How to conduct better user interviews

A strong user interview should feel natural, but not random.

The best sessions have a clear purpose, a thoughtful structure, and enough flexibility to follow up with the participant when something useful comes up. You are not trying to create a perfect script. You are trying to create a conversation that helps your team understand the person, the context, and the answer to the research question more clearly.

Once the study is planned, the moderator’s job is to guide the session with focus, curiosity, and care.

Start by setting expectations

The first few minutes shape the rest of the conversation.

Before jumping into questions, explain what the session is about, how long it will take, whether it will be recorded, and what you expect from the participant. This helps people feel more comfortable and gives them permission to be honest.

A simple introduction can cover:

• who you are

• why you are running the session

• what the participant will do

• whether there are right or wrong answers

• how the recording or notes will be used

• whether they can pause or ask questions

This part does not need to be long. It just needs to make the participant feel clear on what is happening.

Warm up before the main topic

Do not open with your biggest or most specific question right away.

Start with a few warm-up questions that help you understand the participant’s context, and help the participant relax. Sometimes it is better to build a little rapport or reduce anxiety levels of your interviewee even if it costs you a few minutes of your booked time. These can be about their role, habits, recent experience, current workflow, or how they normally approach the topic you are researching.

For example:

• Can you tell me a little about your role?

• How do you usually handle this process today?

• When was the last time you had to solve this problem?

• What tools or steps are currently part of that workflow?

• What does a typical workday look like for you?

• How long have you been working in this field?

• What devices or tools do you use most often in your daily routine?

• How often do you usually deal with [specific/general task]?

Warm-up questions help the participant settle into the conversation. They also give you useful background before moving into the main research goal.

Ask open questions, then follow the thread

Good user interviews are built around open questions.

Instead of asking questions that lead to a quick yes or no, ask questions that invite the participant to explain, describe, compare, or remember something specific.

Once the participant answers, listen for the thread worth following. Maybe they hesitate. Maybe they use an unexpected word. Maybe they mention a workaround, frustration, or expectation you had not considered. That is where follow-up questions help.

Use follow-ups without derailing the session

The ability to ask follow-up questions is one of the biggest advantages of a user interview, but it also needs control.

A good follow-up helps clarify, deepen, or ground the answer. It should not pull the conversation into a completely unrelated area just because something sounds interesting.

Useful follow-ups include:

• Can you tell me more about that?

• What made you think that?

• Can you give me an example?

• What happened next?

• What were you expecting instead?

• How did you decide what to do?

The goal is to understand the participant’s answer better while keeping the session connected to the research goal.

Avoid leading the participant

Leading questions can quietly weaken an interview.

If the question suggests what the answer should be, the participant may try to agree, please you, or respond in a way they think is expected.

For example, instead of asking, “Was this part confusing?”, ask, “How did this part feel to you?” Instead of asking, “Would this make your workflow easier?”, ask, “How would this fit into your current workflow?”

The difference is small, but important. Better questions give participants space to answer in their own words.

Listen for what is said and what needs clarification

A good moderator listens beyond the first answer.

Sometimes participants speak in broad statements like “it was confusing,” “it seems useful,” or “I would probably use it.” Those answers can be helpful, but only if you understand what sits behind them.

Ask for specifics. What was confusing? What seemed useful? What situation would make them use it? What part of the experience shaped that reaction?

The clearer the answer becomes during the session, the easier it will be to analyze later.

Keep the session focused, but flexible

Research interviews can move in unexpected directions. That is part of their value.

Still, the moderator needs to protect the purpose of the session. If the conversation starts drifting too far, gently bring it back.

You can say something like:

“That is helpful context. I want to bring us back to the main workflow for a moment.”

Or:

“I’d like to ask one more question about the part you mentioned earlier.”

This keeps the conversation natural without losing the study’s focus.

Wrap up with space for final thoughts

Before ending the session, give the participant a chance to add anything you did not ask about.

A simple closing question can work well:

• Is there anything we did not cover that you think is important?

• Is there anything you expected me to ask but I did not?

• Is there anything else your team should know about this topic?

Sometimes the final few minutes reveal something useful because the participant has had time to think through the full conversation.

How Useberry Interviews supports live sessions

Useberry Interviews helps teams run live research conversations in the same workflow where the rest of their study setup and findings live.

Teams can schedule sessions, connect calendar and meeting tools, invite participants, add instructions, run interviews, capture recordings, and keep notes, transcripts, highlights, and key moments connected to the study.

That gives moderators and teams a clearer path from user interviews to actionable insights, without scattering the interview across separate tools.

See how it works in Useberry: Explore Useberry Interviews

Continue exploring the Interviews Library

Once you know how to run the session, the next step is improving the questions you bring into the conversation.

Back to the main guide: Useberry Interviews: A Complete Guide to Planning, Running, and Analyzing Better Research Conversations