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Writing an effective guide for a ux interview.

February 28, 2021 2021-02-28

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In the discovery phase of product development, user interviews are often used to capture important information about users: their backgrounds, beliefs, motivations, desires, or needs. Typically, the interviews carried out at this stage are semistructured (referred to as “depth interviews” by market researchers) — they generally have a predefined structure, but also allow the interviewer the flexibility to follow up on significant statements made by participants.

In a semistructured interview, the interviewer uses an interview guide (also referred to as a discussion guide). Unlike an interview script — which is used in structured interviews — an interview guide can be used flexibly: interviewers can ask questions in any order they see fit, omit questions, or ask questions that are not in the guide.

A good interview guide paves the way for a deep, free-flowing conversation with participants. (Obviously, the way you conduct the interview will also be important, but that’s another article!) Interview guides should include a few concise, open-ended questions to encourage participants to tell their stories. These will be followed by carefully crafted, probing questions to uncover motivations or beliefs behind certain reported behaviors or utterances.

Constructing a good interview guide can be tricky and time-consuming. It’s not uncommon to spend a full day crafting one. However, it’s important to have one to ensure you get the most out of your interviews. Without an interview guide you run the risk of:

Asking leading questions as you try to think of questions on the spot
Not covering topics relevant to your research questions in each interview

Ultimately, without an interview guide, you are in danger of compromising the validity of your data. Here are some steps meant to help you create an interview guide if you’re new to this practice.

Sometimes the research questions are clear and obvious. However, sometimes they’re not. Maybe you’ve realized you need to speak to users because you don’t know anything about them. Good! But what do you want to find out from them? These are your research questions. Write these out first before working on your interview guide, as they will shape your interview questions. Below are some examples of research questions:

What are users’ expectations in this situation?
How do users make a decision in this situation?
How have users managed to solve this problem in the past?
What aspects of this product do users care most about, and why?

Next, note down all interview questions that come to mind. It doesn’t matter whether they are good or poor — you’ll deal with that later. You can use mind maps , digital whiteboards, or a simple list — whatever works for you! Sometimes, further research questions pop up here. That’s fine; add them to your list of research questions.

It’s typical after step 2 to have a long list of mostly closed questions. Those kinds of questions wouldn’t make for a good interview because they won’t allow for unanticipated stories and statements to emerge and can limit your ability to build rapport with the participant. (Rapport is important if you’re looking to gather accurate, in-depth information from your participants.)

Review your list of questions and ask yourself, for each interview question, is there a broader, more open-ended version of that question that you can ask instead?

For example, consider the following closed questions that could be asked in an interview with an employee.

Do you work in an office?
Is the work mostly desk-based or paper-based?
Do you have to attend meetings during the workday?
Do you work in a team?

The above questions could be answered by asking the participant to describe a typical day at work. It’s likely that in doing so, the participant may cover all or many of the above. If the participant has not covered everything, then some of these can be asked as follow-up questions.

Example questions, that prompt the user to recall a certain event and are similar to those used in the critical-incident method , are excellent for gathering stories and unanticipated statements. For instance, imagine you’re conducting an interview to learn about people’s experiences cooking at home. The following example questions provide the opportunity for participants to tell many different stories and give you a glimpse into their lives.

Tell me about the last time you cooked at home.
Tell me about a time where you cooked something new.
Tell me about a time when you cooked something that turned out well.
Tell me about a time when you cooked something that didn’t turn out as you hoped.
Tell me about a time when you were thinking about cooking something but decided to get takeout instead?

Align each interview question to your research questions. If you have research questions that are not addressed by any of your interview questions, fill in the gap by crafting some more interview questions. Repeat step 3 if needed.

The interview guide can include your research questions. Some researchers like to remind themselves of the aims of the research by displaying these either at the top of the guide or alongside the interview questions.

To make the conversation flow in a logical order and seem natural think about the best order for your questions . For example, if you’re talking about an experience people have had, it makes sense to move in a chronological order. If the experience has set phases (such as discover , choose , purchas e, use , review ) that you might have documented in a user-journey map , service blueprint , or experience map then you may want to align your questions to these phases. That’s not to say you can’t depart from this order in the interview if you need to!

You should also think about preparing some warmup questions that are open-ended and easy to answer to build rapport at the beginning of your interview. For example, “Tell me a little about yourself” is a typical opening question which gets the participant talking. Any questions that require reflection should be featured later in your guide; introducing them too early could be overwhelming and you might get stereotypical responses, as participants haven’t had a chance to recall events, feelings, and form judgments.

Once you’ve ordered your questions, go through each one and prepare followup questions meant to provide you with additional detail and clarification , such as “Where were you when this happened?”, “When did that happen?”, “Tell me why you did that?”, and so on.

You can include probing questions , too, to help you to remember to ask them — for example, “Tell me more about that”, “Tell me why you felt that way”, “Why is that important to you?”

Piloting your guide will give you an idea of:

Questions you should ask but aren’t yet included in your guide
Questions that need rewording
Whether the question order works
Whether you will have time for all your questions

Recruit a pilot participant and give yourself enough time to make some changes. It’s okay to make updates to your guide throughout your interviews, but the point of piloting your guide is to fix any glaring issues before commencing research.

A guide will provide focus to your interviews and ensure that they are successful. Your interview guide should consist of broad, open-ended questions that allow participants to tell you about their experience in detail. These questions will be accompanied by many probing and followup questions, used to capture further details and gain clarification. You can download an example of an interview guide to refer to as you create your own interview guides.

Example Interview Guide (PDF)

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How to conduct effective user interviews for UX research

User interviews are a popular UX research technique, providing valuable insight into how your users think and feel. Learn about the different types of user interviews and how to conduct your own in this guide.

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user interviews in UX research blog header

User research is fundamental for good UX. It helps you get to know your users and design products that meet their needs and solve their pain-points.

One of the most popular UX research methods is user interviews. With this technique, you get to hear from your users first-hand, learning about their needs, goals, expectations, and frustrations—anything they think and feel in relation to the problem space.

But when should you conduct user interviews and how do you make sure they yield valuable results?

Follow this guide and you’ll be a user interview pro. We explain:

What are user interviews in UX research?

What are the different types of user interviews, when should you conduct user interviews, what data and insights do you get from user interviews, how to conduct effective user interviews for ux research: a step-by-step guide.

What happens next? How to analyse your user interview data

First things first: What are user interviews?

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Interviews are one of the most popular UX research methods. They provide valuable insight into how your users think, feel, and talk about a particular topic or scenario—allowing you to paint a rich and detailed picture of their needs and goals.

interviews take place on a one-to-one basis, with a UX designer or UX researcher asking the user questions and recording their answers. They can last anywhere between 30 minutes and an hour, and they can be done at various stages of a UX design project.

There are several different types of user interviews. They can be:

Structured, semi-structured, or unstructured
Generative, contextual, or continuous
Remote or in-person

Let’s explore these in more detail.

Structured vs. semi-structured vs. unstructured user interviews

Structured interviews follow a set list of questions in a set order. The questions are usually closed—i.e. there’s a limit to how participants can respond (e.g. “Yes” or “No”). Structured interviews ensure that all research participants get exactly the same questions, and are most appropriate when you already have a good understanding of the topic/area you’re researching.

Structured interviews also make it easier to compare the data gathered from each interview. However, a disadvantage is that they are rather restrictive; they don’t invite much elaboration or nuance.

Semi-structured interviews are based on an interview guide rather than a full script, providing some pre-written questions. These tend to be open-ended questions, allowing the user to answer freely. The interviewer will then ask follow-up questions to gain a deeper understanding of the user’s answers. Semi-structured interviews are great for eliciting rich user insights—but, without a set script of questions, there’s a high risk of researcher bias (for example, asking questions that unintentionally lead the participant in a certain direction).

Unstructured user interviews are completely unscripted. It’s up to the interviewer to come up with questions on the spot, based on the user’s previous answers. These are some of the trickiest types of user interviews—you’re under pressure to think fast while avoiding questions that might bias the user’s answer. Still, if done well, unstructured interviews are great if you have very little knowledge or data about the domain and want to explore it openly.

Generative vs. contextual vs. continuous user interviews

Generative user interviews are ideal for early-stage exploration and discovery. They help you to uncover what you don’t know—in other words, what insights are you missing? What user problem should you be trying to solve? Which areas and topics can you identify for further user research? Generative interviews are usually unstructured or semi-structured.

Contextual user interviews take place in a specific context—while the user is carrying out a certain task, for example. This allows you to not only observe the user’s actions/behaviour first-hand, but also to ask questions and learn more about why the user takes certain actions and how they feel in the process. Contextual interviews tend to be semi-structured.

Continuous user interviews are conducted as part of continuous UX research. While traditional user research is done within the scope of a specific project, continuous UX research is ongoing, conducted at regular interviews (e.g. weekly or monthly) with the goal of continuous product improvement. Continuous interviews are like regular check-ins with your users, giving you ongoing insight into their needs, goals, and pain-points.

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Remote vs. in-person user interviews

A final distinction to make is between remote and in-person interviews.

In-person user interviews take place with the user and researcher in the same room. A big advantage of in-person interviews is that you’re privy to the user’s body language—an additional insight into how they feel.

Remote user interviews take place via video call. Like any kind of remote work, they’re more flexible and may be more accessible for research participants as they don’t require any travel.

User interviews provide value at various stages of a design project. You can use them for:

Discovery and ideation —when you want to learn more about your target users and the problems they need you to solve.
UX testing and product improvement —when you want to get user feedback on an existing design concept or solution.
Continuous UX research —you can run regular interviews as part of a continuous UX research framework.

Let’s take a closer look.

User interviews for discovery and ideation

User interviews can be useful right at the beginning of a UX project, when you don’t know much (or anything) about the domain and don’t yet have a design direction. At this stage, everything is pretty open and your user interviews will be exploratory.

Conducting user interviews early in the process will help you to answer questions such as “Who are our target users?”, “What problems do they need us to solve?” and “What are their goals and expectations in relation to the problem space?”

Here you’ll be focusing on generative user interviews (i.e. finding out what you don’t know), and they’ll likely be unstructured or semi-structured.

User interviews as part of UX testing and product improvement

User interviews also come in handy when you have an idea or concept you want to evaluate, or even a working product you want to test.

At this stage, you might present the user with a prototype and ask them questions about it. If you’re further along in the design process, you can run user interviews as an add-on to UX testing —having the user interact with a working prototype (or the product itself) and asking them questions at the same time. These are the contextual interviews we described earlier.

Conducting user interviews at this stage will help you gain insight into how your users feel about a concept/product/experience and to identify pain-points or usability issues within the existing design.

User interviews as part of continuous UX research

User interviews are also valuable as part of a continuous UX research framework. Here, there is no project-specific goal—rather, you’re interviewing users regularly to gain ongoing user insights. This enables you to maintain a user-centric design process and to evolve your product continuously as you learn more about your users.

You can learn more about the importance of continuous UX research here .

User interviews allow you to hear from the user, in their own words, how they think and feel about a particular problem space/experience/task. This provides rich insights into their thoughts, beliefs, experiences, problems, goals, desires, motivations, and expectations, as well as the rationale or thought process behind certain actions.

As such, user interviews generate qualitative data . That is, data which tells you about a person’s thoughts, feelings, and subjective experiences. It’s the opposite of quantitative data which is objective, numerical, and measurable. You can learn more about the difference between quantitative and qualitative user research data here .

Note that user interviews generate self-reported data . Self-reported data is based on what the user chooses to share with you (you’re not observing it; rather, you’re hearing it from the user). It’s how they report to be feeling or thinking.

If you conduct contextual user interviews, you’ll gather a mixture of observational data (based on what you observe the user doing) and self-reported data.

After conducting user interviews, you’ll end up with lots of data in the form of interview transcripts, audio or video recordings, and your own notes. We’ll look at how to analyse your user interview data in the final section of this guide.

First, though, here’s a step-by-step plan you can follow to conduct effective user interviews.

Ready to conduct your own user interviews? Follow our step-by-step guide to get started.

Determine what type of user interviews you’ll conduct
Write your user interview script (or guide)
Set up the necessary tools
Recruit your interview participants
Perfect your interview technique

Let’s walk through our plan step by step.

1. Determine what type of user interviews you’ll conduct

Earlier in this guide, we outlined the different types of user interviews: Structured, semi-structured, and unstructured; generative, contextual, and continuous; and remote and in-person.

The first step is to determine what format your user interviews will take. This depends on:

What stage you’re at in the project/process
What your research goals are

If you’re at the very early stages of a design project, you’ll likely want to keep your user interviews open and exploratory—opting for unstructured or semi-structured interviews.

Perhaps you’ve already got a design underway and want to interview your users as they interact with it. In that case, structured or semi-structured contextual interviews may work best.

Consider what you want to learn from your user interviews and go from there.

2. Write your user interview script (or guide)

How you approach this step will depend on whether you’re conducting structured, semi-structured, or unstructured user interviews.

For structured interviews, you’ll need to write a full interview script—paying attention to the order of the questions. The script should also incorporate follow-up questions; you won’t have the freedom to improvise or ask additional questions outside of your script, so make sure you’re covering all possible ground.

For semi-structured interviews, you’ll write an interview guide rather than a rigid script. Come up with a set list of questions you definitely want to ask and use these—and your users’ answers—as a springboard for follow-up questions during the interview itself.

For unstructured user interviews, you can go in without a script. However, it’s useful to at least brainstorm some questions you might ask to get the interview started.

Regardless of whether you’re conducting structured, semi-structured, or unstructured interviews, it’s essential that your questions are:

Open-ended . These are questions that cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”. They require more elaboration from the user, providing you with much more insightful answers. An example of an open question could be “Can you tell me about your experience of using mobile apps to book train tickets?” versus a closed question such as “Have you ever used a mobile app to book train tickets?”
Unbiased and non-leading . You want to be very careful about how you word your questions. It’s important that you don’t unintentionally lead the user or bias their answer in any way. For example, if you ask “How often do you practise app-based meditation?”, you’re assuming that the user practises meditation at all. A better question would be “What are your thoughts on app-based meditation?”

It’s worth having someone else check your questions before you use them in a user interview. This will help you to remove any unintentionally biased or leading questions which may compromise the quality of your research data.

3. Recruit your interview participants

Your user interviews should involve people who represent your target users. This might be existing customers and/or representative users who fit the persona you would be designing for.

Some common methods for recruiting user research participants include:

Posting on social media
Working with a dedicated agency or platform which will connect you with suitable participants
Recruiting from your own customer or user database

The good thing about user interviews is that you don’t need loads of participants to gather valuable data. Focus on quality over quantity, recruiting between five and ten interviewees who closely match your target group.

4. Set up the necessary tools

Now for the practical matter of getting your user interviews underway. If you’re conducting in-person user interviews, you’ll need to choose an appropriate setting—ideally somewhere quiet and neutral where the user will feel relaxed.

For remote user interviews, you’ll need to set up the necessary software, such as Zoom , dscout , or Lookback . Consult this guide for more UX research tools .

You’ll also need to consider how you’re going to record the user’s answers. Will you use good old fashioned pen and paper, a simple note-taking app, or a recording and transcription software?

Make a list of all the tools you’ll need for a seamless user interview and get everything set up in advance.

5. Perfect your interview technique

As the interviewer, you have an important role to play in ensuring the success of your user interviews. So what makes a good interviewer? Here are some tips to help you perfect your interview technique:

Practise active listening . Show the user that you’re listening to them; maintain eye contact (try not to be too distracted with taking notes), let them speak without rushing, and don’t give any verbal or non-verbal cues that you’re judging their responses.
Get comfortable with silence . In everyday conversations, it can be tempting to fill silences. But, in an interview situation, it’s important to lean into the power of the pause. Let the user think and speak when they’re ready—this is usually when you elicit the most interesting insights.
Speak the user’s language . Communication is everything in user interviews. Don’t alienate the user by speaking “UX speak”—they may not be familiar with industry-specific terms, and this can add unnecessary friction to the experience. Keep it simple, conversational, and accessible.

Ultimately, the key is to put your users at ease and create a space where they can talk openly and honestly. Perfect your interview technique and you’ll find it much easier to build a rapport with your research participants and uncover valuable, candid insights.

What happens next? How to analyse your user interview data

You’ve conducted your user interviews. Now you’re left with lots of unstructured, unorganised qualitative data—i.e. reams of notes. So how do you turn all those interview answers into useful, actionable insights?

The most common technique for analysing qualitative data is thematic analysis . This is where you read through all the data you’ve gathered (in this case, your notes and transcripts) and use ‘codes’ to denote different patterns that emerge across the dataset.

You’ll then ‘code’ different excerpts within your interview notes and transcripts, eventually sorting the coded data into a group of overarching themes.

At this stage, you can create an affinity diagram —writing all relevant findings and data points onto Post-it notes and ‘mapping’ them into topic clusters on a board. This is a great technique for physically working through your data and creating a visualisation of your themes, allowing you to step back and spot important patterns.

With your research data organised and categorised, you can review your findings in relation to your original research objectives. What do the themes and patterns tell you? What actions can you take from your findings? What gaps still need to be filled with further UX research?

As a final step, you might write up a UX research report and present your findings to relevant stakeholders.

Learn more about UX research

We hope you now have a clear understanding of what user interviews are, why they’re such a valuable UX research method, and how to conduct your own user interviews. If you’d like to learn more about user research, continue with these guides:

A complete introduction to card sorting: What is it and how do you do it?
What are UX personas and what are they used for?
What’s the future of UX research? An interview with Mitchell Wakefield, User Researcher at NHS Digital
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Frequently asked questions

Common UX Research Interview Questions

Have you received an interview invitation for the role of UX researcher at your desired organization? If yes, congratulations on this accomplishment!

So, do you have a portfolio? Furthermore, are you prepared to respond effectively to the UX research interview questions ? If you're wondering how to prepare for a UX research job interview , we're here to help!

Answering interview questions goes beyond the standard queries that most interviewees are expected to know. It requires a deep understanding of the field and a mastery of research methodologies and techniques . Let's remember that demonstrating strong problem-solving and critical-thinking skills is equally important.

To stand out and make a lasting impression, it's essential to be well-prepared. Focus on articulating your unique perspective and approach to the challenges of UX research.

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(Find out why user research forms the backbone of the design process .)

We will help you understand how to prepare for a UX researcher job interview and ace all UX researcher interview questions . It covers all questions you may have to answer in a UX researcher job interview.

UX Research Background Questions

Did you know the "tell me about yourself" category of UX research interview questions are the ice-breakers?

They have their own importance in an interview. But the questions you will likely face are related to your overall background as a UX researcher.

It will not make a difference if you are starting as a UX researcher or a seasoned one. Answering these questions gives the hiring manager the exact insight to decide whether you can be a good fit for the role. Here are some UX research questions you can expect related to your background:

What motivated you to pursue a career in UX research?

How do you approach a new research project?

What is your biggest strength as a UX researcher?

How do you keep up with industry trends and advancements?

Can you describe a time when you had to handle a problematic stakeholder and how you approached the situation?

How do you handle a situation where the stakeholders have been skeptical about the project research?

What would you consider as your most significant strengths being a UX researcher?

How did you learn about UX research, and what drives you to continue pursuing this career path?

UX Research Decision-Driven Process Questions

As a UX researcher, any company will expect you to deal with complex situations. You need to be able to make sound decisions based on the data gathered during research.

The ability to make the right decision can mean the difference between a successful project and a failed one. Your skills can shine more with your critical thinking, strong problem-solving abilities, and the ability to prioritize tasks.

In this video, CEO of Experience Dynamics Frank Spillers explains how he used a diary study to research the behavior of Apple Watch users:

Understanding the users' needs and expectations will help you make informed decisions that will benefit the end user. Good decision-making skills also allow you to navigate complex projects confidently and efficiently. It helps you to anticipate potential challenges and take proactive measures to overcome them.

Here are some decision-driven UX research interview questions you can expect:

Can you explain how you prioritize research projects based on business needs?

How do you understand the user pain points and balance user needs with business goals during a research project?

Can you describe a time when you had to make a recommendation based on conflicting research insights?

How do you determine the appropriate sample size for a research project?

How do you ensure that research insights are integrated into the product roadmap?

UX Research Technical Knowledge Questions

As a UX researcher, it's essential to polish your technical knowledge. When preparing for a UX research technical interview , having a solid understanding of technical concepts is helpful. It will allow for more confident and articulate responses.

For instance, knowledge of relevant software can help you explain how you would approach designing a user interface or conducting usability tests. Additionally, understanding technical jargon and practices can assist in communicating effectively with developers and engineers.

UX Research Methods and Techniques

Follow this simple rule: "Stick to what you know best." Here's a list of technical knowledge UX research questions that you can expect in the interview:

What research methods do you typically use?

Can you walk through your process for conducting a usability test ?

How do you analyze and interpret qualitative data?

How do you ensure your research is unbiased?

Can you explain the difference between behavioral and attitudinal research?

Which tools do you use?

UX Research Adaptability Questions

Your portfolio is a valuable asset during the interview process. It serves as a visual representation of your capabilities and showcases the projects and methodologies you have used in the past. It helps the interviewer to understand how quickly you can adapt to constant changes during a project's duration.

Join Steven Gay, UX Lead for Google One, as he shares the power of a portfolio in capturing your design journey and collaboration .

In addition, it can help you to stay organized and focused during an interview. You can easily trace back to your experience when answering complex questions by presenting relevant examples from your previous work.

Sharing real-life examples demonstrating how you have applied your skills and expertise to adapt to challenging situations in specific projects is valuable. This approach makes it easier to address complex questions and showcase your qualifications effectively.

Here are some interview questions for UX researchers related to adaptability:

Can you describe a research project you are particularly proud of and why?

How did you adapt to a situation where the research insights must be aligned with stakeholder expectations?

How do you ensure that research results are actionable and impact the product design ?

Can you describe a time when you had to pivot research strategies mid-project and how you approached the situation?

How have you incorporated user feedback into the product design process?

What is your best experience with any client during the project?

Can you describe your usual process for gathering information before starting any project?

Have you worked on any project that has contributed to a breakthrough for the business?

UX Research Teamwork and Collaboration Questions

Teamwork and collaboration are essential to ensure efficient processes, to see problems from different perspectives, and to get real-time feedback. You'll work closely with other product development , design, and management team members. Here, the goal is to understand the users’ needs to develop effective solutions.

Effective collaboration requires strong communication skills. That means active listening, clear articulation, and the ability to provide constructive feedback. You must be able to conduct user interviews confidently and understand user behavior . Moreover, communicate research findings, insights, and the research plan to team members concisely and in an actionable way.

Learn how team research helps organizations move faster with Laura Klein.

Here are some questions you can expect in the interview related to teamwork and collaboration:

How do you ensure effective communication with team members during a project?

How do you handle disagreements with team members or stakeholders during a project?

Can you describe a time when you had to work with individuals from different departments or teams?

How do you ensure team members are aligned on the research goals and objectives?

Can you describe a time when you had to manage conflicting priorities on a project?

How would you resolve any miscommunication between two stakeholders associated with a project you are leading?

How would you motivate your team members if they are facing a problem?

Can you describe ways of tailoring the project based on different requirements?

UX Research Questions to Ask Your Interviewer

That time of the interview when your interviewer asks, “Any questions for me?” is your final chance to stand out. Most importantly, it's your opportunity to figure out whether the position suits your personality, interests, and qualifications.

Here are some questions to catch your interviewer off-guard (in a good way).

What is the usual approach for your company for a user-centered design , and how does UX research fit into that process?

What software or tools does your organization use for research, design, collaboration, prototyping , etc.?

How does the company ensure that UX research insights are being effectively implemented?

What are the qualities and attributes that can make for a successful UX researcher in the company?

The ice-breaker UX research interview questions still hold their importance. They are basic in nature but helpful in creating that first impression on your interviewer. If you have your technical expertise in place, give equal importance to soft skills as well.

Key Steps to Prepare for a UX Research Job Interview

Moreover, it's good practice to ask your interviewer questions. Try to keep a few questions ready on your end. They can be about the organization, the role, or anything important to you before you decide to join the organization.

Lastly, it's equally important to highlight your ability to collaborate effectively with team members and stakeholders. But if you need a little extra boost to complete your journey as a UX researcher confidently, take courses offered by the IxDF.

The Interaction Design Foundation offers a range of UX courses that will take your career to the next level. Enroll in one of our UX courses today and unleash your UX superpowers!

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The Complete Guide to Conducting UX Research Interviews

Forbes says that every dollar invested in UX yields $100. That’s an impressive 9,900% ROI . However, you can’t create a product for the user if you don’t know what they need. One of the best ways to get data that improves product design is to ask the user.

UX research interviews help researchers, product teams , and UX designers to create better user experiences. The insight you gather helps you understand the needs, wants, and pain points of your target audience.

So, how do you determine who will use your product? Which demographics should you target? How do you design questions that generate the most insight for you? These are some of the questions we’ll be answering.

In this guide, we’ll cover:

What is a UX research interview?
When and why to conduct user interviews
How to recruit participants for user interviews?
How to prepare for a user interview
How to conduct user interviews?
Framing interview questions to uncover insight
Turning interviews into research findings

What is UX research?

UX research is the study of user interaction to obtain insights that improve the design process. With UX research, you can create products and solutions that cater to a user’s needs. The primary goal of UX research is to build products for the end-user based on real data not what you think the user wants.

For example, United Airlines increased online ticketing by 200% and doubled the number of daily sessions by conducting UX research to better understand their audience.

United Airlines increased online ticketing by 200% from user research

UX researchers employ various research methods to gather data and uncover design opportunities. Most researchers start the UX research process with qualitative measures to determine the user’s needs and motivations. However, they also use quantitative methodologies to test their findings.

What Is A User Interview?

UX interview is a qualitative UX research method performed with prospective users of a product during early concept development. It’s a popular technique that allows researchers to cover related topics around the user’s motivations, feelings, and even how they use various products.

During user interviews, the UX researcher asks participants questions around behavior, use of a system, and habits to learn more about a specific topic.

Whereas multiple users are interviewed at once in focus groups, user interviews are one-on-one sessions, usually with several interviewers.

To ensure success, you must define the topic of the interview and choose the right participants for your target group.

When Should You Conduct User Interviews?

Exploration.

According to Interaction Design Foundation , organizations that invest in UX during a project’s concept phase reduce product development cycles by 33 to 50%. Also, the cost of fixing errors after development is 100x more than before development.

Conduct user interviews at the start of the project before you have a clear concept. Data from UX interviews provide a better understanding of different aspects of your user’s daily lives as it relates to the project.

User interviews can also be used when you have an early model. You learn flaws in the product and use the feedback to improve the user experience.

In this scenario, context shows how the product will be used in the user’s domain such as the office, workstation, or daily routine. The insight could form the basis for future user research such as questions to ask in larger surveys.

Observations

After launch, you can combine interviews with observing user actions to see how users interact with your product. Interviews don’t always provide sufficient insight because it’s difficult for users to explain how to use your solution in daily activities.

Contextual inquiry integrates observation and interviews. You ask participants a question and observe them perform an activity with your product. The participant also walks you through their interaction so you can ask follow-up questions after.

Why Should You Conduct User Interviews?

The User Knows Best

According to Acquia, 53% of consumers feel that brands do not meet their experience standards. Dozens of UX research methods are focused on validating ideas, concepts, and designs with a goal to answer the question; “Does this product work?”

The answer is based on a deep understanding of the human psyche, previous knowledge of the problem, and rationality.

However, interviews are more flexible and informal. The structure ensures that you’re getting answers from users to inform product design.

Also, user interviews help you to plug knowledge gaps in your product. Finding information that you weren’t necessarily looking for (good or bad) could make all the difference in a successful product launch.

Gain Deeper Insights Into Topics

If you have a problem that requires further research, user interviews help you to understand the user’s experience or opinion about a concept or product.

It’s a more intimate setting to listen to your target audience talk about an issue and gain a deeper understanding of the topic. They highlight the best features of the product and areas of improvement.

More than just words, you’re listening for clues around how they express themselves when talking about pain points, wishes, and needs.

Humanize Your Product

One of the key steps in conducting user research interviews is to create personas. Each user segment is represented by a name, face, job, and other key demographics you associate with your ideal user.

Each time you conduct an interview, you can check if personas accurately represent your target audience or if there was an important feature you left out when considering demographics.

More importantly, you connect with your audience as humans and understand how the problem affects their daily lives. The insight from such personalized interactions leads to better product integration in their lives.

How to Recruit Participants For UX Research Interviews

how to recruit for user interviews ux research

1. Decide Whom to Recruit

As a rule of thumb, you should recruit participants that represent your end-users. Characteristics could be as narrow or broad as the scope of the project. However, it’s crucial to have a diverse group and to consider accessibility, such as how disabled users would interact with your design.

To prevent bias, avoid recruiting your colleagues, family members, or close friends. They may feel obliged to say nice things about the product which defeats the purpose of the research.

Also, avoid recruiting many participants from one profession. Interaction Design describes this risk as deformation professionelle .

For example, if you’re creating a robot vacuum and you only invite women 35 and older, you risk alienating men or younger people who may have a need for the product. This demographic provides feedback based on their knowledge of similar solutions and it could lead to dysfunctional products that are unable to please. Make sure you’re capturing participants across all segments of your audience.

However, none of this would be possible if you haven’t mapped out buyer personas to guide recruitment.

2. Build Research Panels

Building a database of prospective research participants requires time investment. However, it creates a sustainable process for finding research candidates quickly. A research panel also ensures that you’re contacting people who are interested in your product.

Use the following research methodologies to help:

3. Through Customer Support

Since customer support teams have direct interactions with customers, they can help you identify participants for research projects. They regularly get feedback from customers who want to suggest future product improvements or complain about features that aren’t working for them.

4. Live Intercepts

Live intercept is an affordable way to capture users in real-time as they’re doing tasks. You can use tools like Ethnio to identify and screen website uses who may be a good fit for your research.

Neilsen Norman used this technique to recruit participants for a moderated usability study aimed at evaluating the success of their content.

Image Source: NNN Group

If users qualify, you can schedule a conversation and include other researchers to observe remotely .

5. Social Media

Social media is a great way to show your target audience that you’re invested in improving product experience as well as promoting the role of research in your company.

If you have a decent to a large following on social media platforms, ask your followers if they would like to participate in your research project.

For example, if your target audience is a group of mums with toddlers, you could search Facebook for relevant communities. Here’s a sample result

Conversely, if the product is for SaaS founders, you could find participants both on Facebook and LinkedIn communities.

Where does your target audience hang out? That’s where you want to be.

6. Search Online communities

Similar to social media, online communities like Reddit and Slack channels have ready-made participants waiting for you.

If you’re creating software to improve product design, you’d want a group of product designers for your user interview. I searched Google for “product design Slack” and this featured snippet came up.

How to Conduct User Interviews?

Before the interview

Screen participants.

At this stage, you have a list of participants, but not everyone is going to be a great fit for your project. Screening user research participants help you find candidates who represent your ideal target audience.

A few tips to help ensure screening success include:

Define the attributes you want to see in participants such as behaviors, psychographics, and demographics
Ensure you have a diverse pool of candidates
Write down your screener questions based on the attributes above
Ask qualifying questions at the beginning of the survey
Use a survey tool to build a library of screening questions
Use accessible language and avoid jargon-speak
Limit the number of open-ended questions
Keep the screener short and precise
Start broad and get narrow as you progress

Determine Incentives for Participants

Incentives are a great way to entice participants for UX research. When determining incentives, make sure it’s commensurate with the time and efforts of participants or you’ll risk a low response rate.

Ensure that people aren’t signing up just for the money or their responses might not be as insightful. An NN Group research found that 63% of incentives are monetary, 13% received a mix of monetary and non-monetary incentives and 9% didn’t receive an incentive.

However, non-monetary incentives tend to be the norm for remote interviews. An Amazon gift card or prepaid visa card ensures participants show up and are engaged during the interview process.

Set Clear Goals

It’s crucial that you have a clear purpose for each interview project.

A few questions to guide you here include:

What information do I need from our users?
How will the knowledge inform the UX design process?
What do stakeholders want to learn from the research?

Make sure stakeholder goals are realistic. Broad goals make it impossible to get feedback that is relevant to your UX design needs.

Prepare for the Interview

Allocate sufficient time for each interview and prep time between interviews. You’ll need to go through your interview guide to feel confident when starting the interview.

Write Down Your UX Research Interview Questions

Never go into a user interview without a discussion guide. This is not the place to “wing it”. A discussion guide is a document that contains a list of questions to ask research participants. It must be tied to the purpose of the research and chosen according to your learning goal.

Preparing a list of questions ensures that you will:

Include your team’s feedback in the interview process
Write clear and concise question
Cover all the questions you wanted to ask, which wouldn’t be possible on the spot

Here are Some User Interview Questions to Get the Most Insight

Discovery Questions

Tell us about yourself and your background?
How did you feel before this product?
What are the problems you want this product to solve for you?
How did you feel after you started using this product?
If this company went out of business, what alternative would you use instead?
What do you like about the product?
What do you dislike about the product?
What apps do you use regularly for the tasks?
What is the hardest part of completing the task?
Please describe your experience with… or how you use the product?
How much do you know about this topic?
How often do you use similar products?
What exactly do you use the product for?
Why do you use the product?
What could be done to make the product better for you?

Questions to Gather User Behavior

How would you describe your current or past experience with the product, app or website?
What is the most important task you need to perform with the product?
How do you navigate to the product? If it’s a website or app, do you use search engines, enter the URL directly or bookmark the site?
What do you often look for that's missing or hard to find when using this product or application?
If you had a question about this product do you know who to contact? If yes, whom would you contact?

Question About Past and Future Use

Can you recall a past situation when you faced a challenge with this problem? What did you do?
What’s your most memorable interaction with the product?
If you could picture it, what does the ideal product experience look like?
What are the most important features of the product?
How do you usually access the product? Via desktop, tablet, or mobile? (If the product is a software or website)
What would make you stop using this product?

Specific Task Questions

Could you show me how you use the product to perform the task?
Assume that I’ve never used this product before. How would you guide me so I can do it myself next time?
Walk me through your process for using the product to complete a task
Do you include other tools alongside the product?
If yes, can you show me how you integrate the tools and what functions they perform?

Follow Up Questions

Use follow-up questions to dig deeper into a topic. Most times, the participant won’t be clear enough with their answer, and follow-up questions help you to better understand their point of view.

Use the Five Whys Technique to drill down to the root of the problem by asking “why” five times. Without asking “why” you may misinterpret the motivations for the research participant.

However, it’s also important to know when to stop. You’ve uncovered the problem when the question “why” doesn’t yield any useful response and can’t go any further.

Other examples of follow up questions include:

You said… can you explain a bit more about that point?
What do you mean by…
Interesting, could you give me an example or elaborate to help me understand better?
To be clear, it sounds like you’re saying… is that correct?
What was it about the product that made you say…
Why don’t you like…

Question to Close the Interview

Would you recommend this product to someone else? If yes, why? If not, why?
Is there any question we haven’t asked that you think would be valuable to our research?
Is it okay if I reach out with more questions regarding this project?
Do you have any questions for me?

During the interview

Make your interviewee feel comfortable.

Take a deep breath and smile before you enter the interview room. According to Psychology Today , a smile is a powerful tool to improve your mood and make you feel happy. Since positivity is contagious, research participants will feel more at ease during the interview.

Also, dress casually rather than wearing a formal outfit so it doesn’t feel like a job interview. Tell them you’re here to test a product, not the participant.

With remote interviews, start with small talk to loosen them up. Introduce yourself, tell them about the research, and summarize their rights and terms of participation.

Use a Semi-Structured Interview Format to Encourage Dialogue

In a semi-structured interview, you don’t follow a formal list of questions. Rather than yes or no questions, you ask open-ended questions that allow for discussion.

A semi-structured interview encourages a two-way conversation that leads to a comprehensive understanding of the topic. Since the interviewee is at ease, they are more likely to expand on experiences and techniques that offer better insight.

Resist the Urge to Educate

Curiosity and an open mind are key ingredients to a good interview. You’re there to learn, not teach. Do not judge or correct your interviewee no matter how silly their answers seem. Your goal is to get as much information during the limited time for the interview.

Build Rapport with Participants

Building rapport encourages participants to share their thoughts and opinions. Put yourself in their shoes for a moment. You’re walking into a room to speak with strangers. Subconsciously, you censor your thoughts and withhold information because you’re not sure what to say.

Rapport equals a good connection. If participants trust you, they are more forthcoming in their answers.

A few tips to help you build rapport during UX interviews include:

Be accommodating
Keep your body language open at all times
Remove barriers between you and the participant
Make eye contact
Show interest

Avoid Leading Questions that Frame the User’s Answer

Leading questions prompt the interviewee to provide a predetermined answer. The question contains information that leads to a biased answer.

Let participants tell you what they think with their words. Don’t fear the silence that takes longer than normal. Sometimes, people need a minute to gather their thoughts and provide a cohesive answer.

It’s important to have a partner with you during the interview. One person is taking notes and out of camera focus. The second person is asking questions and listening to the interviewee.

Practice asking follow-up questions to show the participant that you’re paying attention. Use smiles and head nods to engage physically.

The space between the note taker and interviewer should be clear. During remote sessions, you could turn off the camera for the note-taker so it’s easier for the interviewer and interviewee to focus on each other.

After the interview

Ask permission to use the recording.

If you’re recording the conversation, make sure participants give consent to being recorded as well as how you plan to use the recording. It’s also important that they know they can stop the recording at any point in the interview if they become uncomfortable.

Say Thank You and Wrap Up

After the interview, leave time for questions and thank the research participant for their time. This is polite and offers them a chance to ask questions. If they have any feedback on how you could better conduct interviews in the future, now’s a good time to ask.

How to Analyze User Interviews with Aurelius

After conducting the interviews with all the participants, the next step is to analyze the research . You probably have dozens of notes, videos, and audio recordings to go through. Qualitative data like this could be overwhelming if you don’t know what to do.

This is where Aurelius shines best. Here are a few ways Aurelius helps you make sense of user interview data:

Turn Spreadsheets, Videos, Audio Files and More Into Notes

Create a new project, upload your research notes , spreadsheets, video, and audio recording with the magic uploader. If you’ve got data elsewhere, use the bulk input feature to copy and paste data.

Transcribe your video/audio recording into notes automatically.

Here’s a video showing you how to get notes into Aurelius

Find Information Quickly With Tags

Make sense of your research data with our powerful project tags . Use this feature to find or describe your user interviews quickly.

A few examples of tags to use include:

Name of interviewee
Research goals
Questions asked during the interview
Name of product or topic

Look for Patterns With Keywords

Looking for patterns or words that come up repeatedly? Use the keyword feature to highlight patterns and find the most used words across all your user interviews.

Automatic keyword analysis for ux research in Aurelius

Highlight Your Major Findings With Key Insights

Use key insights to write down summaries of what you learned from each user interview. It’s a great way to share high level points of the research without asking stakeholders to read all the data.

analyzing ux research and creating key insights in Aurelius

Make Suggestions With Recommendations

Want to suggest next steps based on key insights? Use the recommendations feature to capture suggestions, action items, or outcomes. Link key insight to provide more context to your recommendations. Aurelius automatically adds your recommendations to the report.

Share Reports And Presentations with Project Stakeholders

Reporting is a breeze with Aurelius. We automatically turn recommendations and key insights from your project into reports that you can edit, design, and share with teammates and project stakeholders. You can customize your reports with documents, text, boxes, and lines.

ux research reports automatically created in Aurelius

You can also share a live link to your report, download a pdf or send it via email.

Done Right, User Interviews Help Design Teams to Build User-Friendly Products

You can't build a product for the user without gathering their input. Conduct user interviews to uncover meaningful answers that improve user experience.

Combine user interviews with other research techniques such as user surveys and usability testing to either disprove or validate your hypothesis. When you’ve gathered sufficient data, use Aurelius to sift through the information, find insight, make recommendations and create shareable reports.

Learn how Aurelius can help you organize research data and analyze information from your UX interviews

My Expert Guide to User Interviews

Techniques & Tips with my Interview Cards

User interviews are an important method in our UX researcher toolbox. They help us gain insight about our users and their needs. Well written and well conducted interviews are the key for gathering useful and helpful qualitative data. To help us with that, I created a set user interview and follow-up questions cards and a digital user interview guide workshop board (Miro and Figma). Those tools make writing better interview guides easier. They also help experts plan and conduct user interviews more effectively.

What are user interviews
How to plan and conduct user interviews sessions
Focus on the content of an interview guide
Tips to write good and effective interview questions

Using my User Interview Cards to plan and conduct interviews more effectively

Facilitating user interview sessions like experts
Tips on how to analyze the data .

What are User Interviews

User Interview is a method to collect information, via direct conversation with users. Interviews can be face to face or remote.

It is one of the main user research methods in our researcher toolbox. It helps us understand user needs, but also motivations, opinions, frustrations, pain points. Unlike surveys, user interviews are live. It is an interactive conversation.

Types of user interviews

There are different types of user interviews:

Structured : the researcher prepared a guide they strictly follow.
Semi structured : the researcher prepared a guide as pointers, but the rest is follow up, to have a more natural conversation.
Contextual interviews: the researcher observes and interviews the participant in their environment. This brings context and gives more insight on the user’s environment. The research asks questions but also asks the participant to perform tasks.

A screen with teams open, a user and a note taker, a second screen shared by participant, and some paper notes

Example of a remote contextual interview, where we asked participants questions about their tasks and activities, and asked them to share their screen so that we could observe them while performing those

When and why do you do user interviews

Most people think user interviews are done at the beginning of a project. It’s true, but not the only time those can help. There are different reasons to do user interviews at different points in a project:

Discovery phase: at the beginning of a project, to understand user, their goals, tasks, activites, painpoints and needs
Before you start the design: to inform about user journeys, flows, inform future design decisions (that need to be tested later)
During usability testing : you ask participants to perform tasks. But you can also add a few interview questions, especially follow-up ones in there
After the product is on market : observation and interview to understand usage of the product or feature you launched. And then you can keep on improving it.

How to plan and conduct user interviews

Setup of user interviews.

3 people in a triangle setup: one is behind a computer and is the interviewer, another one answers she is the participant, the third is taking notes in the corner, she is the note taker

The ideal user interview involves two UX researchers / designers and one user:

1 interviewer who will conduct the interview, ask questions and follow-ups
1 note taker who will take notes and usually not participate in asking the questions
1 participant in the target audience

You can also have some observers. But, make sure they understand they should NOT say anything. If you can, record the interview and show them recording instead.

Prepare & plan

Preparing user interviews entails recruiting participants from your target audience. Here are the main steps:

Set the goals of your research (aka prepare a research plan)
Prepare your interview guide . The interview guide is a structured document with the list of questions you are going to ask. This is the part where my cards will help you. An interview guide is also super useful to note takers, because it gives them a structure for their notes. (more tips on questions in next session)
Test the guide with colleagues. This part is very important to avoid biases in research
Schedule the research (dates in the calendar, etc.)

If you want to lear more about biases and mitigate them when creating user interviews check my “ UX Cognitive Bias Cards & Workshop “. It’s a fun way to raise awareness of biases when designing products & services

Recruit participants

I won’t go into full details of recruiting, this deserves an article on its own. But here is the tool long, didn’t read version of what you need to not forget when recruiting participants:

Explain the goal (without giving too much info sometimes to not bias)
Explain compensation
Don’t forget to have a screener (a list of questions to know if they are in your target audience or not)
AVOID group sessions at all costs. Focus groups are worthless, you end up with the loudest person’s opinion and a bunch of group biases
Schedule session with the participant
Send reminders a few days before the session

Structure of the interview guide

Example of an interview guide in word

An interview guide will help you structure your interviews. Remember: it’s a guide. If you feel the need, it’s okay to go beyond this guide to dig into specific topics that come up with participants. Nevertheless, you still need a solid structure. Mine usually have the following parts

I remind participants about the context of the interview
I thank them again
I make it clear that there is no right or wrong answers
I ask permission for recording
I remind them that we can take a break or stop anytime
Warm up / general questions : Often questions about who the participant is, what is their relationship with the research/products. Those are here to put the participant at ease and help them get used to talking to an interviewer. Also: can be used for rescreening.
Main questions : they will depend on your research topic. This is the core of your interview and I’ll detail how to write good interview questions in the next section.
Wrap up and end of the interview : I usually ask participants if they have things to add. And if they have questions for me. I also explain how to get the compensation and thank them. Sometimes, I might ask if they can refer other participants to me.

If you need help, you can get my user interview guide template.

Get User Interview Guide Template

How to write good and effective interview questions

A cheatsheet of user interview questions (in yellow) and follow-ups (in purple)

If you need help with the questions, I put together a cheat sheet of interviews and follow up questions . Those are fragments of questions that should help you get started writing your own questions. I organized them in different categories depending on what type of question I want to ask.

Do this when preparing user interview questions

Let’s start with the tips on what you should do, when writing and preparing interview questions.

Start with warm up questions . Often questions about who the participant is, what is their relationship with the research/products. The goal is to put people at ease, warm them up.
Start with broader themes then break those down into answerable questions
Try to focus on past behaviour rather than predict the future
Anticipate answers and prepare follow ups based on the goal of the research
Ask Why , 5 times
It’s okay to have more questions than needed
It’s a guide : it’s okay to explore outside it participants are say interesting things

Avoid those questions when preparing user interviews

For example “how satisfied are you with our support team”, it assumes the person was satisfied, what if she was not?
Better “how was your experience with our support team?”
For example “was the product easy to use and affordable”.
Better: split the questions in 2 different ones.
For example: “Would you prefer to subscribe to a car insurance online or via one of our agents?” This question assumes the person owns a car and needs car insurance. What about people who don’t?
Fix: make sure you checked that assumption before in the interview, if it’s not true, pass the question?
For example: “how do feel about our product” could lead to an interesting discussion, or a very short close answer
Fix: prepare less vague questions on top of that and / or some follow up question ideas if the person isn’t super chatty about that topic
Sometimes, you will use yes/no questions as screeners for extra interview questions that only apply to a specific set of users.
If you don’t find a more open question, and go for yes/no, try to anticipate follow-up questions for those: if the person says yes, then we ask this follow up, if they say no, then we ask that follow up
Avoid asking people what they want / asking them for solutions . Rather try to understand what they are trying to do, to accomplish, their tasks and activities. And then, you can find a way to improve that.
Be careful about bringing your own biases to the research. Check 52 UX Cards to Discover Cognitive Biases for more on the topic.

43 User Interview and Follow-up question cards

A PDF with user interview questions, some purple and yellow user interview question and follow-up cards and some cards examples in figma

It’s not always easy to come up with effective user interview questions. I was always checking the same books and articles whenever I wanted to build my own guides. So, I came up with a cheat sheet for user interviews and follow-up questions . This was great, but it’s also a long list. To make this more digestible, I turned it into a set of 43 User Interview Questions . They include questions for the interview and follow-up questions. Those are fragments of questions that will help you get started writing your own questions.

I have mostly 3 ways of using my cards in paper and digital format. If you get them and find other ways, please share by email or on social media!

A pocket sized mini library, of ready to use starter questions

Multiple cards on a table with sticky notes on top of them to write the full question

I use the cheatsheet and cards as starting points, to build my own interview guide questions . Both interview and follow-up cards are organized in different categories. I can pick and choose question fragments from those categories. Then, I complete the question based on my research needs. It’s like a mini library of ready to use questions, so it helps me save a lot of time.

You can also use the cards as a small reminder on your desk before or during the interviews. They can help you remember things you might forget, especially the follow-up questions.

I created a printable version of those cards, with 2 different printing ways: side by side (if your printer plays nice) or fold-able (if your printer doesn’t align properly the side by side).

Get the 43 Printable Interview Cards

A pop-up workshop, to write user interview guides more easily

miro and figma board with some digital cards to build interview guides

When working with teams to build user interview guides, I find it’s easier to not jump straight into MS word. I prefer to first brainstorm questions in a more visual format . My cards are really helpful for this. It can be a “physical” or a digital brainstorming session. In both cases, here is how I do it:

Warm up questions
Main interview questions
Wrap up questions
I prepare the cards and arrange them by theme (interview vs follow-up) and question categories. On the table, or on the board.
I ask people (colleagues, students) to brainstorm questions for all 3 parts, based on our research goals and objectives. The cards act as “starters”.
Usually, they pick a card, then complete the full question on a sticky note.
People can either brainstorm questions on their own, and then we put them together. Or, it can be a group session from the start where everyone adds their questions along the way. This is really up to you, you know your team dynamics better than I do.
Once you all agree on the questions that will make it to the guide, we can create a “clean” MS word version of it. (if you need help with guides, check my user interview guide template)

If you want to save time, I have already prepared some Miro and Figjam boards. You can import them into your accounts (you need a paying Miro account though) and work with your teams on those.

Get the Miro / Figjam workshop boards

I also try have my research guide proof read by someone (a researcher or designer) who didn’t participate in the question writting session. This help mitigate different researcher biases we might have brought in the guide.

You usually build your user interview guide questions with other researchers and designers . Those are the people you want to invite in the brainstorming session. I advise you to not invite your stakeholders, or untrained people with zero UX research background. Because, you will end up with biased and poorly written questions . And you want to avoid them bringing their own biases into the research. Also, I have years of experience with shitty questions written by untrained people. Trust me, it will just bring unhelpful data as results.

A study guide, to teach how to write better interview questions

The last way I use those cards is as a teaching tool . I teach how to build better products to design students and professionals in the UX industry.

When I was in school, I used to make small cards with the most important information from my lessons. My friends would borrow them because they liked how short and clear they were. They could keep them in their pockets and study them between classes. If you are a junior or a student, you can use my user interview cards the same way. Those cards are a very nice little study guide to help you get better and more effective at writing your own questions.

The digital board workshop can also be used as a teaching tool for juniors, mentees and students.

Facilitating user interview sessions like experts

Wow, you made it here. You are ready, to actually, facilitate the interview! Congrats! If there is one thing you need to remember: a user interview is a conversation! It’s NOT a survey. It’s all about active listening on the

Here are a few tips to help conduct good user interview sessions:

Start with the introduction , explain there is no right or wrong answer
After the introduction, have some warm up questions, like background or previous experience. Those are here to help the participant get comfortable with the process.
Try to put people at ease. Don’t judge , but also don’t fake empathy: be friendly but professional
Don’t be shy to ask for clarification . Or to play coy: ask about things that might seem obvious. Sometimes the answers can be surprising.
Answer questions with questions : if a user asks for something try to return the question.
Try to pick up non verbal cues . It’s harder remotely though, you have to check the webcam, tone and voice of the person
Get comfortable with silence : don’t rush, pause, let people time to think and answer. . If you struggle with this, my fun advice: count in your head, the same way you count when lightening strikes: 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippis… up to 5 Mississippis. Eventually, you will get comfortable with silence.
If possible, have a note taker , so that you can be present and actively listen to the participant.
If you can’t get a note taker, ask if you can record the session . Take minimal notes that help you follow-up, but don’t write a full transcript while interviewing. Be present.
Make notes of the questions that didn’t work (for future interviews, don’t change that one)

Report and analysis of user interview data

After the interview, I like to make a short note about the most important things I learned while it is still fresh in my mind. Here are some tips to help with reporting and analysis:

Transcribe the notes (you can use automated tools if you recorded)
Organize interview content on sticky notes
Search for patterns and themes
Review, refine
You can also build user journeys out of the data, and other UX deliverables that will help you improve your product or service.

Example of an analysis of a user interview sessions: a Miro board with an affinity map of the interview main findings clustered by category and a user journey map that mixes some task analysis content

I won’t enter into the details of data analysis, but here are some resources to help you:

4 methods for analysing user interviews – Rick Dzekman
A Strategic Storytelling Tutorial – Modernist Studio
Qualitative Coding for UX Research Analysis
Techniques to Identify Themes in Qualitative Data
How to Analyze Qualitative Data from UX Research: Thematic Analysis
Analysing Qualitative User Data – Fr Maria Panagiotidi

User Interviews sound like an “easy and fast” method to a lot of people. Because, it’s sold as “just go grab a few people and ask them a couple of questions” by many articles these days. But, if you want quality quantitative data at the end, to improve your product, you need quality interviews . Having a good research process helps a lot here. And you need unbiased questions. And, if you need help, I have a lot of User Interview Resources available .

The cards I created helped me save a lot of time when building interview guides. They help be more efficient, but also, more consistent. Finally, they encourage me to write better, more unbiased questions. And I think they can help you, and any UX professionals out there.

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User Interviews: Guide To An Insightful UX Interview

Mária Ilona Horváth

How to do a good user interview? Do you REALLY know your users' pain points or are you just seeing the top of the iceberg? Let's face it: all products and research processes have new challenges. We, at our UX company , give you our process and essentials to good user interviews.

In this post we cover:

Planning an interview
Conducting the interview
Interview analysis
+ 7 Essentials to a good user interview

What are user interviews and when to use them?

A user interview differs from an everyday conversation.

Mainly in its aim and the roles each person plays. An interview has a well-defined and previously agreed upon topic or question the interviewer wants to understand, explore or better specify by talking to people and listening to them.

Accordingly, the UX researcher talks with people who in some way belong to the target group connected to their topic, researched product, service or broader problem during a UX interview.

When deciding on the method of interviewing, you don’t only need a clearly defined topic and a good idea for your target group. You also want a convincing reason for choosing this technique, perhaps real curiosity, a lack of data from other sources or the impossibility of using other methods .

A good interview results from deep and well-researched interest and openness. To simply validate existing beliefs, concepts or already collected – perhaps quantitative – data, consider other options. You can share surveys or do desktop research instead of taking the time to conduct interviews. Find our summary on different UX research methods here.

Do user interviews when you need exploration

Do user interviews if your question or problem needs further exploration or you need insight into how others relate to your topic. Also, if you want the option to ask back and react to what your respondents have to share.

Interviewing works great in the early phase of developing a concept or product. Also, it can really provide insight when researching existing solutions by asking people’s opinions on and experience with it.

User interviews provide an understanding of how your target audience talks about an issue in a more intimate setting. What do they mention as their main problems, needs, wishes and joys regarding a process, service or solution? Also, it can reveal how they express themselves when talking about such factors.

When preparing products and thinking about users, you can also create personas. To learn more, read our post on personas here

User interviews collect what people say about a topic and how they say it during the interview session. Do not confuse that with how they think or feel about the question in general. It takes time and practice to differentiate these realms easily.

Planning can start once interviews have clearly proven themselves the best method for researching a topic.

User interviews: planning and preparation

1. consider the time and the resources.

No golden rule says how to plan these elements, as the difficulty of the topic and that of recruitment can influence this.

Once you have everybody on the same page about interviewing, start developing a research plan and specifying the main questions to answer in connection with the topic.

Calculate sufficient time for interviews, especially if you work in a bigger or remote team. Poorly prepared questions or dissimilar interviews can ruin your efforts.

2. Choose a structure: semi-structured or unstructured

Once you have an idea about the most important questions, choose a structure. We won’t discuss structured interviews here as they resemble surveys more than explorative interviews based on the approach introduced this far. So go for semi-structured or unstructured interviews.

We recommend semi-structured user interviews, as leading and analyzing unstructured ones really take a lot of time and practice. Also, if you want to share the workload within a team, semi-structured interviews and such guides leave less room for misunderstanding.

Wonderful, but what is a semi-structured interview? A semi-structured interview operates with a set of questions and a proposed order for them as defined in the user interview guide.

The interviewer has to prepare and have the willingness to change these questions and add new ones if the interview situation requires. The interview guide serves as an invaluable asset in finding the golden path between an overly strict structure and an overly vague organization for the interview.

A semi-structured interview guide leaves room to improvise and helps with tips on how to handle unexpected situations or directions of the talk. Remember what we’ve said about the nature and worth of interviews: You would not have expected some of the most important and interesting findings.

User interview structure planning in progress

Writing a UX research plan and interview guide also proves helpful in collecting and evaluating assumptions and any possible bias. Pay attention to them, as unreflected-upon assumptions and researchers’ bias can interfere a lot with results.

You can write a UX interview guide and recruit participants simultaneously. However, we write interview guides before talking to participants, not simply because of the problematics of bias but also in order to take the right approach to this easily. Instead of writing a guide to the first respondents, we want to find respondents to our questions and guide.

3. User recruitment: You can do it!

Recruitment might be difficult. Luckily, tips and ideas abound on how to find respondents for your interviews. Here, we will only stress (relieved by CBD isolate powder )one very important detail that can separate a really insightful interview from average ones.

Let’s say you have already tried all the databases you might have. Keep GDPR in mind, though! You posted calls on social media, wrote ads, offered incentives and subscribed to platforms, asked friends and family and still have difficulty finding (enough) respondents.

Again, some extremely difficult topics can make recruitment tough. We’ve gone through that. Still, at this stage, you might want to go back quickly and check your UX research plan, topics and an interview guide. Even if you can’t make systematic changes at this point, sooner make small adjustments to the plan than compromise requirements by recruiting somebody who does not really fit but seems “almost OK”.

4. Schedule your user interviews

If you’ve successfully found your respondents, keep in mind that success does not only depend on the actual interview. The way you first contact interviewees will affect them. Your tone and style will impact their relaxation levels once you actually start talking about your questions.

Depending on the organization of a user experience research project, different people may contact and schedule the interviews from those conducting them. In such a case, make sure within the team that the respondents join the interview well informed.

Also, when asking them to participate, you will inevitably tell them something about the topic and the goals of the interview. For one, it stands as an ethical requirement.

Always state the aims of the project and summarize participants’ rights so they can give informed consent to participate. It makes it easier for you, too. If respondents have an idea of what will happen during the interview, it reduces the risk of scheduling an unsuccessful or cancelled interview.

Still, the possibility remains for cancelled or less insightful interviews. Therefore, we at UX Studio always calculate with more interviews than absolutely necessary for our UX research goal.

5. Remote user interviews?

Some situations prevent personal interviews, otherwise the ideal choice of user research method. Life just doesn’t work that way. When conducting remote (e.g. phone) interviews, keep in mind that some factors and response effects might have a stronger influence on respondent answers in such a setting.

For example, people tend to finish remote interviews sooner than in person. People on the phone agree easier and answer in shorter sentences. They lose patience. Also, you can’t observe non-verbal reactions and body language in as much detail as when in the same room. It makes sense to adjust your interview guide and planning accordingly, like to formulate questions very clearly.

Conducting the user interview

1. before the user interview, prepare.

Calculate sufficient time for the interview. You will have to concentrate, as it makes for a tiring process. Also, spend time preparing before every single interview even if you’ve already conducted interviews focusing on the same topic.

Why? Because you need some time before the actual interview to go through your interview guide to get calm and confident enough when starting the interview. Also, check the respondent data quickly so you can make minor changes in the guide to make it more relevant. This way, you can greet your respondents naturally and kindly, which proves not just nice but it boots up your interview process!

2. Make interviewees feel comfortable

When the users arrive – and after offering a coffee or glass of water – we at UX Studio usually guide them to the interview room while making a few warm-up remarks or asking some casual questions. Meeting the respondents at their location of choice really makes them more comfortable!

Here, you can also see why remote interviews can get more complicated. You lose all these options to create a relaxing atmosphere.

Once you have everything set and your respondent has relaxed enough, quickly introduce the research you’re working on, thank them for the interview, and summarize participants’ rights and the terms of participation. After this point, signing an informed consent form (and if necessary, a confidentiality disclosure) and discussing the details of a possible recording follows.

3. Do the interview like a smooth conversation

Start the interview with a warm-up session. Discussing rights, signing forms and switching on a voice or video recorder interfere with your interviewee’s state of mind. Find our tips on recording a UX interview here.

Depending on the difficulty and sensitivity of the topic and the scheduled length of the interview, this warm-up phase can go shorter or longer. But we’ve found that it usually takes five to seven minutes.

Try to make the transition from this part to your central topic smooth. Again, consider the interview guide your friend and build a logical bridge between your warm-up questions and your main topic.

This is key to conducting insightful user interviews. Not only the questions follow in a meaningful order but the interviewer’s tone of voice, body language and gestures signal interest in all the answers, not only in those marked as important in the interview guide.

This way, the respondent can participate in a normal conversation where they do not feel tested on or experimented with. Aim to really understand users. Let them talk, not just answer.

Don’t just focus on open-ended research interview questions about their central problems, frustrations and pain points regarding the topic. It involves more than simply embracing silence, trusting your respondents and efforts thus far. You recruited these people because they have something interesting to tell you; give them time and room to do so.

4. Listen and ask clever questions

If they start telling you something that seems irrelevant at first, bear with them a bit. The detour they make might lead you to the diamond you are mining for with interviewing. We can’t stress enough: Discovery interviews explore stuff you would have not thought of otherwise.

Don’t misunderstand, take the lead during the interview and keep track of time but remain flexible and truly curious about what the respondents have to share.

Especially so, as some interviews prove to be tricky. Don’t worry, we’ve met less talkative respondents, too. You can always use little tricks to make them more engaged in the conversation. You can find out more by guiding the respondents to share more. How? If you feel that your respondent did not tell you everything you needed to know, use probing or summarizing questions.

If you simply repeat what they just said, people tend to add more details to it. Also, you can check if you really understand the point they are making. Silence is a great tool, too. If you are patient enough and don’t rush to ask another question to fill the silence, people usually make an extra effort to answer your initial question. Additionally, you can always point out nicely that they are experts and you need more details or further explanation of the topic.

When you have asked all your UX research questions and got all the answers you needed, move on to the last part of the interview.

Closing the conversation in a skilled way is not simply polite but can add valuable insight to your results, too. For that reason, we always ask respondents about the interview experience. It helps them (and us!) come out of interview mode and improves the user experience research process.

Also, ask them if they have any thoughts connected to the topic which you hadn’t raised. You may collect ideas to develop for the next interview. Lastly, express gratitude!

5. After the interview: not quite finished

Your respondent’s interview process has finished there, but another difficult part begins for you now. First, right after saying goodbye to your interviewee, write down your notes, remarks and impressions. What makes it so important and beneficial to sit down and collect your reflections? Because the experience is fresh, you remember things you might not when listening to your recording.

User interviews with dogs are more relaxing

Also, it adds to your notes taken during the session. When you take notes while listening to your respondent and thinking about your next user research question, you have to concentrate on the here and now. Collecting the ideas, reflections and analytical problems that occurred to you during the user interview should go into your after-session notes.

These notes also open the door to the analytical process following the interview. Even though we believe analysis starts when you start thinking about the UX interview questions to ask, your collected data requires another form of systematic analysis.

Analysis of the user interview

Just like with the topic of recruitment, we will mostly focus on sharing some tips. Still, you can find lots of material available online and off on analyzing interviews. A well-prepared and conducted semi-structured interview will offer many insights and possible directions of analysis. Just choose one (or a few) to pursue.

Embrace the specifics of qualitative data and do not try to understand it with a quantitative mindset. It doesn’t only involve numbers, figures or even facts. Among other things, it deals with experience, memory, expression, expectation and wishes.

However, working with qualitative data requires a systematic approach. We would also add that analyzing and sharing qualitative data convincingly takes a certain kind of discipline.

As the analysis and the resulting suggestions build on interpretations of what you heard during the interviews, have confidence in your findings. Do not only share some quotes but detail your reasoning on why you understand this or that quote this or that way. As we see it, the interview process really ends here for the interviewer.

Summary: 7 essentials to insightful user interviews

1. Plan: go deep, do a research plan and an interview guide, take into account the time and the resources as well

2. Provide a calm atmosphere for the interview: even offering tea and coffee can do the trick. A relaxed user is an open user

3. Prepare and be confident as a researcher: know the interview guide, but know the subject to be able to be flexible and go around it

4. Prepare and inform the respondent: do the UX for your own interview, pave the path to an open conversation

5. Take notes and collect impressions: actions sometimes speak louder than words

6. Embrace the specifics of qualitative data

7. Practice and be patient: be willing to improve your interview skills, even if it takes time

Let's talk

32 common UX job interview questions with example answers

Last updated

11 January 2024

Reviewed by

Miroslav Damyanov

Whether it's your first UX research job or the next step in a long career, the interview process is often nerve-wracking and stressful.

Many candidates spend a lot of time worrying about how the interview process will go. What kinds of questions will the interviewer ask? What are the best ways to answer them?

As with most things, the best answers depend on your circumstances. Different phases of the interview process ask different types of questions.

In this guide, we aim to provide an overview of the types of questions you may encounter in each phase of the process.

Keep reading for concrete tips on approaching these questions so you can feel confident and prepared.

7 background and experience questions

The interviewer will ask these questions to get to know you better and glean a little about your experience:

What did you study in college, and how has it prepared you for a career in UX research?

How do you define a successful user research project?

How have you collaborated with design, product, and engineering teams?

How has your approach to UX research evolved since you began your career?

Describe a particularly impactful research project you've led and what you learned from it.

Describe a project that didn’t implement your findings and how you handled it.

Some of these questions might not apply to entry-level positions.

Tips for answering UXR background questions

Be specific.

Interviewers aren't looking for generic answers. Answer questions by detailing specific projects and experiences. Detail how the experience relates to their question.

Highlight impact

Companies want to hire someone who will make an impact on their products. Discuss tangible ways your research has increased user engagement or retention. When possible, give precise metrics.

Showcase collaboration

Being a team player is vital in any position in a company, but that's especially true for UXR. Discuss how you collaborated with designers, product managers , and other stakeholders to inform decisions.

Discuss methodologies

Part of gauging your experience is examining how well-rounded you are. Discuss different research methods you’ve worked with to highlight your versatility.

Interviewers are great lie detectors. If you haven't used a particular method or tool, don’t lie about it. Missing some experience is less of a dealbreaker than lying.

Highlight soft skills

Many companies find that employees often lack the soft skills for effective teamwork and collaboration. Be sure to highlight how your soft skills have driven results with examples.

Show continuous learning

The field of UXR is constantly evolving. Unless you've recently graduated college, you should have been evolving with it. Be sure to mention any classes, workshops, or other training that you've had to keep your skills sharp.

Don't fear failure

Sometimes, projects don't go as planned. It can be tempting to avoid discussing these, but interviewers aren't expecting perfection. Instead of avoiding projects that didn't go well, use them as an opportunity to highlight how you learned and grew from them.

Prepare a portfolio

A portfolio of your work showcasing the projects you're most proud of can serve as a visual aid. It’s an easy-to-access place for key metrics and projects, making answering questions easier.

Practice active listening

This is one of the soft skills mentioned earlier. Listen carefully to the question to ensure your answer is relevant. If a question is unclear, don't be afraid to ask the interviewer to clarify.

Take your time

Interviews can be stressful, and stress often results in impulsive answers. Keep the stress under control by taking your time to think about the question to provide a better answer.

8 decision-making assessment questions

A UX researcher is responsible for making or influencing many decisions that will impact a project's success. The interviewer will ask questions that assess how good you are at making these decisions.

Some examples include:

How do you decide which research method to use for a particular project?

How do you prioritize research requests from different teams or stakeholders?

How do you decide what to research with limited time or resources?

How would you handle situations where user needs conflict with business goals?

How do you handle situations where quantitative data contradicts qualitative findings?

How do you determine if a finding is significant enough to recommend design changes?

Describe a time when your research directly impacted a product decision.

How do you ensure your recommendations align with short- and long-term strategy?

Tips for answering decision-driven research questions

Think aloud.

Take time to gather your thoughts before speaking. Once you do, walk the interviewer through your thought process. This will show off your analytical and decision-making skills better than simply answering questions.

Reference past experiences

The interviewer wants to know how you'll put your decision-making skills into practice. The best way to do this is to highlight real-world examples of your skills.

Emphasize user-centricity

The user experience is obviously one of the most important parts of user experience research. Highlight how the user's needs and experiences are central to your decision-making.

Consider business objectives

While user needs should always be at the forefront of UXR, decisions must also align with business goals. Let the interviewer know how you balance these two goals.

Data-informed decisions

Data has always driven research of any kind. In the era of big data, that's never been more true. Discuss how you leverage quantitative and qualitative data to inform your decisions.

Discuss collaboration

UX research is a collaborative field. Often, you won't be the only one involved in the decision-making process. Discuss how you've collaborated with various other business units to come to the best decision for all stakeholders .

Acknowledge trade-offs

Decisions often involve trade-offs between two competing interests. Interviewers are going to ask questions about how you'd handle these situations. Be prepared to answer them.

Stay calm and logical

Your interviewer will likely ask complex questions that require deep thought. Don't rush to an answer. Take a moment to process the question to answer it logically.

Ask clarifying questions

Given the complex nature of some of the questions you'll need to answer, you might not fully understand them the first time. Asking clarifying questions shows thoughtfulness and ensures you don't give a silly answer.

9 technical questions

Your technical capabilities aren't the be-all and end-all of the interview, but they are its meat and potatoes. These questions will determine whether you have the knowledge to perform the job effectively.

Some questions you may hear are:

Which UX research tools are you most familiar with?

How do you ensure the validity and reliability of your research data?

How do you handle recruiting participants for research studies?

How do you typically analyze and prioritize user feedback from disparate sources?

How do you structure and present your findings to ensure they're actionable for others?

How do you employ user journey mapping to identify UX pain points and opportunities?

What strategies do you employ to ensure unbiased results during user testing sessions?

What metrics do you track in usability studies, and how do they inform your conclusions?

Describe when you used a specific statistical analysis method to interpret research data.

Tips for answering process and technical knowledge questions

The interviewer will be asking you many particular questions. They are looking for equally specific answers. Avoid generalities and answer the question as directly as possible.

Use real-world examples

Back up your answers with examples from your work. Discuss specific projects, challenges, and how you applied your technical knowledge to address them.

Explain your process

As your math teachers wanted you to show your work, interviewers are interested in how you arrive at your conclusions. Explain the thought process behind your answers.

Highlight continuous learning

Answers to technical questions are an excellent opportunity to show the interviewer that you have an interest and background in continuing your education.

Showcase problem-solving skills

Many questions will revolve around the challenges you face. Answering these in detail is a great way to show off the problem-solving skills you've developed in the field.

Speak the language

Remember, you aren't talking to a layperson who doesn't understand jargon. You're trying to impress someone who does. Use the appropriate technical terms to show off your knowledge of the subject.

Prepare in advance

If you think the interview will contain technical questions, give yourself time to quickly review the material. This will ensure you don't get caught off guard by a question you haven't considered.

Be enthusiastic

Interviewers want someone who is excited about the field. When answering technical questions, show your enthusiasm for the work. This will show the interviewer that your passion for the field aligns with company culture and expectations.

Ask reflective questions

Another way to demonstrate your passion for the field is to ask the interviewer related questions after you answer. Don't go overboard and give the impression that you're the one conducting the interview, but show you love to discuss the topic.

8 adaptability questions

Interviewers will likely want to know how you handle things not going as planned or when conditions change rapidly in the middle of a project.

Some of the questions they may ask to determine this include:

How would you handle stakeholders who disagree with your research findings?

How do you adapt your research focus to match product lifecycle stages?

How do you handle feedback or criticism about your research approach or findings?

How do you adapt your research objectives to sudden changes in business goals?

How do you approach research with emerging technologies or unfamiliar platforms?

Describe a time when you had limited resources for research and how you made it work.

Describe a time you changed your research methods due to unforeseen circumstances.

Describe a time you faced significant challenges in a research project and how you overcame them.

Tips for answering adaptability questions

Highlight problem-solving skills.

At its core, adaptability is about problem-solving. As you answer the interviewer's questions, discuss the strategies you use to keep your thinking critical and focus on the task at hand.

Show flexibility

Whether it's due to new data, stakeholder feedback, or changing project goals, UXR work requires flexibility. Giving examples of how you've handled these situations in the past will give interviewers a better idea of how easily you adapt to new directions.

Emphasize collaboration

Adaptability in UX research involves changing needs across various teams. Showcase how you've integrated the needs of other stakeholders and teams into your process as goals change.

Communicate proactively

In scenarios where you've had to adapt, emphasize how you effectively communicated changes or new directions to stakeholders.

Show resilience

Few people enjoy sudden changes, but a good researcher will not be dismayed. As you answer your questions, emphasize your resilience rather than your annoyance at the changes.

Demonstrate empathy

Several questions may include conflicts with other team members or stakeholders. Always demonstrate that you value their input and consider it, even if you go in another direction.

While it's essential to provide detailed examples, ensure your answers are concise and to the point. Avoid over-explaining.

Frameworks for crafting effective interview answers

An effective and engaging interview answer tells a story. Like any story, it needs structure.

Several frameworks can ensure your interview answers are well-structured. Let’s go over a few so you can find one that best fits your personality and matches specific types of questions.

The STAR method provides a straightforward structure to answer questions. It provides context to the situation and how you resolved it.

It's a good method to use when interviewers seek specific examples of past behavior to gauge your future performance.

Situation : Explain the circumstances of the situation you’re discussing

Task : Explain the challenge or responsibility that arose as a result

Action : Describe the specific actions you took to address the task or challenge

Result : Detail the result of your actions, focusing on positive impacts and lessons learned

This method is a simplified version of STAR. CAR is good for quick-paced interviews or discussing experiences with clear and direct outcomes.

It's easy to remember as a general structure when nerves make it hard to think clearly.

Context : Describe the situation you'll be talking about

Action : Explain the actions you took to resolve it

Result : Discuss the outcomes of those actions

METEOR goes more in-depth and incorporates metrics and broader outcomes, providing a tangible scale to the situation you’re discussing.

This framework is good for quantifying the impact of your actions or answering questions about scenarios with broad-reaching implications.

Metric: Start with numbers or data to give context or scale

Example: Provide a specific scenario or situation

Task: Describe your responsibility or challenge in that scenario

Effect: Talk about the immediate impacts of your actions

Outcome: Expand to broader implications or longer-term effects

Result: Sum up the result of the experience and what you learned from it

Final thoughts

There's a lot to absorb in this lengthy list of potential UX research interview questions, tips, and frameworks. If you try to memorize all of it, you'll likely stress yourself out even more.

Instead, read over it a few times in the lead-up to your interview and give it a quick review on the day itself. Focus on the tips you hadn't thought of before or stick out in your mind.

Pick one or two frameworks that might apply to your interview. Practice telling the story of some of your past projects under those frameworks.

This approach will familiarize you with the frameworks and how to adapt them on the fly. It’ll also give you a set of stories to draw from during the interview. Good luck!

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Background questions

The background questions' section of a UX research interview delves into the candidate's professional journey, educational background, and relevant experiences. This portion of the interview provides insights into the candidate's motivations, career trajectory, and alignment with the organization's goals. By exploring topics such as previous roles, projects undertaken, and areas of expertise, interviewers gain a deeper understanding of the candidate's qualifications and suitability for the UX research role. This section uncovers the candidate's passion for user experience, problem-solving abilities, and adaptability, all of which are crucial attributes in the field of UX research.

What inspired you to pursue a career in UX research?

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What inspired me to pursue a career in UX research was my fascination with understanding human behavior and how people interact with technology. I've always been curious about the psychology behind user experiences and how design choices impact usability. This passion drove me to delve deeper into the field, seeking to improve products and services by uncovering insights through research methodologies. The opportunity to bridge the gap between user needs and business goals motivates me to continually refine my skills and contribute meaningfully to creating intuitive and enjoyable experiences for users.

Can you describe your educational background and how it prepared you for a career in UX research?

My educational background in psychology and human-computer interaction provided me with a solid foundation in understanding human behavior, cognition, and interaction with technology. Through coursework, research projects, and internships, I gained experience in conducting user studies, analyzing data, and translating findings into actionable insights for product design. Collaborating with multidisciplinary teams and working on real-world projects enhanced my communication, problem-solving, and project management skills, which are essential for a career in UX research.

What previous UX research projects have you worked on, and what role did you play?

I've participated in various UX research projects, including conducting user interviews, usability testing, and analyzing user feedback. In one project, I played a key role in conducting ethnographic research to understand users' behaviors and needs. Another project involved designing and implementing surveys to gather quantitative data on user preferences. I've collaborated with cross-functional teams to synthesize research findings and translate them into actionable insights for product improvement.

How do you stay current with the latest UX research methods and trends?

I regularly attend industry conferences, workshops, and webinars to stay current with the latest UX research methods and trends. I actively participate in online communities and forums dedicated to UX research, where I engage in discussions, share insights, and learn from others in the field. I also subscribe to newsletters, follow influential UX researchers and thought leaders on social media, and regularly read books, articles, and research papers on UX design and user research. Lastly, I make it a priority to continually experiment with new tools, techniques, and methodologies in my own UX research projects to stay abreast of emerging trends and best practices.

Can you share an example of a challenging UX research project you completed and the outcome?

I was tasked with improving the onboarding experience for a mobile banking app. We conducted extensive user interviews, usability testing, and data analysis to identify pain points. One challenge was balancing security requirements with ease of use. The outcome was a streamlined onboarding process that maintained high security standards while reducing friction for users, resulting in increased user satisfaction and adoption rates.

What tools and software are you proficient in for conducting UX research?

I am proficient in using a variety of tools and software for conducting UX research. Some of the tools I am familiar with include usability testing platforms like UserTesting and UserZoom, survey tools like Qualtrics and SurveyMonkey, and analytics tools such as Google Analytics and Hotjar. I have experience using prototyping tools like Adobe XD, Figma, and Sketch for creating interactive prototypes to gather user feedback.

How do you approach ethical considerations in your UX research?

Ethical considerations in UX research are paramount and guide my approach. I ensure that all research activities prioritize the well-being and privacy of participants. This includes obtaining informed consent, maintaining confidentiality, and being transparent about the purpose and use of data collected. I adhere to ethical guidelines set forth by professional organizations such as the UXPA and ACM. Regularly reviewing and updating my research practices to align with evolving ethical standards is also a key aspect of my approach.

What methodologies do you prefer in your research process and why?

I prefer to utilize a combination of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies in my research process. This allows me to gather in-depth insights through methods such as interviews, observations, and usability testing, while also obtaining statistical data through surveys and analytics tools. By using a variety of approaches, I ensure a comprehensive understanding of user behaviors, preferences, and pain points. I prioritize iterative testing and refinement to continuously improve the user experience based on real user feedback and data-driven insights.

Can you discuss a time when your research findings significantly influenced product design?

There was a project where our UX research revealed that users were struggling with the navigation structure of the app. By conducting usability tests and analyzing feedback, we identified key pain points and recommended a redesigned menu system. This change resulted in a significant improvement in user engagement and satisfaction metrics, validating the impact of our research on product design.

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How do you handle negative feedback or unexpected results in your UX research?

When faced with negative feedback or unexpected results in UX research, I approach it with an open mind and view it as an opportunity for growth. I first seek to understand the root cause of the issue by analyzing the data and gathering additional insights through user interviews or surveys. Then, I collaborate with team members to brainstorm potential solutions and iterate on the design accordingly. It's important to remain adaptable and willing to pivot based on new information, ultimately striving to improve the user experience based on feedback.

Decision-driven research questions

The decision-driven research questions and answers offer a focused approach to understanding the user experience (UX) landscape. Designed to uncover insights that drive informed decision-making, this section is tailored for UX researchers seeking to enhance their interviewing skills. Professionals gain valuable insights into user behaviors, preferences, and pain points by delving into decision-driven research questions. Whether you're conducting interviews for product development or usability testing, this section provides a framework for crafting meaningful questions that yield actionable results. UX researchers with a focus on driving strategic outcomes, leverage these questions and answers to elevate their research methodologies and deliver impactful insights.

How do you identify key decision-making factors in your UX research?

I begin by thoroughly understanding the project goals and objectives to identify key decision-making factors in UX research. I then conduct stakeholder interviews to gather insights on their priorities and expectations. Next, I analyze user personas and behaviors to pinpoint the most influential factors. I leverage data analytics and user feedback to identify patterns and trends that inform decision-making. Finally, I collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment and consensus on the key factors driving the user experience.

Can you describe a project where research directly influenced a critical design decision?

In a recent mobile app development project, we conducted extensive user research to understand the needs and preferences of our target audience. Through interviews, surveys, and usability testing, we gained valuable insights into how users interacted with similar apps, what features they found most valuable, and where they encountered frustrations.

One key finding from our research was that users struggled to navigate the app's menu structure, leading to frustration and abandonment. Armed with this insight, we proposed a redesign of the app's navigation system, simplifying it and making it more intuitive based on user feedback. This critical design decision was directly influenced by our research findings, and it ultimately led to a significant improvement in user satisfaction and engagement with the app.

What methods do you use to prioritize research questions based on business goals?

I utilize a combination of methods such as stakeholder interviews, analyzing business objectives, conducting user surveys, and reviewing existing data to prioritize research questions based on business goals. By aligning research questions with key business metrics and objectives, I ensure that our research efforts directly contribute to the company's strategic goals. I employ techniques like impact mapping and value vs. effort analysis to determine which research questions will deliver the most value with the least amount of resources. This approach allows us to focus our research efforts on areas that have the greatest potential to drive business success.

How do you ensure that your research findings are actionable for decision-makers?

It's crucial to frame insights in a clear and concise manner to ensure that research findings are actionable for decision-makers. This involves translating raw data into meaningful narratives that highlight key takeaways. Utilizing visual aids such as charts, graphs, and infographics further enhances comprehension. Actively involving stakeholders throughout the research process fosters ownership and alignment. Presenting findings in a timely manner also increases the likelihood of impact, allowing decision-makers to act swiftly based on the insights provided. Lastly, providing actionable recommendations alongside the findings empowers decision-makers with specific steps to address identified issues or capitalize on opportunities.

What techniques do you employ to measure the impact of design changes on user behavior?

We employ various techniques such as A/B testing, user testing, analytics tracking, surveys, heatmaps, and qualitative feedback analysis to measure the impact of design changes on user behavior. These methods help us gather quantitative and qualitative data to assess how users interact with the redesigned interface and identify any improvements or challenges. We use conversion rate analysis, retention rate analysis, and user journey mapping to understand the overall impact of design changes on user behavior and business goals.

How do you communicate complex research findings to stakeholders for decision support?

It's crucial to distill key insights into easily understandable and actionable points to communicate complex research findings to stakeholders for decision support. Start by framing the findings within the context of the stakeholders' goals and objectives. Utilize visual aids such as charts, graphs, and infographics to illustrate data trends and patterns. Provide real-world examples or case studies to make the findings more relatable. Use clear and concise language, avoiding jargon or technical terms whenever possible. Encourage dialogue and discussion to ensure stakeholders fully grasp the implications of the research findings and feel empowered to make informed decisions.

What role does data play in guiding the decision-making process in your UX projects?

The role data plays in guiding the decision-making process in UX projects is significant. Data provides insights into user behavior, preferences, and pain points, helping teams make informed design decisions. By analyzing data from user research, analytics, and testing, UX professionals identify patterns and trends to prioritize features, improve usability, and enhance overall user experience. Data-driven decision-making ensures that design choices are grounded in empirical evidence rather than assumptions, leading to more successful outcomes and satisfying user interactions.

How do you balance qualitative insights with quantitative data in decision-making?

It's essential to triangulate findings from both sources to balance qualitative insights with quantitative data in decision-making. Qualitative insights provide depth and context, while quantitative data offers breadth and statistical validity. By integrating both, we can gain a comprehensive understanding of user behavior and preferences. This enables us to make informed decisions that are grounded in both empirical evidence and user insights.

Can you give an example of a research-driven recommendation that was not implemented and why?

One example of a research-driven recommendation that was not implemented involved suggesting a redesign of the checkout process on an e-commerce website. Despite user testing indicating that simplifying the process could increase conversion rates, the recommendation was not implemented due to concerns about potential technical challenges and the impact on existing systems.

What strategies do you use to align your research objectives with the company’s strategic decisions?

I employ several strategies to align research objectives with the company's strategic decisions. Firstly, I thoroughly understand the company's overarching goals and priorities. Then, I collaborate closely with stakeholders to identify key research questions that directly impact those objectives. Next, I design research methodologies that gather relevant data and insights to inform strategic decisions. I regularly communicate findings and recommendations in a clear and actionable manner to ensure alignment between research outcomes and strategic goals. Finally, I continuously evaluate and adjust research plans based on evolving business needs to maintain alignment over time.

Process and technical knowledge questions

Process and technical knowledge questions and answers serve as a valuable resource for professionals aiming to excel in UX research roles. This concise yet comprehensive compilation focuses on essential aspects of the UX research process and technical knowledge required in the field. From understanding user behavior to conducting effective usability tests, key concepts and methodologies are covered. Whether you're a novice exploring the world of UX research or an experienced practitioner seeking to enhance your skills, this resource offers valuable insights to help you prepare for interviews and succeed in the dynamic field of user experience research.

How do you determine the right research methodology for a new project?

It's essential to first understand the project goals, target audience, and constraints to determine the right research methodology for a new project. Conducting stakeholder interviews and gathering requirements help identify key objectives and priorities. Once these are established, consider the available resources, timeline, and budget. Depending on the nature of the project, different research methods such as surveys, interviews, usability testing, or ethnographic studies are more appropriate. It's also important to assess the level of access to participants and the context in which the research will be conducted. By carefully weighing these factors and consulting with stakeholders, select the most suitable research methodology to gather valuable insights and inform design decisions.

Can you explain the difference between qualitative and quantitative research methods?

Qualitative research methods focus on understanding behaviors, attitudes, and opinions through open-ended questions, observations, and discussions. This approach aims to explore the depth and context of a phenomenon, often using smaller sample sizes and non-numerical data.

Quantitative research methods, on the other hand, involve collecting and analyzing numerical data to quantify relationships and patterns. This approach emphasizes statistical analysis and large sample sizes to draw generalizable conclusions and make predictions based on measurable data.

Describe your process for conducting a usability study.

I start by defining clear objectives and goals to conduct a usability study. Next, I recruit participants who match the target user demographics. Then, I create tasks and scenarios to simulate real-world usage. During the study, I observe participants' interactions and gather both qualitative and quantitative data. Afterward, I analyze the findings to identify usability issues and insights. Finally, I present actionable recommendations for improving the user experience. Throughout the process, I prioritize user feedback and iterate as needed to ensure the product meets user needs effectively.

How do you ensure the reliability and validity of your research findings?

It's essential to employ rigorous methods and techniques to ensure the reliability and validity of research findings. This includes using standardized protocols, minimizing bias through diverse sampling techniques, and ensuring data accuracy and consistency. Conducting pilot studies and triangulating data from multiple sources enhances the credibility of findings. Regularly reviewing and updating research protocols and methodologies also helps maintain the integrity of the research process. Finally, transparently documenting all steps and decisions taken throughout the research process enables others to assess and replicate the findings, further ensuring their reliability and validity.

What tools and software do you use for data analysis in UX research?

For data analysis in UX research, I primarily use tools such as Excel, SPSS, and R for statistical analysis. I leverage qualitative analysis software like NVivo or Atlas.ti for interpreting qualitative data such as interviews or surveys. These tools allow me to analyze user behavior, identify patterns, and extract insights to inform the design process.

How do you prioritize research questions in a fast-paced development environment?

Prioritizing research questions in a fast-paced development environment involves assessing their impact on user experience, project goals, and timeline constraints. We prioritize questions by evaluating their relevance to current product objectives, potential risks, and alignment with user needs. We consider the feasibility of addressing each question within the project timeline and available resources. Effective communication with stakeholders helps ensure alignment on priorities and facilitates informed decision-making. Regularly reassessing priorities allows us to adapt to changing requirements and emerging insights, ensuring that research efforts remain focused and impactful.

Describe a time when you had to adapt your research methodology due to project constraints.

In a recent project, we encountered unexpected budget constraints that required us to reassess our research methodology. We initially planned to conduct in-depth interviews with a large sample size, but the limited resources forced us to pivot towards using online surveys instead. Despite the change, we ensured that the survey questions still addressed our research objectives and provided valuable insights. We adjusted our sampling approach to reach a broader audience within the constraints of our budget. This adaptation allowed us to gather sufficient data to inform our design decisions while staying within the project's limitations.

How do you involve stakeholders in the UX research process?

It's crucial to establish open communication channels to involve stakeholders in the UX research process. This includes regular updates, inviting them to participate in user testing sessions, and incorporating their feedback into the research findings. Conducting workshops or co-creation sessions where stakeholders actively engage in ideation and problem-solving foster a sense of ownership and investment in the research process. Providing clear objectives and explaining the importance of their involvement can also encourage stakeholder participation. Ultimately, by involving stakeholders throughout the UX research process, it ensures that their perspectives and insights are integrated into the design decisions, leading to more user-centered solutions.

What strategies do you use to synthesize and communicate research findings to design and development teams?

I employ various strategies to synthesize and communicate research findings to design and development teams. Firstly, I gather and organize data from user interviews, surveys, and usability tests. Then, I analyze this data to identify key patterns, themes, and insights. Next, I create concise summaries and visual representations such as charts, graphs, and personas to effectively communicate findings. I collaborate closely with design and development teams, presenting findings in meetings, workshops, or through written reports. I also encourage open dialogue and feedback to ensure that everyone understands and can apply the research insights to their work. Finally, I follow up with team members to track the implementation of research findings and iterate as needed.

Can you discuss your experience with remote user testing and its challenges?

Remote user testing has been a significant part of my UX research experience. Leveraging tools like Zoom, UserTesting, and Lookback, I've conducted numerous remote sessions to gather feedback on digital products. One of the main challenges I've encountered is ensuring a seamless user experience despite potential technical issues such as poor internet connection or compatibility problems with participants' devices. Maintaining engagement and rapport with remote participants is more challenging compared to in-person sessions, requiring extra effort to keep them focused and involved throughout the testing process. Despite these challenges, remote user testing offers valuable insights into user behavior and preferences, making it a crucial component of any UX research strategy.

Adaptability questions

Adaptability is a crucial trait that separates exceptional researchers from the rest. This section focuses on adaptability questions, designed to assess a candidate's ability to pivot, innovate, and thrive in dynamic environments. From responding to unexpected challenges to adjusting research methodologies on the fly, adaptability is essential for success in the ever-evolving field of user experience research. Whether you're a seasoned researcher looking to demonstrate your flexibility or a candidate preparing for an interview, mastering adaptability questions is key to showcasing your ability to excel in any research scenario.

How do you adjust your research approach when faced with unexpected challenges?

I adapt my research approach by reassessing my objectives and prioritizing the most critical aspects of the study when faced with unexpected challenges. I need to gather additional data or adjust the methodology to accommodate the new circumstances. Flexibility and creativity are key in overcoming unforeseen obstacles and ensuring the research yields valuable insights. I remain open to feedback and input from stakeholders to address any issues that may arise promptly. By staying agile and adaptable, I effectively navigate unexpected challenges and maintain the integrity of the research process.

Can you describe a time when you had to quickly adapt to a new user research tool or technology?

I recall a recent project where we needed to implement a new user research tool for gathering feedback on a mobile app prototype. Due to unexpected changes in project requirements, we had to switch to a different tool at short notice. Despite not being familiar with it, I quickly adapted by attending online tutorials, seeking help from colleagues, and exploring the tool's features. Within a day, I was able to effectively use the new tool to conduct user testing sessions and gather valuable insights for the project team. This experience taught me the importance of being adaptable and resourceful in the face of unexpected challenges in user research.

How do you stay flexible when project goals or priorities suddenly change?

I remain adaptable and open-minded to stay flexible when project goals or priorities suddenly change. I prioritize communication and collaboration within the team to quickly understand the changes and their implications. I also stay focused on the overall objectives of the project, allowing me to pivot and adjust my approach as needed. I regularly reassess timelines and resources to ensure we can meet new requirements effectively.

What strategies do you use to handle tight deadlines or budget constraints in your research projects?

I employ efficient planning and prioritization techniques to handle tight deadlines or budget constraints in research projects. I focus on key objectives and streamline processes to maximize productivity. I utilize agile methodologies to adapt quickly to changing circumstances and allocate resources effectively. I leverage collaboration and communication within the team to ensure everyone is aligned and working towards the same goals. Lastly, I continuously seek feedback and iterate on our approach to optimize efficiency and deliver high-quality results within the constraints.

Can you give an example of how you've tailored your communication style to different stakeholders?

In a previous project, I adjusted my communication style based on the stakeholders involved. For instance, when presenting findings to technical team members, I used more detailed and data-driven language, focusing on the methodology and statistical significance. Conversely, when discussing the same findings with executives, I emphasized the high-level implications and benefits in a more concise and visually engaging manner. This approach ensured that each stakeholder group received information in a format that resonated with their expertise and priorities, ultimately facilitating better understanding and decision-making.

How do you manage to keep up with the rapidly evolving field of UX research?

I stay updated by regularly attending industry conferences, workshops, and webinars to keep up with the rapidly evolving field of UX research. I actively engage with online communities and forums dedicated to UX research, where I learn from peers and share knowledge. I also make it a priority to read relevant articles, books, and research papers to stay informed about the latest trends, techniques, and best practices in the field. Finally, I continuously seek out opportunities for hands-on experience through projects, internships, and collaborations with other professionals in the industry.

What do you do when your research findings contradict the expectations of your team or stakeholders?

It's important to approach the situation with open-mindedness and objectivity when research findings contradict the expectations of the team or stakeholders. Firstly, I would thoroughly review the research methodology and data to ensure accuracy and reliability. Next, I would communicate the findings transparently and provide supporting evidence to explain the discrepancies. It's crucial to engage in constructive dialogue with stakeholders to understand their perspectives and concerns. From there, we collaboratively explore potential implications and identify opportunities for further investigation or adjustment. Ultimately, the goal is to foster a culture of learning and adaptation, where divergent viewpoints are valued and used to inform decision-making.

How have you adapted your research methods to cater to remote or distributed teams?

I've leveraged various digital tools and platforms to conduct research remotely in response to the shift towards remote work. This includes utilizing video conferencing software for interviews and usability testing, as well as online survey platforms to gather feedback from distributed team members. I've developed clear communication protocols and documentation to ensure that everyone is aligned and informed throughout the research process. By embracing remote-friendly tools and practices, I've been able to maintain the quality and effectiveness of my research efforts, regardless of team location.

Can you share an experience where you had to pivot your research focus based on early findings?

During a recent project, we initially set out to explore user preferences for a new mobile app interface. However, after conducting some preliminary usability testing, we discovered that users were struggling with a particular feature that we hadn't anticipated. Recognizing the importance of addressing this issue, we decided to pivot our research focus to delve deeper into understanding why users were encountering difficulties and how we could improve the feature's design. This shift allowed us to gather valuable insights that ultimately informed our redesign efforts and led to a more user-friendly app interface.

How do you balance the need for thorough research with the demand for quick project turnarounds?

I prioritize key research objectives and focus on collecting high-impact data efficiently to balance the need for thorough research with quick project turnarounds. Utilizing agile research methodologies helps in conducting iterative studies and making informed decisions promptly. Leveraging existing data and research insights expedite the process without compromising quality. Effective communication with stakeholders about the trade-offs between depth and speed is crucial for setting realistic expectations and managing project timelines effectively. Finally, employing tools and techniques such as rapid prototyping and usability testing helps validate design decisions quickly while still ensuring a user-centered approach.

Collaboration questions

The collaboration aspect of UX research is vital for creating user-centric designs that meet the needs of both users and stakeholders. This segment of the interview process focuses on assessing a candidate's ability to effectively communicate, collaborate, and work within interdisciplinary teams. It delves into how well candidates can collaborate with designers, developers, product managers, and other stakeholders to gather insights, iterate on designs, and make data-driven decisions. Successful collaboration fosters a cohesive and efficient workflow, ensuring that user research findings are integrated seamlessly into the design process to deliver exceptional user experiences.

How do you collaborate with designers to integrate user research findings into the design process?

I engage in regular meetings and discussions to share insights and recommendations based on our research findings. This involves providing detailed reports, presentations, and documentation outlining user needs, behaviors, and pain points. By working closely with designers, we brainstorm solutions, iterate on designs, and ensure that user feedback is incorporated throughout the entire design process. I conduct usability testing sessions to validate design decisions and gather further insights for refinement.

Can you describe a project where you had to work closely with product managers to define research goals?

I recently worked on a mobile app redesign project where the product managers and I collaborated to define research objectives. We conducted stakeholder interviews to understand their priorities and pain points. Then, we developed research questions aligned with those insights.

Throughout the project, we had regular check-ins with the product managers to ensure our research was addressing their needs. We also adjusted our approach based on their feedback to ensure we were providing actionable insights.

By working closely with the product managers, we were able to align our research goals with the overall objectives of the project and deliver valuable insights to inform the redesign process.

What strategies do you use to communicate research findings effectively to non-research stakeholders?

I employ various strategies to effectively communicate research findings to non-research stakeholders. First, I focus on translating complex data into clear and actionable insights that align with the stakeholders' goals and priorities. I use visual aids such as charts, graphs, and infographics to make the findings more digestible and engaging. I tailor my communication style to the preferences and expertise of the audience, avoiding jargon and technical language when necessary. I also provide real-world examples and anecdotes to illustrate the implications of the research findings and how they relate to the stakeholders' objectives. Finally, I actively solicit feedback and encourage dialogue to ensure that the information is understood and integrated effectively into decision-making processes.

How do you ensure alignment between your research objectives and the company's business goals?

I start by thoroughly understanding the company's strategic priorities to ensure alignment between research objectives and business goals. Next, I collaborate closely with stakeholders to define clear research objectives that directly support these goals. Throughout the research process, I regularly communicate progress and findings to stakeholders, seeking feedback and adjusting as needed to maintain alignment. I continuously evaluate the impact of my research on key business metrics to ensure that it's driving meaningful outcomes for the company.

What has been your experience working in cross-functional teams on UX projects?

My experience working in cross-functional teams on UX projects has been extensive and rewarding. Collaborating with individuals from various disciplines such as design, engineering, product management, and marketing has provided valuable insights and perspectives. This collaborative environment fosters creativity and innovation, leading to holistic solutions that address user needs effectively. Clear communication and mutual understanding of goals and objectives are crucial for the success of cross-functional teams. Leveraging each team member's expertise and skills enhances the quality of the UX research and design process, ultimately resulting in a better user experience for the product or service.

How do you handle disagreements with team members regarding research methodologies or findings?

I prioritize open communication and collaboration when facing disagreements with team members about research methodologies or findings. I start by actively listening to their perspectives and understanding their rationale behind their suggestions. Then, I present my own reasoning and evidence to support my stance. Together, we work towards finding common ground and reaching a consensus. If necessary, I involve other stakeholders or seek guidance from project leaders to resolve the disagreement in a constructive manner. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure that our research process remains rigorous and aligned with the project objectives.

Can you share an example of how you've contributed to a team effort to improve a product's user experience?

In a recent project, I collaborated with a cross-functional team to enhance a product's user experience. One example is when I conducted user research to identify pain points in the current design. Based on feedback, I proposed design iterations that addressed these issues, such as simplifying the navigation and improving accessibility features. I facilitated usability testing sessions to gather insights and validate our improvements. By working closely with designers, developers, and stakeholders, we successfully implemented changes that resulted in a more intuitive and satisfying user experience.

What role do you play in facilitating workshops or brainstorming sessions with design and development teams?

My role in facilitating workshops or brainstorming sessions with design and development teams is to serve as a facilitator and mediator. I ensure that everyone's ideas are heard and considered, fostering collaboration and creativity. I guide the team through structured activities to generate innovative solutions and prioritize tasks. I use various techniques such as ideation exercises, design thinking methodologies, and visual aids to stimulate discussion and drive decision-making. My goal is to create an inclusive environment where team members can freely express their thoughts and contribute to the development process.

How do you prioritize research activities when working under tight deadlines with multiple teams?

It's essential to first assess the urgency and impact of each task when prioritizing research activities under tight deadlines and with multiple teams. This involves collaborating closely with stakeholders to understand project objectives and deadlines. Once priorities are established, focus on high-impact activities that align with strategic goals and address critical questions or uncertainties. Leverage resources efficiently by identifying opportunities for reusing existing data or insights. Effective communication and coordination across teams are key to ensuring everyone is aligned and working towards common goals. Lastly, continuously monitor progress and adjust priorities as needed to stay on track and deliver results within the given constraints.

What methods do you employ to keep remote teams engaged and informed about ongoing research projects?

I employ various communication channels such as video conferences, Slack channels, and project management tools like Trello or Asana to keep remote teams engaged and informed about ongoing research projects. Regularly scheduled meetings help ensure everyone is up to date on the latest developments and can provide feedback or ask questions. I utilize collaborative documents or shared drives to centralize information and resources, making it easy for team members to access relevant materials at any time. Encouraging open communication and fostering a sense of teamwork through virtual team-building activities also helps maintain engagement and motivation among remote team members.

How to Ace a UX Research Interview?

It's crucial to demonstrate a deep understanding of user-centric design principles and methodologies to ace a UX research interview. Start by thoroughly researching the company and its products, understanding their target audience, and familiarizing yourself with their existing UX processes.

Prepare examples from your past experiences that showcase your ability to conduct user research, analyze data, and translate insights into actionable recommendations. Practice explaining your research methodologies, such as interviews, surveys, and usability testing, and how you've used them to drive product improvements.

Be ready to discuss how you collaborate with cross-functional teams, including designers, product managers, and engineers, to integrate user feedback into the product development lifecycle. Highlight your communication and storytelling skills, as conveying research findings effectively is essential for influencing stakeholders and driving decision-making.

Demonstrate your passion for understanding user behavior and solving their problems, as enthusiasm and empathy are key traits for a successful UX researcher. Finally, be prepared to ask insightful questions about the company's UX challenges and how your skills and expertise can contribute to addressing them.

Interview Resources

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Meta UX Researcher Interview Guide

Detailed, specific guidance on the Meta UX Researcher interview process - with a breakdown of different stages and interview questions asked at each stage

The role of a Meta UX Researcher

UX researchers conduct systematic research on target users in order to collect and analyze data that proves to be an aid in the product design process. A UX researcher is typically involved in two forms of research: qualitative and quantitative. The quantitative study is concerned with numbers and statistics. In terms of usability, this could imply determining how long it takes an average user to complete a task, what percentage of users finish the task successfully, and how many problems or bugs they encounter along the route.

Non-numerical insights, such as why consumers struggled to complete a task or how they felt while using a product, are investigated in qualitative research. If quantitative research tells us "what," qualitative research tells us "why."

Meta's user experience (UX) researchers attempt to intimately understand and improve the experiences of the over 2.4 billion individuals who use Meta every month across the world. The following guide will take you through the process of interviewing at Meta for the role of a UX Researcher.

The interview process unfolds like any other interview. Once you have applied for the job via Meta’s careers page or via a recruiter or using Linkedin. The stages for the interview are:

Application
Call with a recruiter
Telephonic interview/s
Presentation of a research plan
Onsite interviews

Please keep in mind that you will only be eligible for these steps if your application is shortlisted for further verification by the recruiter. Throughout the process, you will keep in touch with the recruiter.

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Meta UX Researcher - Application

To begin, apply online through Meta's careers page, LinkedIn, or a referral. Assemble a professional design portfolio that reflects your experience and demonstrates your passion for what you do. To apply through Meta's career page , upload your résumé or share your LinkedIn profile with their recruiting team.

After you have submitted all of the relevant information and documentation, you will receive an email informing you if your application is shortlisted or not. If it is, a recruiter will call you within a week.

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Meta ux researcher : recruiter phone screen.

The procedure begins with a casual phone call with a recruiter. He's there to find out what you're interested in and what you're good at. They are well prepared to select individuals with the desired skill set (quantity, quality, mixed approaches, etc.) because the research manager has already advised them of this.

The interviewer will go about asking questions based on your resume and cv and try to get a catch of your previous work. The interview may take up to 30 mins.

What the interviewer will assess

If you know what responsibilities you are applying for.
Your previous experience.
How good you are with customer’s needs.
Your successful projects in the past.
The first and most important thing you should do is list all of your accomplishments. This interviewer must ensure that you are a qualified candidate and are not wasting anyone's time.
Make no attempt to blend in. Especially if you are a beginner. Most interviewers seek and value genuineness. Instead of attempting to fit into a frame, be yourself and you'll have a higher chance of progressing to the next round.

Interview Questions

How well equipped do you think you are for this role?
Have you worked for customers before? What do you think is the main metric to keep in mind?
Why do you want to move on with your current job?
What is the difference between a UX designer and a UX researcher?
Have you ever led a project in the past?

Not sure if your resume is strong enough? Send it to a recruiter from your target company!

Meta ux researcher : initial screen.

You are scheduled for a phone interview based on your initial screening. The phone interview will be a video call in which an interviewer will lead you through a sample problem. There will be no correct answers, only an attempt to learn how you think about the strict limitations in an issue and come up with a solution. This is usually a very collaborative process, with the interviewer asking questions to guide you a little.

Along the way, the interview may include certain technical and behavioral questions to assess your core knowledge and innovative side. It can last up to 45 minutes.

Your ability to come up with potential ideas.
Your problem-solving skills.
Your approach towards major issues.
The feasibility of your ideas.
This sample problem could be one of the challenges that the company or other competitors are dealing with. Therefore, make sure to come up with concepts that are practical and attainable, rather than something that is extremely difficult to achieve.
Before beginning the actual interview, attempt to practice with some sample questions to get a taste for problem-solving.
Assume you're utilizing eye-tracking on a participant who has crossed his or her eyes and the calibration isn't working. What are you going to do?
Assume a group of developers wants to know why some users aren't engaging with a particular push function. They intend to conduct a survey that will include six yes/no questions and one question that will be answered via a text box. What do you think you'd say to them about their plan?
What would you ask users if you had two goods and only had one question to determine which they preferred?
What is your strongest skill as a UX researcher, and what advice would you provide to someone attempting to learn it?
What types of people do you regularly interact with?
Assume you make a usability proposal, and the engineers respond, "All of the usage data we have from millions of individuals suggests it is not an issue." What would your reaction be?

Meta UX Researcher : Research Plan Presentation

This is a round in which you will be needed to create a research plan and strategy, for which you will be provided ample time. On the day of the onsite interviews, this study will be discussed with 4–5 researchers, followed by 1:1 interviews with the people in the presentation, including research exercises.

This is an opportunity to put your research skills and capacities to the test, as well as your ability to construct a well-thought-out plan. As Meta is more interested in research skills and data, make sure to give it your all. Some sample prompts are:

Choose a challenge that you believe Meta will confront in the near future. Make a research plan outlining how you want to approach the problem.
Define a critical UX issue in Meta's products. Make a research strategy outlining how you intend to handle the problem.
You are collaborating with two company founders to create a music product for college students. You have only one week. How would you structure the research? What if you had endless time?

Read these articles

Meta ux researcher : onsite round.

The final round is onsite, where you will and present some of your previous work. The recruiter will provide detailed information about this well in advance. The folks who attend your presentation will be the same people who will interview you throughout the day. They will be given a pre-set coordinated list of questions that will cover many facets of what it means to be a successful researcher at Meta. You will be asked several skill questions that begin with a few assumptions and require you to develop a research strategy to test those assumptions.

Some interviews will also probe your stakeholder management abilities and ask behavioral questions about things you've done in the past that serve as examples of particular qualities.

Research capabilities & skills
Collaboration and communication
Your research about the firm
How you add value to the UX research team
Whether you can work out of your specialization when required
Be prepared to answer "why" questions. Prepare to describe your decision-making process as thoroughly as possible without being defended.
Researchers and interviewees alike are ecstatic to see the results make an impact on the product. Attempt to specify the impact at various levels: detailed design, product directions, and the stakeholders who will be impacted.
Keep your leadership abilities in the spotlight. When asked if you can work with cross-functional teams and lead a team, make sure to show complete confidence.
Describe a recent discovery research study you did that resulted in a large amount of data. How did you analyze the data, and how did you come up with insights and recommendations to improve the team?
How do you deal with circumstances in which individuals are doubtful of the value of your research, for example, when they challenge your sample size?
What is the difference, in your opinion, between research on healthcare items and research on ordinary consumer products?
Based on user feedback, your project manager determines that the default cell size in Excel is too tiny. What method would you take to the conclusion and related requests?
How would you approach research in order to adapt the product on a mobile platform?
We have a subscription growth issue. How would you go about researching it?
What was an amazing discovery or insight you gained from a recent project?
Any instances where you were unsuccessful in resolving a conflict?
As a researcher, who do you primarily collaborate with? What is the team's size?
How can research be applied to design? Give an example.
Assume you have three distinct UIs and want to know which one is the best. What would you do in this situation?
What are the flaws of personas? How do you overcome those flaws?
Consider an app that you enjoy using. Assume the product manager asks you to identify the top ten UX issues. How would you approach this?
How would you create a prototype for an in-vehicle phone keypad?
How do you know when a project is complete?
How would you go about conducting a user trial focused on email? And how would you safeguard a user's data if they opted to utilize their own email address during the experiment?
How do you tell whether your research was successful?

If you are selected or granted a 'yes' by the majority of interviewers after the onsite interview, you will be contacted by the recruiter within 4 to 5 business days to discuss your package. Best wishes!

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does the entire UX Researcher interview process at Meta typically take?

What should I know about Meta's approach to UX research and design during the interview process?

Are there behavioral or situational interview questions in the process?

How can I prepare for the research and communication interviews in the UX Researcher interview process at Meta?

Is there a portfolio or presentation component in the UX Researcher interview process?

Relevant interview guides

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UX Research Interview Questions

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Whether you’re a seasoned UX researcher or just starting your career in this field, interviews can be a challenging but exciting part of the job search process. To help you ace your UX research interviews, we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of UX research interview questions that cover a wide range of topics.

These questions have been carefully curated to assess your knowledge, skills, and experience in UX research, as well as your ability to think critically and solve problems.

In this blog, we will explore various aspects of UX research and provide detailed insights into the interview process. We’ll discuss common interview question categories such as research methodologies, participant recruitment, data analysis, and reporting.

So, let’s dive in and ensure you’re fully prepared to ace your UX researcher job interview!

UX Research Background Questions

In a UX research interview, background questions are like friendly chats that help the interviewer dive into your experience and expertise in the field. They’re genuinely interested in learning about your previous roles, projects, and the cool methods you’ve used in your research work. It’s all about understanding your skills, knowledge, and how well you’d fit into the team.

When they ask you about your background, they’ll explore a variety of topics. The interviewers want to hear about your education, your work experience, and the specific research projects you’ve been a part of. It’s a chance for you to share your story and show them what makes you awesome in the world of UX research .

Here are some background-related questions along with the way you can answer them:

a) Can you describe your previous experience in UX research?

Highlight your relevant experience, including the methodologies you’ve used, the projects you’ve worked on, and the impact you’ve made. Provide specific examples that demonstrate your skills and expertise.

b) What motivates you to pursue a career in UX research?

Share your passion for understanding user behavior, solving complex problems, and improving user experiences. Explain how your skills align with your motivation, emphasizing your ability to empathize with users and uncover actionable insights.

c) How do you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and advancements in UX research?

Discuss your commitment to continuous learning, mentioning industry blogs, conferences, webinars, and online courses that you regularly engage with. Highlight any recent advancements you find particularly interesting and how you apply them to your work.

d) Can you explain your approach to conducting user research?

Outline your research process, including the steps you take to define research goals, select appropriate methods, recruit participants, gather data, and analyze insights. Emphasize the importance of a human-centered approach and iterative design.

e) How do you effectively communicate research findings to stakeholders?

Explain how you tailor your communication to different stakeholders’ needs and preferences. Discuss your ability to distill complex findings into actionable insights, using visual aids and storytelling techniques to engage and educate stakeholders.

f) How do you handle challenging situations or conflicting priorities in UX research?

Share your experience in managing tight deadlines, limited resources, or disagreements within a team. Highlight your problem-solving skills, flexibility, and ability to prioritize tasks while maintaining a user-centered focus.

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Decision Driven Questions

These questions play a crucial role in shaping the design and development of user-centered products and services. So, it’s really important to understand their significance and be prepared to answer them like a pro!

Decision-driven questions are all about getting insights that directly influence the decisions made in designing a product or service. They aim to uncover what users prefer, expect, and what issues they face when it comes to different aspects of a product. In an interview, you might come across questions like:

“How would you determine which features are most important to users?”
“Can you describe a time when user research helped influence a design decision?”
“What methods would you employ to identify user needs and pain points?”
“How do you prioritize design improvements based on user feedback?”

Here are some questions with tips for answers:

a) Can you provide an example of a research project where your insights directly influenced a design decision?

Select a project where your research findings had a significant impact on product design or features. Describe how your insights led to specific design changes, improved user satisfaction, or increased business outcomes.

b) How do you determine which research methods to use in a given project?

Explain how you assess project requirements, goals, and constraints to select the most appropriate research methods. Discuss your experience with qualitative and quantitative methods, and how you balance them to gain comprehensive insights.

c) How do you handle situations where stakeholders are skeptical about the value of user research?

Discuss your strategies for educating stakeholders about the benefits of user research. Share success stories where research provided valuable insights, leading to improved products, increased user satisfaction, or business growth.

d) How do you ensure the validity and reliability of your research findings?

Talk about your attention to detail, rigorous data collection, and analysis processes. Highlight your commitment to following established research methodologies and best practices, including triangulation, participant recruitment, and data validation.

e) Can you explain your approach to conducting usability testing?

Describe your methodology for planning and conducting usability tests, including setting objectives, defining test scenarios, selecting participants, and analyzing results. Mention your expertise in identifying usability issues and providing actionable recommendations.

f) How do you involve stakeholders in the research process?

Discuss how you collaborate with stakeholders throughout the research process, from defining research objectives to interpreting and applying insights. Explain the importance of involving stakeholders to ensure alignment and buy-in.

Be concise, articulate, and focused on providing concrete examples that highlight your ability to make informed design decisions based on user insights.

Technical Knowledge

UX research technical knowledge questions play a crucial role in evaluating an individual’s expertise and competence in the field of user experience research.

Now, when you encounter these UX research technical knowledge questions, it’s essential to approach them with confidence and a structured mindset. You want to showcase your knowledge and experience by providing accurate and concise answers.

Take the time to clearly explain your understanding of the specific research method or technique being discussed. Show how it can be applied to gather meaningful insights and ultimately enhance user experiences.

Let’s take a look at some example questions to give you an idea:

a) What software tools do you typically use for UX research?

Mention popular tools like UserZoom, Optimal Workshop, or UserTesting.com, and explain how you leverage them for various research activities such as remote testing, survey creation, or data analysis.

b) How familiar are you with statistical analysis in UX research?

Highlight your proficiency in using statistical methods to analyze research data. Discuss your experience with tools like Excel, SPSS, or R, and your ability to derive meaningful insights from quantitative data.

c) Are you comfortable working with HTML/CSS or prototyping tools?

If you have relevant experience, share your proficiency in working with HTML/CSS for conducting research or creating interactive prototypes. Mention any prototyping tools you are familiar with, such as Figma, Sketch, or InVision.

d) Can you explain the difference between quantitative and qualitative research methods?

Provide a concise definition of each method and discuss their strengths and weaknesses. Give examples of when each method is most appropriate and how you integrate them to gain a holistic understanding of user experiences.

e) Have you conducted A/B testing or other types of experimentation in your research?

Talk about your experience with A/B testing and other experimental methods to evaluate design alternatives or measure the impact of changes. Highlight how you analyze the results and make data-driven recommendations.

f) How do you ensure data privacy and ethical considerations in your research?

Emphasize the importance of respecting user privacy and following ethical guidelines. Discuss your experience obtaining informed consent, anonymizing data, and ensuring compliance with relevant regulations like GDPR or CCPA.

Adaptability

Let’s talk about UX research adaptability questions, which play a vital role in understanding how users can easily adapt to new technologies and design changes. These questions give researchers valuable insights into users’ comfort levels, their willingness to learn, and their overall adaptability when it comes to interacting with different interfaces.

Why are these questions so important, you might wonder? Well, by confidently answering adaptability questions, researchers can gather valuable information that guides the development of user-centered adaptive user interfaces. This means creating digital products and services that are tailored to meet the needs of users who might encounter frequent updates and improvements in technology.

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, technology is constantly evolving, and user interfaces are frequently updated and improved. That’s why it’s crucial for users to be able to adapt to these changes. The success and usability of digital products and services heavily depend on users’ ability to embrace new or changing experiences.

To give you an idea, let’s take a look at some of these adaptability questions:

a) How do you handle unexpected changes or disruptions during a research project?

Explain your ability to adapt to unexpected challenges and changes in research plans. Share examples where you successfully adjusted your approach or timeline to ensure the project’s success.

b) Have you ever had to conduct research for a product or domain you were unfamiliar with? How did you approach it?

Describe a situation where you had to quickly familiarize yourself with a new domain and share your approach to gaining domain knowledge. Highlight your ability to learn quickly and apply your research skills effectively.

c) How do you manage multiple projects or priorities simultaneously?

Discuss your organizational and time management skills, emphasizing your ability to prioritize tasks, delegate when necessary, and maintain focus on delivering quality results across multiple projects.

d) Can you adapt your research methodologies for different target audiences?

Demonstrate your flexibility in tailoring research methods to various user groups, taking into account factors such as age, cultural background, or accessibility requirements. Provide examples where you successfully adapted your approach to different user segments.

e) How do you handle feedback or criticism of your research findings?

Discuss your open-mindedness and willingness to accept constructive feedback. Describe a situation where you received feedback on your research and how you incorporated it to improve the quality of your work.

f) Can you share an example of a time when you had to pivot your research focus due to changing project requirements?

Explain how you handled a situation where research priorities shifted abruptly. Share how you adapted your research plan, communicated the changes to stakeholders, and still delivered valuable insights.

Sharing specific examples of successful adaptation or challenges faced can help researchers understand the factors that contribute to or hinder users’ adaptability.

Successful teamwork and collaboration are essential in the field of user experience (UX) research. UX research team and collaboration questions play a vital role in facilitating effective research studies and delivering impactful insights.

These questions are specifically designed to explore the dynamics within a research team, uncover communication preferences, and identify strategies for efficient collaboration.

Let’s go through some of the possible questions:

a) How do you collaborate with other team members, such as designers or product managers?

Highlight your ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams. Describe your communication style, collaboration techniques, and how you contribute to creating a shared understanding of user needs and goals.

b) Have you ever faced challenges when working with stakeholders who had conflicting opinions or priorities?

Share a situation where you successfully managed conflicting stakeholder opinions or priorities.

c) How do you ensure research findings are effectively incorporated into the design and development process?

Explain your approach to collaborating with designers and developers to translate research insights into actionable design decisions.

d) Can you describe a time when you had to resolve a disagreement within a research team?

Share an example of a situation where there was a difference of opinion or conflict within the research team.

e) How do you foster a culture of research within an organization?

Share examples of how you’ve encouraged collaboration and knowledge-sharing among team members, and how you’ve influenced decision-making processes.

f) How do you handle remote or distributed teams when conducting research?

Discuss your experience conducting research with remote or distributed teams, highlighting the tools and techniques you’ve used to facilitate communication, collaboration, and remote user testing.

Tips and Tricks for UX Research Interviews

Prepare Your Background

Before the interview, take the time to review your previous roles, projects, and methodologies used in your research work. Be ready to articulate your responsibilities, achievements, and the impact of your work. Prepare specific examples that demonstrate your skills and expertise.

Understand User-Centered Design

Familiarize yourself with the user-centered design process and its key principles. Be prepared to discuss how you have collaborated with cross-functional teams, stakeholders, and designers in past projects. Showcase your ability to create research deliverables such as personas, journey maps, or user interviews.

Highlight Decision-Making Abilities

Show your ability to use research insights to inform design decisions. Discuss how you have identified user needs, prioritized improvements, and influenced design choices based on research findings. Provide concrete examples that showcase the impact your research had on the final product or service.

Brush Up on Technical Knowledge

Review different research methodologies, tools, and techniques commonly used in UX research. Ensure you have a solid understanding of research planning, data collection methods, data analysis techniques, and reporting. Stay updated with recent advancements and trends in the field.

Showcase Adaptability

Demonstrate your willingness to adapt to new technologies and design changes. Reflect on past experiences where you successfully adapted to evolving interfaces or software updates. Discuss the strategies you employed and any challenges you faced during the adaptation process.

Emphasize Teamwork and Collaboration

Highlight your experience working effectively within a research team. Discuss your role in collaborative decision-making, conflict management, and knowledge sharing. Showcase your communication skills and preferred communication styles, channels, and strategies.

Be Clear and Concise

When answering interview questions, provide clear and concise responses that highlight your relevant experience, achievements, and skills. Focus on the most important points and avoid rambling or providing excessive details.

Provide Specific Examples

Support your answers with specific examples from your past projects or research initiatives. Sharing concrete evidence of your skills, accomplishments, and the impact of your work will make your responses more compelling and memorable.

Demonstrate a Comprehensive Understanding

Show your depth of knowledge by explaining research methodologies, techniques, and best practices in a clear and concise manner. Avoid jargon or overly technical language, but ensure you convey a strong understanding of the subject matter.

Be Confident and Passionate

Approach the interview with confidence, enthusiasm, and a genuine passion for UX research. Let your excitement and dedication to creating meaningful user experiences shine through in your answers.

Remember to practice your responses beforehand, conduct mock interviews if possible, and research the organization you’re interviewing with to tailor your answers accordingly. By following these tips and tricks, you’ll be well-prepared to showcase your skills, expertise, and suitability for the UX research role.

In a UX research interview, it’s super important to come prepared and feel confident when answering questions about your background, decision-making abilities, technical know-how, adaptability, and teamwork skills. By optimizing your responses in each of these areas, you can really show off your expertise, qualifications, and how you’ll contribute effectively to user-centered design goals.

By connecting all your responses together, you’ll be able to showcase your comprehensive skill set and your passion for creating impactful user experiences. This is your chance to really shine and show them why you’re the perfect fit for the role. Leave a lasting impression on the interviewers and make them remember you long after the interview is over.

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FAQ: UX Research Interview Question

Concentrate on clarity, relevance, and specific examples. Highlight your background, decision-making abilities, technical knowledge, adaptability, and teamwork skills. Share concrete experiences that demonstrate your expertise and the impact of your work on user-centered UX design .

Very important. You should understand and explain different research methodologies, tools, and techniques. Be prepared to discuss research planning, data collection methods, data analysis techniques, and reporting. Keeping up-to-date with recent advancements in UX research is also crucial.

Daria Krasovskaya is the Head of Content at UXtweak. Since content quality is her responsibility, she works closely with our UX researchers, UX/UI designers and content writers to ensure that we publish high-quality, informative, and engaging content on our blog and guides. During her studies for a degree in Marketing communication, she discovered her interest in user experience and design. Daria is not only a key member of the UXtweak team but also contributes to other websites and UX publications. Her articles can be found on well-known sites like UX Booth, where she shares her insights on UX topics.

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IMAGES

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User Interview Questions. A quick guide (and helpful chart) for…
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COMMENTS

Writing an Effective Guide for a UX Interview
Step 4: Fill In for Unaccounted Research Questions. Align each interview question to your research questions. If you have research questions that are not addressed by any of your interview questions, fill in the gap by crafting some more interview questions. Repeat step 3 if needed. The interview guide can include your research questions.
User Interviews for UX Research: What, Why & How
UX interview tools and logistics. One of the reasons user interviews are such a popular method is that they are economical. You don't need a lot of time, budget, or special tools to conduct successful interviews. ‍ 🧙 Discover more tools in the 2022 UX Research Tools Map, a fantastical guide to the UXR software landscape.
How to conduct effective user interviews for UX research
Let's walk through our plan step by step. 1. Determine what type of user interviews you'll conduct. Earlier in this guide, we outlined the different types of user interviews: Structured, semi-structured, and unstructured; generative, contextual, and continuous; and remote and in-person.
Common UX Research Interview Questions
UX research is a rapidly evolving sector. You have to adapt quickly. While answering the UX research interview questions, include these tips to display your adaptability effectively: Be specific about the research methods you have used, the challenges you faced, and the outcomes you achieved.
The Complete Guide to Conducting UX Research Interviews
The Complete Guide to Conducting UX Research Interviews. Forbes says that every dollar invested in UX yields $100. That's an impressive 9,900% ROI. However, you can't create a product for the user if you don't know what they need. One of the best ways to get data that improves product design is to ask the user.
Conducting user interviews: A comprehensive guide for UX ...
User interviews are a cornerstone of user experience (UX) research, providing invaluable insights into users' perspectives, preferences, and pain points. To conduct successful user interviews, thorough preparation, effective communication, and keen observation skills are essential. In this comprehensive guide, we'll delve into the key steps ...
Mastering User Interviews: A Practical Guide for UX Researchers
A wide range of research techniques are used within UX research. In-depth interviews are an important part of UX research. Below, we have listed the biggest advantages of in-depth interviews: In-depth insights. In-depth interviews allow researchers to gain in-depth and detailed insights about respondents' experiences, thoughts, feelings and ...
My Expert Guide to User Interviews
Prepare & plan. Preparing user interviews entails recruiting participants from your target audience. Here are the main steps: Set the goals of your research (aka prepare a research plan) Prepare your interview guide. The interview guide is a structured document with the list of questions you are going to ask.
User Interviews: Guide To An Insightful UX Interview
Summary: 7 essentials to insightful user interviews. 1. Plan: go deep, do a research plan and an interview guide, take into account the time and the resources as well. 2. Provide a calm atmosphere for the interview: even offering tea and coffee can do the trick. A relaxed user is an open user.
UX Researcher: Complete Interview Guide [2024]
The interviewers can be a mix of researchers or various UX professionals from different disciplines, including research, design, UX engineering, motion, and writing. The interview panel can be diverse, consisting of professionals from various UX-related disciplines. This may include UX engineers, UX designers, content writers, and so on.
How to Prepare a UX Research Interview Guide and Script
A UX research interview guide and script are two complementary documents that help you plan and conduct your interviews. A guide is a high-level outline of the topics, goals, and objectives of ...
32 UX Research Interview Questions & How to Answer Them
8 decision-making assessment questions. A UX researcher is responsible for making or influencing many decisions that will impact a project's success. The interviewer will ask questions that assess how good you are at making these decisions. Some examples include:
27 UX Researcher Interview Questions (Plus How To Prepare)
Here is a list of simple steps you can follow to prepare for a UX researcher interview: Study common user experience research practices: Taking time to study how UX researchers fulfill the goals of their position can help you prepare to answer questions about how you can do the same. For example, you may ensure that you have a well-developed ...
Top 50 UX Research Interview Questions and Answers
The decision-driven research questions and answers offer a focused approach to understanding the user experience (UX) landscape. Designed to uncover insights that drive informed decision-making, this section is tailored for UX researchers seeking to enhance their interviewing skills. Professionals gain valuable insights into user behaviors ...
49 UX Researcher Interviewer Questions and Example Answers
Task: Describe your role and desired outcomes. Action: Describe the steps you took to overcome the challenge. Result: Explain the outcome of your actions and the lessons you learned. Discover 49 UX researcher interview questions and view example answers and tips so you can make a positive impression on hiring managers.
User Interviews 101: A Practical Guide to UX Research Interviews
How do you run a user interview? Time to share some insights on best practices when conducting user interviews!Let's understand the importance of building ge...
The UX Designer's Guide to User Research
Below are some quick tips for conducting research, organized by the study types you're most likely to encounter as a UX designer. For a more in-depth overview of each method, check out the Discovery, Evaluative, and Continuous Research Methods modules of the UX Research Field Guide. User interviews Assign an experienced moderator.
The proven guide for Meta's UX Researcher interview
The role of a Meta UX Researcher. UX researchers conduct systematic research on target users in order to collect and analyze data that proves to be an aid in the product design process. A UX researcher is typically involved in two forms of research: qualitative and quantitative. The quantitative study is concerned with numbers and statistics.
UX Research Interview Questions
To help you ace yourUX researchinterviews, we've compiled a comprehensive list of UX research interview questions that cover a wide range of topics. These questions have been carefully curated to assess your knowledge, skills, and experience in UX research, as well as your ability to think critically and solve problems.
UX Research Field Guide
The UX Research Field Guide is a comprehensive how-to guide to user research. By the time you finish reading, you'll be a total pro at doing user research—from planning it to conducting sessions to analyzing and reporting your findings. This is actually the second edition of the UX Research Field Guide. With the help of our own User ...
How to Become a UX Researcher in 2023: The Ultimate Career Guide
UX Research Field Guide: Evaluative Testing Methods; Synthesis - The act of gathering your findings from research and synthesizing them into something your stakeholders can understand. This can include data analysis, coding interview notes, and creating research repositories. ‍UX Research Field Guide: Research Analysis and Synthesis
Focus Groups: UX Research Methods for Discovery
A focus group is a moderated conversation with a group of 5 to 10 participants in which a moderator asks the group a set of questions about a particular topic. They can be helpful tools for learning about attitudes, beliefs, desires, and reactions to concepts or designs. Focus groups typically last from 1 to 2 hours.
How a UX Researcher Uses AI in Their Daily Workflow
The UX Research Tools Map from User Interviews is an annual guide to the ever-evolving world of UX and user research software. Check out the 2023 edition (published October 2023) to see how AI is changing the landscape.

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User interviews for discovery and ideation

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1. Determine what type of user interviews you’ll conduct

2. Write your user interview script (or guide)

3. Recruit your interview participants

4. Set up the necessary tools

5. Perfect your interview technique

What happens next? How to analyse your user interview data

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