it now?
Why ask it
Interviewers skip this because they are hunting for pain, and then they design away something people depend on. Whatever is named here is the bar a replacement must clear. 'I can do it without thinking' is a real answer and a hard one to beat.
Where does your current setup let you down?
Why ask it
Ask it straight after the question about what they like, in the same flat tone, so the pair stays even and 'it does not, really' is an easy thing to say. A useful answer points at a moment: the day the file would not open, the month the numbers did not match. A list of gripes from someone who has never tried anything else is cheap, so weigh it against what they have built, tried or gone looking for.
Where have you had to build something of your own to fill a gap, such as a spreadsheet, a template or a reminder?
Why ask it
A homemade fix is evidence that the problem was worth someone's effort, which opinions never give you. Ask to see it and ask when it was last updated. One that is maintained every week means the need is alive. One abandoned months ago means the pain faded or the fix was too much trouble.
What have you tried and then given up on?
Why ask it
The reason something was dropped is usually more specific than any complaint about the current setup: too slow to set up, nobody else adopted it, the free trial ran out. Ask how long they stuck with it. A string of abandoned attempts can mean a real unsolved need or a person who enjoys trying tools, and the follow-up sorts out which.
Have you gone looking for a better way, and where did you look?
Why ask it
Searching, asking a peer or sitting through a demo all take effort, and effort already spent is the signal here. Agreeing that it is annoying while never having looked puts the problem below the line where people act. Record which it was without arguing.
What do you keep track of outside your tools, in your head, on paper or in a chat thread?
Why ask it
This is where the unofficial process lives. Things carried in memory are fragile, and people often say so themselves once asked. Ask what happened the last time one of those things slipped.
Who would have to agree before you could change how this is done?
Why ask it
The person in front of you may feel the problem and have no say over the fix. Ask how a change like that gets decided where they work instead of assuming, and write down the names. If the answer is 'just me', check that against the last change they actually made.
Cost
Roughly how long did it take the last time, start to finish?
Why ask it
Tie the estimate to the occasion they already described, since people guess averages badly. Ask for elapsed time and hands-on time separately: forty minutes of work spread over three days is a different problem from one unbroken afternoon.
What happens if this is late or does not get done, and who notices?
Why ask it
Consequences are how you tell an irritation from a problem. A good answer has a person and an effect in it: a client chased, a payment missed, an evening lost. If nobody notices, be honest in your notes that the cost is mostly private annoyance.
What got pushed aside to make room for it?
Why ask it
Time only costs something if it was taken from somewhere, and this asks where. Some people name the work they would rather be doing, which tells you what they would do with time handed back. If the honest answer is 'nothing, really', the hours may not be as scarce as you hoped.
What have you already spent on this, in money or in other people's hours?
Why ask it
Past spending is the nearest thing an interview gives you to evidence of what the problem is worth. A subscription, a contractor or a colleague's half day each week all count. Do not ask what they would pay for something new: that is a guess about a product that does not exist, and people guess kindly.
When you last bought something to help with your work, how did that purchase happen?
Why ask it
The story reveals the real route: a personal card, a request to a manager, a review that ran for months. Routes differ by employer and by the size of the purchase, so one person's account covers only their own workplace. It is far more reliable than asking who 'would' approve something.
What are the two or three things you most want to fix or improve in your work right now?
Why ask it
Ask it without naming your topic and let the list come out on its own. If the problem you are studying is on it, ask what they have done about it so far. If it is missing, do not prompt for it: a problem that stays off the list can be real and still be a long way from anyone's attention or budget.
Probing
Can you tell me more about that?
Why ask it
The probe you will use most, for any answer that stops a sentence too soon. Leave it bare: adding a direction, as in 'tell me more about the cost', chooses the interesting part for them, and which part they pick up on their own is worth knowing. After every single answer it starts to sound like a tic, so take turns with a nod and a pause.
Can you give me an example of that?
Why ask it
Reach for it whenever an answer is a generalization, an opinion or an adjective. A real example arrives with a day, a place and other people in it. If none comes, the statement was probably a belief about themselves, which is still worth writing down as such.
You called it 'a mess' a moment ago. What makes it a mess for you?
Why ask it
Swap in whatever word they actually used. Repeating it back exactly, without paraphrase, shows you were listening and keeps your own vocabulary out of their mouth. Words like 'clunky', 'manual' and 'a pain' each cover several different complaints until you ask.
And then what happened?
Why ask it
The plainest follow-up there is, and the one least likely to steer. Use it to keep a story moving past the point where the teller thinks the interesting part is over. Three or four in a row is fine as long as each one follows something they just said.
Why does that matter to you?
Why ask it
One or two of these in sequence usually gets from a feature-sized complaint to the reason behind it, such as looking competent to a boss or getting home on time. Stop when the answers start repeating or the person looks cornered.
You said that is what you usually do. What did you do the most recent time?
Why ask it
'Usually' describes the person someone believes they are. The most recent time describes what happened, and the two can differ more than either of you expects. When they do, ask what got in the way, without any hint that they have been caught out.
What was going through your mind at that point?
Why ask it
Use it at a decision in the story: the moment they chose to redo something, ask for help or give up. You get the reasoning and the worry behind the action, which a list of steps leaves out. The older the event, the more of the answer is reconstruction, so save it for recent ones.
You mentioned wishing it could do that. What would it let you do that you cannot do now?
Why ask it
When a participant proposes a feature, thank them and ask this in place of debating the idea. The request is their guess at a solution, and the answer here is the need under it, which you may be able to meet another way. Write down both.
Is that something you have done, or something you think you would do?
Why ask it
It separates a report from a prediction without calling anyone out. People mean their predictions about themselves and still often turn out wrong, so mark the two differently in your notes. If it turns out to be a 'would', ask about the closest thing they have really done.
Can I repeat the steps back to you so you can correct me?
Why ask it
Summarize in their words and in order, then stop talking. The corrections are the valuable part, since people often find it easier to fix a wrong summary than to volunteer a missing detail. Keep to the facts of what happened and leave your interpretation out, or you will get polite agreement with your theory.
Closing
Looking back over everything you told me, which part costs you the most?
Why ask it
You have heard several complaints and it is tempting to rank them yourself. Their ranking is the data. Be ready for a surprise: the thing they spent ten minutes on may be a minor irritation, and the real cost something mentioned in passing.
If you could change one thing about how this works, what would it be?
Why ask it
The 'magic wand' question is hypothetical, so use it once, late, and treat the answer as a pointer to pain and not as a specification. Follow at once with what that change would let them do, then ask when the lack of it last cost them something. That returns you to real events.
What should I have asked you that I did not?
Why ask it
It hands over the agenda at the point when the person understands what you are after. Wait through the silence. What comes out is sometimes a whole topic your discussion guide never covered, and if the same one comes up in three interviews it belongs in the guide.
Who else do you know who deals with this, and would you be willing to introduce me?
Why ask it
Finding the right people is the slow part of interviewing, and an introduction from someone they know gets answered where a cold message often does not. The reply is also a small signal: someone who immediately names two colleagues with the same headache is telling you the problem is shared and talked about. Ask for people unlike them as well, or every referral will sound the same.
Would it be all right if I came back to you with a follow-up question or something to react to?
Why ask it
Ask while the goodwill is fresh, and say honestly what form it might take and how soon. A yes gives you someone to test with in later rounds. Agreeing costs them nothing in the moment, so do not read it as demand. What counts is whether they reply when you do write.
What questions do you have for me?
Why ask it
End by giving the floor back, and answer straight, including what will happen to what they told you and who will see it. Their questions also show what they think the conversation was about. If they ask when they can get the thing you never mentioned building, check whether you led them there.
How to run a user interview
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the interview
Write down what you need to learn, then hide it
Start with the three or four things your team does not know: whether people have the problem, how they cope now, what it costs them. Those are research questions, and they are never read aloud. 'Would you use a tool that did this?' is a research question in disguise. The interview questions on this page are how you get at it sideways, through what the person has already done.
Recruit by behavior, not by job title
The best participant did the task recently and can remember it. Screen with one question about the past, such as when they last did it, and leave out anyone who cannot name an occasion. Friends, colleagues and existing fans are easy to book and will be kind to you, so balance them with strangers.
Keep the product out of the room
Once you describe your idea or show a screen, the person turns into a polite reviewer of it, and you stop hearing about their work. Run the discovery conversation first. If you must show something, hold it for the last ten minutes or a separate session, and do not let it color the questions that come before.
Settle consent and recording first
Rules on recording a call, storing what someone told you and offering a thank-you payment differ by country, by state and by employer. Check what applies where you and the participant are and what your own organization requires before you book anyone. Whatever the rules, ask permission at the start, say who will see the notes, and tell the person they can skip any question.
Choose fewer questions than you want
A half-hour conversation carries far fewer prepared questions than the list above, because the follow-ups are where the time should go. Take one or two from Warm-up, let Last time have about half the session, pick a few from Tools and Cost, and keep two from Closing. The Probing group is not planned. You use those as the answers call for them.
During the conversation
Ask about the past, not the future
'Would you', 'could you see yourself' and 'how much would you pay' all ask a person to predict their own behavior, and the predictions come out optimistic and agreeable. Turn each one into its past-tense twin: 'when did you last', 'what did you do', 'what have you paid for'. If there is no past to ask about, that is your finding.
Take the answer out of the question
'How frustrating is the export?' has already decided the export is frustrating. 'Tell me about exporting' has decided nothing. Leave out adjectives, do not offer a menu of answers to pick from, and do not finish their sentence when they hesitate. If you catch yourself starting with 'Don't you think', stop and start again.
One question, then wait
Where a question on this page has two halves, ask the first, let the answer finish, then ask the second. After any answer, count silently to five before you speak. People fill a pause with the detail they were deciding whether to mention, and it is frequently better than what came before it.
Keep the same face for every answer
If you brighten when someone describes the problem you hoped to find, they will give you more of it. Use one neutral acknowledgment, such as 'thank you, that helps', for good news and bad alike. Never correct a participant about how a tool works or what they should have done. Their misunderstanding is part of what you came for.
Get their words down
Bring a second person to take notes if you can, or record with permission, so you can keep your eyes on the participant. Capture phrases exactly as spoken and mark each note as something they did, something they think or something they say they would do. That marking is tedious and saves you from your own memory later.
Making sense of what you heard
Write it up the same day
Within a few hours you still remember tone, hesitation and what surprised you. A day later you remember your conclusions. Spend fifteen minutes straight after the call on the facts, the quotes and the things you did not expect, before you talk to anyone on your team about it.
Weigh actions above opinions, and opinions above predictions
A workaround someone built, money already spent, a search already made and an introduction freely offered are the strong signals. 'That would be really useful' is a compliment and should count for nothing. 'I would definitely buy that' is a prediction made to a friendly stranger and counts for less than it feels like at the time.
Look across people before you conclude
One interview is a story. The same step named as hard by several people who do not know each other is a pattern. There is no set number of interviews that is enough, so keep going until new conversations stop surprising you, and treat a lone vivid account as a lead to check instead of a result.
Let it change your questions
If the first three people all bring up something your guide never asks about, add it. If a question keeps producing shrugs, drop it. A discussion guide that looks the same after ten interviews as it did before the first is a sign that nobody was listening for what was not on it.
Mistakes to avoid
Pitching halfway through
The moment a participant describes a problem you can solve, the urge to say so is strong. Say it and the interview is over: every later answer is a reaction to your pitch. Note it, keep asking, and tell them about the idea after the last question if you still want to.
Asking them to design it
'What features would you want?' hands your job to someone who has not thought about it and will answer anyway. Participants are experts in their own work and its troubles. Ask about those, and take any feature they suggest as a clue to the trouble behind it.
Explaining the problem to the person who has it
'That must be really frustrating' and 'so the issue is the approvals' feel like empathy and work as leading questions. Many people will go along with a confident summary of their own feelings. Ask how it was for them and accept an answer that is milder than you hoped.
Reading the list in order
A participant who starts describing last Tuesday in the first minute has already moved to Last time, so go with them and come back for the warm-up details later. The groups follow the usual shape of the conversation. They are not a script, and a good follow-up beats the next prepared question every time.