You’ve formulated excellent questions, created the perfect interview guide, and practiced your pauses and ‘tell me more’s. So why does this interview feel like it’s tanking? Here’s how to course-correct when you feel like an interview is going off track.

1. How to salvage a
“bad” user interview
Tips and tricks for how to get the most out of any session
Talisa Chang | @talisa

2. When it feels
like you’re
pulling teeth
Yes.
I don’t know.
Umm…
● Keep them confident. Remind them there
are no wrong answers and that you’re just
the researcher – they can’t offend you.
● Keep it moving. Trust your questions and be
assertive. Don’t mirror their uncertainty.
● Keep it concrete. Reference previous
instances or examples that have already
come up, or info from a screener or survey.
● Keep digging. “Tell me more. What do you
mean by that?”
● Keep trying. “How would you explain this to
a 5 year old?”

3. When you’re
talking to a
people pleaser
Everything’s great!
This is awesome!
● Encourage honesty. Remind them you didn’
t make it. “You won’t hurt my feelings”
● Get them back to the task at hand. If
showing designs or a prototype, repeat the
scenario or goal.
● Dig deeper. Ask how or why a feature is
useful, when or where it would fit into their
process, or how it would change a previous
scenario they’ve described.
● Force them to prioritize.
○ “If you could only have one..? (why?)
○ “If this page were loading really slowly…what
would be the first thing you want to see?”
(why?)
○ “If you only had the budget for…” (why?)

4. When they’ve
got an axe to
grind
Everything sucks.
● Let them vent. Be sure to time-box it.
● And actually listen. Tell them you’ll pass it
the feedback along, then refocus.
● Stay neutral. Thank them, but don’t take
sides either way.
● Get them back to neutral. Now that they’ve
mentioned negatives, ask about a positive
experience they’ve had.
● Refocus. “We value your opinion, so how
about we talk about xyz.”
● Preempt. If it’s an issue that’s been coming
up a lot, acknowledge briefly at the start of
the interview and say it’s being addressed.
● End early if necessary.

5. When they’re a
little spacey
Yeah… well… so, last time… that
must have been… uh… March...
my sister was in town, and...
● Remind them of the overall objective
(mentioned at beginning of interview) and
why their opinion is so valuable.
● Instill structure. “The first of 3 scenarios I
want to walk you through is…”
● Remind them the task at hand. “Remember,
you’re trying to find a gift for your friend.”
● Use body language. Glance at your
notes/questions, start setting up the test…
● Cut them off politely. “That’s really helpful. I
want to switch gears to talk about X.”
● Reference the time: “Since we only have x
minutes, there are a few more things i want to
get your thoughts on…”

6. When they’re
not your target
user
I don’t have a smartphone.
I never XYZ.
That’s someone else’s job on my
team.
● Don’t force it. Their answers will unhelpful
and even misleading.
● Make the most of it. Is there anything else
you can explore that might be useful to your
team, another team, a previous or upcoming
sprint, etc.?
● Cut it short if you need to. Reassure them
they’ll still get their incentive. Don’t make it
feel like it’s their fault.
● Refer them to another team. (And do it!)
● Ask for referrals. They may know someone
else who is in target.

7. When they start
solutioning
● Ask why. Not just once! Keep asking why
until you’ve gotten to the heart of the
problem.
● Ground it in specifics. Ask when and how
something like that would be useful. Ask
how it would change a previous scenario
you’ve discussed.
● Don’t belittle them. Encourage their thinking
by probing, don’t just shut them down or tell
them it’s not their job.
● Don’t take their idea verbatim, either. It’s
tempting to say “users said they wanted X,”
to justify building something. Make sure you’
ve dug into the why’s behind their
suggestions first.
You should make an app
that…
It would be awesome if…

8. When you have
no idea what
they mean
● Repeat what they said verbatim and pause.
● Probe
○ “Tell me more about that”
○ “Is there something that makes
you think that?”
○ “How do you mean?”
● Clarify
○ “What do you mean by XYZ?”
○ “Who is Bob?”
??????

9. When you
have a million
follow-up
questions
● Don’t interrupt them (even if it’s tempting!)
● Jot down key phrases as they’re speaking
so you can bring them up again (verbatim if
possible).
● Triage. Decide what’s most important to dig
deeper into now and what can wait till the
end, a follow-up email, your own google
search, etc.
● Slow it down. “Just a sec. I want to make
sure I captured everything you said.”
● It’s ok to jump around a bit. “A little bit
earlier you mentioned XYZ. Can you tell me
more about that?”
Talking so fast!
So many nuggets!

10. Want more tips on how to interview users?
View the slideshareView the slideshare

11. Talisa Chang is an interdisciplinary
product and UX consultant who
specializes in helping teams learn
before they build.
Find her on Twitter, Linkedin, Medium, or her website.