The best user interview templates for your customer research

Finding the right user interview template can make all the difference in conducting effective customer research. User interviews are an essential part of the product development process, and having the right templates in place can ensure that you get the most out of your conversations. 

With the best user interview templates for your customer research, you can gain valuable insights into your customers' needs.

User interviews are a great way to collect data and learn more about who uses a product, why they use it, and what they need to have a better experience. By engaging with users and asking questions, product teams can create products that better meet their needs and expectations.

User interview questions can range from open-ended exploratory questions to more structured questions designed to validate assumptions.

An interview template, like this one from User Interviews, can be a great way to prepare questions and take note of responses, helping ensure you get the most out of your conversations.

User interviews are an important part of customer research. They help us learn about our customers, understand their needs, and make more informed decisions. However, user interviews can be overwhelming and difficult to make sense of. That's why we developed this user interview template to help you go from raw user interviews to actionable findings. 

User interviews are used to gather information about people who use or might use a product. It involves talking directly with people about their experiences, motivations, and needs.

Through user interviews, you can gain valuable insights into the 'why' behind user behavior.

A user interview generally involves the following actions:

1. Decide what discoveries you’re trying to uncover

2. Write a script to use to uncover these discoveries

3. Run interviews using the script and best practices

4. Upload and transcribe your interviews

5. Capture key moments that stand out

6. Look for meaningful patterns in the data you've collected

7. Generate evidence-based insights

8. Share your findings with your team and inspire them to take action

At each point of the process, you can ask the right user interview questions to ensure you get the most out of your conversations. Once you've performed these actions, you'll have a guideline of what works, so you can build an interview template that you can use repeatedly.

Developing an interview template can help you easily get the insights you need regardless if you want to uncover customer needs or gather feedback on a product.

Common interview questions:

• How did you hear about our product/service?

• What are your experiences with the product/service?

• How does our product/service make your life easier?

• What challenges have you faced when using our product/service?

• Can you walk us through how you typically use our product from beginning to end?

• What do you like most about our product/service?

• What other products/services do you use in combination with ours?

• How often do you use our product/service?

• Would you recommend our product/service to a friend or family member?

• Is there anything else you want to tell us about your experience with our product/service?

User interviews can be conducted whenever they have the potential to provide valuable insights and help create better strategies and solutions. You can ask questions about how people interact with your current product or service and collect feedback on how you can improve it.

User interviews are highly valuable in ethnographic studies, particularly when there is a need to gain a deep understanding of the user's identity, which can help to develop accurate user personas. Alternatively, you can conduct user interviews to understand customer needs before launching a new product or service. 

No matter when you decide to conduct a user interview, it's important to remember that user feedback should be taken seriously. Your customers will provide valuable insights that can help shape the design and features of your product or service, so make sure you take the time to listen and respond accordingly.

Gain a deep understanding of customer needs

User interviews provide a valuable opportunity to connect with customers, learn their needs and expectations, and gain in-depth knowledge about the user journey. By understanding customers' needs and preferences, businesses can develop more tailored solutions aligned with their target market.

Identify problems and opportunities

Conducting user interviews helps identify any potential issues or gaps in the user experience. This can help companies identify improvement opportunities and develop innovative solutions that meet customer expectations well before competitors.

Improve customer loyalty

A great customer experience is one of the best ways to build long-term customer loyalty. With user interviews, companies can gain valuable insights into how their customers interact with their product or service and their preferences.

With this information, businesses can adjust and create a better customer experience that leads to greater customer loyalty.

Measure user sentiment

User interviews are also a great way to measure user sentiment. Companies can better understand how users feel about their products or services and how their customers perceive them.

Make informed decisions

User interviews allow companies to make more informed decisions by incorporating customer feedback into their decision-making process. Businesses can use this feedback to improve existing products and services or develop new ones that better meet customer needs. 

Increase customer satisfaction

Gathering feedback from customers through user interviews helps businesses understand how they can best meet their customers' needs and expectations. This ultimately leads to higher customer satisfaction, as customers have the assurance that their voices are heard and valued.

Build trust

When businesses take the time to listen to their customers, it goes a long way toward building trust and credibility. User interviews show customers that the business values their input and takes their opinions seriously. This strengthens the relationship between the two parties so long as the company acts on the information they’re gathering.

Time and cost

User interviews take time to plan, execute, and analyze. It can be expensive if you are hiring an outside consultant. Depending on the scale of the project, it can take weeks or even months to collect all the data and information.

Bias

Bias is always a concern in research. There are ways to control how you ask questions which can help curb bias in the responses.

Cultural differences

To avoid cultural differences, you either need to compare user interviews from different countries or regions or be better at narrowing down your participant criteria.

Memory recall

Memory recall can be unreliable as people tend to forget details quickly. This can lead to inaccurate responses and misinterpretation of data. Recordings and notes tend to help to mitigate this shortcoming, though.

Limitations in anonymity

While user interviews strive to maintain anonymity, it is often impossible to guarantee complete anonymity. This can discourage honest responses and lead to inaccurate data.

Someone knowledgeable about the topic and with experience conducting effective interviews should conduct user interviews. Depending on the company, this could be a product manager, researcher, or designer.

It is also beneficial to record and have someone observe the interview who can take notes and help cover anything the interviewer may miss. To keep the participant from feeling overwhelmed, the note-taker(s) should keep silent unless the interviewer asks for additional assistance.

When conducting a user interview, you should design the structure to encourage the interviewee to open up and provide valuable insights. It is important to explain the purpose of the interview, how their data will be used, and emphasize that their answers will be used for internal purposes only.

In certain circumstances, getting sign-off and permission to record sessions is important. Some companies may also want you to sign an NDA when discussing new concepts. 

In the interview itself, you’ll want to ensure that you get genuine, unbiased responses. It is, therefore, important not to use any leading questions or prompt users into responses they might not normally have given. 

Asking open-ended questions, such as "Can you tell me about your experience using this product?" helps to draw out more detailed and useful answers. Keep the conversation natural by allowing the user to elaborate on their thoughts and experiences without trying to direct them into talking about a particular topic.

Try to keep the interview short—under an hour is ideal. This ensures that the user is engaged and can provide meaningful insights within a reasonable timeframe. 

At the end of the interview, thank the user for their time and allow them to ask questions if they have any.

User interviews are a great way to gain valuable insights into customer needs and preferences. By following these tips, you can ensure that each interview is productive and yields insightful results.

A user interview is a form of qualitative research used to gain insights into customer needs and preferences. User interviews involve a conversation between a researcher and an interviewee to better understand the subject. Interviews are usually conducted in person or over the phone but can also be done remotely via video conferencing or email.

A user interview is a great tool for gathering customer feedback and understanding how they use your product or service. They can give valuable insights into customer needs and preferences.

User interviews are important because they allow you to gain deeper insights into customers' wants, needs, and behaviors. By understanding what motivates your customers, you can tailor your product or service offerings to meet their needs. Additionally, user interviews can provide valuable feedback about any issues or concerns customers may have with your product.

The types of questions asked during a user interview will depend on the purpose of the interview. Generally speaking, it is helpful to ask open-ended questions to obtain the most in-depth picture of the interviewee’s experiences. 

Open-ended questions allow you to better understand the customer's feelings and opinions, while story-telling-like prompts help you quickly assess the customer's experience.

The length of a user interview will vary depending on the number of topics that need to be covered and the level of detail desired. Generally speaking, most user interviews should last between 30 minutes and one hour.