The Art of Interviewing

The Art of Interviewing is part of our 'This Is How We Do It Series'. This is for you if you want to undertake interviews that give you rich insight into what people actually do, not just what they say they do. This presentation will also help you plan, conduct and capture interviews as well as give you some insights into different interview techniques.

1. The Art of
Interviewing
This
is
how
we
do
it

2. How to conduct immersive
user interviews that are rich,
insightful and enjoyable.
This
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how
we
do
it

3. The Art of Interviewing is for
you if you want:
1.To undertake interviews that
give you rich insight into what
people actually do, not just
what they say they do
2.A framework which helps you
plan, conduct and capture
interviews
3.To learn new interview
techniques
This will help you:
• Give your interviewees an
experience they enjoy that helps
them be more open about their
lives
• Gain insights with the
potential to transform products,
services and businesses
About this document
This
is
how
we
do
it

4. We’re interested in the differences between what people think
they do and what they actually do. The differences often reveal
hidden needs that can inspire new products, services and
businesses. We do this by:
1.Immersing ourselves in people’s lives
2.Making observations through great conversations
3.Asking them to reflect on their own behaviour
We draw upon diverse disciplines, from psychology to design
in order to craft interviews that create that balance and reveal
transformative insights.
Some examples
This
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Design thinking
Psychology Ethnography

5. Inspiring a new
cleaning product
Clean, clean, clean. Inch by inch. Hands
protected all the time.
We observed someone with OCD scrub their
toilet spotless with a toothbrush while talking
to them about their thought processes for
cleaning. This revealed insights that inspired
a toilet brush product with a disposable
head, that makes cleaning more hygienic.
Some examples
Inspiring a smoking
cessation service
The ups and downs of quitting up close.
We followed in the footsteps of nicotine
addicts which helped us understand the ups
and downs of kicking a habit. We observed
and collected all the little tricks and tactics
people use when trying give up. Rather than
invent a new type of patch, these findings
directly contributed to a service proposition
which had a higher success rate than using
traditional gum or patches alone.
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6. We don’t just ask people questions, we get
under the skin of their lives. We hang out in
their home, often for hours at a time. They
take us to their favourite places. We shop
with them. We meet their mates.
Our interviews give people:
1.Freedom to be themselves
2.A space to tell their story
3.A chance to articulate their met and
unmet needs
An artful interviewer blends intuition with
process, focus with flexibility and poise
with warmth.
What makes our interviews different?
“It was my first time I’d
had this kind of
experience: talking about
my likes, life and
reflections with Sense
Worldwide was amazing!
It helped me learn more
about myself.”
“It was nice to know
I’d contributed to
something... otherwise
you’d end up just
answering questions with
your thoughts and words
vanishing into the ether.”
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What people say about being interviewed by us:

7. A conversation A negotiation
of ideas A sensorial
experience A chance to see
the world from
someone else’s
perspective Firstly, here’s how we describe
an interview:
This
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8. To us, a successful interview is:
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Investigative
& clue-driven
Supportive
& reflective
Immersive &
observational

9. Plan: laying the groundwork
for a great interview
Conduct: undertaking immersive
interviews that deliver game-
changing insights
Capture: reflect, synthesise
and share key learnings
Before
During
After
So, how do we do it?
This
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it

10. Contents page
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In the following sections we describe each stage of the interview process in detail.
Plan: laying the groundwork for a great interview
Who Page 14
What Page X
When & where Page X
How Page X
Conduct: undertaking immersive interviews
Interview etiquette Page X
Managing the interview Page X
Interview techniques Page X
Capture: reflect, synthesise and share key insights
Summarising the interview Page X
Before
During
After

11. The interview starts
before the interview
This
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12. Laying the groundwork for the
interview with thorough planning
Before
During
After
This
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Before the interview

13. Consider:
1. Who (interviewees / client / colleagues)
2. What (activities / approach)
3. When & Where (timing / logistics)
4. How (capturing the interview)
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Before the interview
Consider the ‘hygiene’ factors

14. This
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1. Who
• Recruiting the right people
• Getting the right number of
people in an interview
• Getting agreement (colleagues
and client) around the interview approach

15. This
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Before the interview
Recruit the right person for the interview
Getting the right person is critical in getting the
insights and inspiration you need.
As well as looking for people who represent the
‘typical’ users of a product or service, consider
more extreme users and even rejectors.
For example when we investigated blister products
we spoke to a special forces soldier, and got a very
detailed opinion about the improvements that
could be made. (Soldiers actually use burns
plasters, which are bigger – this led to a
breakthrough for Johnson & Johnson)
Photo via Flickr courtesy of włodi

16. Fellow interviewers
If you are going to share the interview with
another interviewer, discuss and agree
how you’ll work together before the
interview.
For example in longer interviews will you
swap who leads and who records?
And remember, always agree on a protocol
for timekeeping and when and how the
supporting interviewer will ask supporting
questions.
Before the interview
Get everyone aligned
Clients
Sometimes we invite clients to join us
in interviews.
It’s important that they’re well
prepared and know what to expect.
A pre-interview briefing session
ensures that all the team understand
what will happen in the interview. It
also clarifies the roles they’ll play (i.e.
observer, with time to ask occasional
questions).
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Before the interview
Get the right balance of people in an interview
If too many people attend an in-home
interview it can disrupt the balance and
make the interviewee feel uncomfortable.
We’ve found that the best mix of people
for revealing conversations is two
interviewers (one person leading and one
person recording) for one interviewee.
We would recommend no more than four
people on the interviewer team at any
interview, including translators if required.

18. This
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2. What
Defining the objectives and how to approach it:
• Agreeing on the areas to investigate in the interview
• Designing the Discussion Guide
• Developing a pre-task for interviewees

19. Before the interview
Decide on the areas you want to investigate
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Developing a map of the key areas you
want to investigate provides the
foundations for the interview Discussion
Guide and gets everyone aligned.
This map:
• is shaped around the project brief
• pulls together the team’s hunches and hypotheses
• builds upon insights from contextual research
This map was developed to explore the future of
fridge dispensing.

20. Before the interview
Develop a Discussion Guide
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Translate the areas you want to explore into a
Discussion Guide. A Discussion Guide helps
an interview flow freely and helps the
interviewer cover similar areas in each
interview, so responses can be compared.
They can include:
• an introduction to the project
• interview etiquette (for clients)
• overview page (with timings)
• an equipment list (including a confidentiality agreement)
• intro / warm up questions for interviewee
• specific interview questions
• home tour
• visit to relevant shops
• related games or design activities
• discussion with relatives / friends

21. Before the interview
Consider asking interviewees to complete a pre-task
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A pre-task includes activities which help the
interviewee get into interview mode before
the interview.
It also helps the interviewers get a better
sense of the interviewee, their lives, style
and values.
The pre-task can be delivered in many
forms: we’ve sent interviewees a box which
they fill with objects that they feel represent
them, as well as simple workbooks or a
digital collage which include some ‘get to
know you questions’. You could even ask
them if they’re happy to share links to their
social media profiles (e.g. Pinterest / Flickr)
You can ask interviewees to send you a
photo or scan of their pre-task before you
visit them or simply use it as a guide for the
first part of the interview.

22. This
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3. When and where
• Timing and logistics
• Building rapport with the interviewee

23. Before the interview
Call in advance
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Giving the person you’re
interviewing a call before you visit
them will build rapport and help
alleviate any tensions.
Consider:
•Providing an overview
of the project
•Giving information about
the interview
•Checking if they’ve participated
in research before
•Checking that you have
permission from the home-owner
to be in their home
•Checking permission if you want
to look around their home (we call
this a home-tour)
•Confirm who’s attending
•Confirm the time
•Swap contact and location details
•Check parking arrangements
•Confirm they’re happy to give you
permission to record the interview

24. Before the interview
Call in advance
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Be open about clients
•If clients are attending the interview with
you where possible always try be open
about who they are and what they want
to get out of the interview.
•Some clients want their company to
remain anonymous to avoid any potential
interview bias.
But, most importantly establish rapport:
•Have a general conversation with them
to get to know them
•Ask them questions that to help you
design the interview
•Ask them if they have any questions

25. Before the interview
Put yourself in the interviewees shoes
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“I was incredibly nervous
before my interview, but
when I met the team
interviewing me they
immediately put me
at ease”
Interviewee, New York
Remember, it’s your job as
the interviewer to help the
interviewee feel relaxed.
Always try and put
yourself in their shoes to
understand what they’re
thinking and feeling.

26. This
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4. How
• Equipment for recording
• Tools for capturing key points, including:
- Capture sheets
- Written notes
- Sketchnotes

27. This
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Before the interview
Pull together your recording equipment
•Cameras - 2 x still, 1 x video
•Dictaphones x 2 (1 as a back-up)
•16gb (minimum) memory cards x 3 (sometimes they corrupt)
•Camera charger
•Tripod x 1
•Spare batteries
•Adapter plugs (if you’re working in different countries)
•A panoramic app on your smartphone (great photos for reports)
•Handheld scanner (if you want to scan textures, fabrics or documents)
It sounds obvious, but make sure all SD cards are empty and all
batteries are charged before you set-off.

28. Before the interview
Design tools, such as capture sheets
Capture sheets can be designed to
support activities in the interview.
Design them to be fun and creative and
the interviewee will love filling them in –
it helps them feel a sense of ownership
and control.
Capture sheets are useful when
mapping out journeys, experiences,
hierarchies, ideas and networks.

29. Examples of simple capture sheets
Keep capture sheets simple.
Always include a space for the
interviewee’s name and the
date of the interview. This
helps when referring to them
after the interview.

30. Before the interview
Plan your note-taking to highlight key insights
1. Put a vertical margin down the right
side of your page

2. Make your notes to the left of the line

3. After each change of topic, idea,
whatever, draw a horizontal line all the
way across the page

4. Later (minutes or hours) - write "meta-
notes" on the right to summarise key
points, flag actions, anything you like

31. Sketchnotes are a great way to capture interviews.
You can complement traditional written note
with pictures, or design the layout of your
words and pictures to fully represent the flow
of the conversation.
Sketchnotes also help you digest some of
the discussions and pull out key points as you
go along.
Your ‘sketchnote’ probably won’t be as neat as
this, but you get the idea! The Sketchnote
Handbook is a great resource. You can also find
examples of Sketchnotes on
http://sketchnotearmy.com/
Before the interview
Consider capturing the interview through images

32. During the interview
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This section focuses on 3 key areas:
1.Interview etiquette
2.Managing the interview
3.Interview techniques
Before
During
After

33. Interview etiquette

34. 1.Be considerate
2.Make the interviewee feel like
the expert
3.Observe acutely
4.The 80/20 rule
5.Let go and enjoy the ride!
Interview etiquette

35. Interviewees are inviting you into their
homes and their lives.
•Respect their space
•Keep your phone on silent
•Ask if you want to use anything
(e.g. bathroom / plug socket
for charging)
•Observe their customs
Interview etiquette
1. Be considerate

36. You’re asking them for their
opinions, so make your interviewee
feel knowledgeable and valued.
They’ll feel more comfortable and
likely to open up to your questions.
Interview etiquette
2. Make the interviewee the expert

37. Take note of your interviewee’s behaviour and environment:
•What are they doing and saying?
•What/who are they interacting with? Why?
•What visual and verbal clues are they providing?
•Compare what you’ve heard with what you’re seeing.
Take note of any discrepancies – they might hold
great insight!
Tip: use their environment to provoke relevant questions:
“I see you have a big collection of...”
Interview etiquette
3. Observe acutely

38. Every conversation has its own rhythm and energy.
‘Read’ the person to determine when you should prompt
them further. Aim to speak around 20% of the time.
Interviewer Interviewee A chatty interviewee (may need periodic prompting to stay on-track)
A reserved interviewee (may need more prompting)
Interviewer Interviewee
Interview etiquette
4. the 80/20 rule

39. Think of the interview as a casual
conversation with a friend – just
relax and enjoy the experience.
If you relaxed and enjoying it –
so will they!
Key interview principles
5. Let go and enjoy the ride!

40. Managing the
interview

41. Create an environment for intimacy
Smile and make the interviewee feel comfortable, it will
help you engage in deeper conversations.

42. Explore their lives

43. with the stuff they know.
WIDE
Start
Use the pre-task if you have one
Keep it relevant to the key themes in the interview

44. it helps them...relax
feel in control
feel like an expert
open up

45. Then go deep.

Find out about their world.
What they think and feel.
What they live for.
What makes them tick.

46. Use your Discussion Guide
It will help you focus and control the interview

47. But be flexible
It’s called a ‘guide’ for a reason – use it to
help you explore the unknown.
Sometimes the best insights from
interviews come from unexpected places.

48. “Can we move
on to the next
theme” “I just want to take a
moment to go back to
when you mentioned...” If an interview is going off-track, it’s ok to say...
Remember, your interviewee is
relying on you - they want to know
that what they’re telling you is
relevant and helpful. So give them
encouragement and feedback!“This is really
interesting. Let’s move
on to another topic”

49. Weave together
• Conversations
• Topics
• Themes
• Observations
• Insights

50. Create mental models
When doing an interview, imagine
the conversation visually.
Try using use colour or shapes to
help you remember what you’ve
discussed / want to discuss, or
when making connections
between insights.

51. Respect their space
• Give them time to reflect on questions
• Don’t interrupt

52. Keep an eye on the time
•Interesting interviews can easily overrun.
•If you do run over time check with the
interviewee if they’re happy to continue.
•If you don’t have a watch put your
Smartphone on aeroplane mode.
Photo via Flickr courtesy of riggzy

53. Pan for the nuggets
• It’s often the stuff we didn’t
know we were looking for...
• Follow your own hunches
about what’s important or
respond to threads of
conversations that surprise you.
Photo via Flickr courtesy of dotpolka

54. And perhaps most importantly, dig deep.
You want insights into latent needs and about the emotions
which drive behaviour. Probing and prompting can help.

55. Getting the most out
of your interview

56. 1. Asking open questions (the foundation of an immersive
interview which aids revealing conversations)
2. Reflective listening (to check-back and clarify)
3. The 5 why’s (to dig deep and gain insight into behaviour)
Getting the most out of your interview
Three techniques you can use to gain the insight you need.

57. Open questions are the essence of a
qualitative interview. They lead to more
descriptive answers and encourage the
interviewee to communicate their opinions
and feelings.
To get open answers don’t ask questions a
Magic 8 ball could answer. Closed questions
prompt ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers.
Open questions can be used to ask 'thinking'
and 'feeling' questions - to get to emotions/
non rational as well as rational stuff.
1. Asking open questions
For revealing conversations

58. Open question:
What was your
experience of school?
Possible response:
“Yes.”
Closed question:
Did you enjoy school?
Possible response:
“Really positive. I have very fond
memories and actually regularly
meet up with old classmates.
Actually, my favourite part was
being captain of the football
team because...”1. Asking open questions
For revealing conversations

59. Closed questions:Open questions:
How are you finding the
house hunting process?
How do you feel about
buying your first home?
Where and how do you
find inspiration?
Do you find a house buying
process challenging?
Do you feel stressed about
buying your first home?
Are you inspired by other
artists?
vs
1. Asking open questions
Examples of open and closed questions

60. Reflection point:
What parts of your life could you
use open questioning to get more
in-depth responses?
(for example: with your partner, parents or friends)

61. 2. Reflective listening
To clarify what you’ve heard
Reflective listening is great for clarifying conversations
and helping the interviewee reflect on whether what
they’ve said has been heard and interpreted correctly.
It’s a great way to build rapport and initiate more intimate
conversations by demonstrating to the interviewee that
you’re truly listening and trying to understand them.

62. Message
1. When that happens
it makes me feel
excited and scared.
That’s because I’m not
confident when it
comes to going on
dates because of my
past experience.
InterviewerInterviewee
3. Yeah, that’s right.
Let me give you a
specific example...
No
Judgement!
The most important aspect
of reflective listening
2. So, let me just make
sure I’ve heard you
right and understand?
What I heard was....
2. Reflective listening
To clarify what you’ve heard

63. Reflection point:
When would reflective
listening be useful in
other areas of your life?

64. Emotional
reason
Action /
behaviour
3: Digging deeper: the 5 why’s
For insight into behavioural drivers
By asking ‘why’
after each question
you can dig down
into the emotional
reasons behind a
behaviour or action.
“I’ve started going to the gym”
“Because I want to lose weight”
“If I lose weight I’ll look better”
“Looking better will help me regain
my confidence”
“I’m going to wedding - he’ll be there and
I want to show him what he’s missing”
“He hurt me and I need to regain
my own identity”
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why?

65. *Tip: Tone of voice is critical - these questions
work best if you sound interested and intrigued“May I ask why you
think/believe that?” “Can I ask why that’s
important to you?” “Tell me more...” “Why do you feel
that way?” “I sense there’s
more you want
to say on that” “I’d like to understand
more about your
perspective...”
3. Digging deeper: the 5 why’s
Here’s how we might ask why...

66. Reflection point:
What other ways
can you ask why?

67. After the interview
Get into the habit of
immediately reflecting on the
interview journey. This will help
you synthesise key insights
and clarify your thinking.Before
During
After

68. Verbally record your thoughts
straight after the interview
If you don’t have a dictaphone try
using a recording app on your phone.

69. Fill out a summary capture sheet and
collate all supporting documents
Sitting down immediately after an
interview with colleagues and clients is a
great way to align around the key
insights, or raise key questions.

70. Bedtime stories
Write and send an email summary to your team and the client
The freshest insight comes straight after the interview.
A summary email will help you distill the key points and
highlight any patterns with your colleagues.
This is especially useful if they’re are doing interviews in
parallel in a different location.

71. Practicing what
you’ve learnt

72. Exercise 1: ask, respond, observe
A game to help you try out what you’ve learnt so far R A A R A R Subject:
Health
1. Get into groups of 3 or more. Each person has a
different role: ‘asker’, ‘responder’, ‘observer’.
2. Pick a subject area. The ‘asker’ interviews the
‘responder’ questions about the subject area, using open
questions, the 5-whys and reflective listening techniques .
3. The interview should last no longer than 3 to 5 minutes.
When finished, the ‘observer’ gives feedback to the ‘asker’
and the ‘responder’ R A A R O R A O O O O
4. Following feedback everyone swaps roles and repeats
the exercise. O

73. Exercise 1: ask, respond, observe
Example subject areas
You can choose anything for a subject area - if you’re
stuck for inspiration look at news for inspiration.
*Tip: keep the subject area broad to begin with!
Finance Fashion Food
Education Politics Alcohol Technology
Social media Death Sleep WorkHealth

74. Exercise 2: the everyday interview
Practice by ‘interviewing’ cabbies, hairdressers and shopkeepers!

75. Exercise 3: Practice sketchnoting
Try Sketchnoting to TED talks - it’ll help you become more confident

76. Put simply, interviewing is about building rapport and gaining trust.
We use the interviewing techniques in this document in other areas of our business
too, including:
•Job interviews (to find out quickly if the candidate is the right fit for us)
•Working with new clients (building rapport and getting to know them)
•Delivering and reviewing projects internally (using open questions and
reflective listening)
•Expert interviews (to quickly get them to open up)
So, whether you’re a researcher, journalist or business person you could use what
you’ve learnt elsewhere in your life.
Using what you learn elsewhere
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77. Thanks.
This work is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0
Unported License.
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