alexe-ev Run User Interviews
Purpose
Help teams design and execute effective user interviews that generate reliable, actionable qualitative insights — not confirmation of existing assumptions.
Skill type
Conceptual skill
Use this skill when
- A team needs to understand user problems, behaviors, or motivations
- A product area is underexplored and hypothesis-generation is needed
- Existing assumptions need to be stress-tested with real users
- A discovery cycle requires structured qualitative input
Do not use this skill when
- The goal is usability testing of a specific design (use run-usability-testing)
- The goal is synthesizing already-completed research (use synthesize-qualitative-research)
Required inputs
- Research goal or question to explore
- Target participant profile
Optional inputs
- Existing hypotheses to explore (not test)
- Number of interviews planned
- Recruiting constraints
- Prior research context
Upstream context
Works best when:
- A discovery research scope has been defined
- Target segment is identified
If upstream context is missing
If no research question exists, produce a question framing exercise first. Don't run interviews without a clear goal.
Downstream handoff
Output can feed:
- synthesize-qualitative-research (interview transcripts → synthesis)
- apply-jtbd-framework (interview data → JTBD mapping)
- develop-persona-segment (interview patterns → personas)
Instructions
- Clarify the research goal: what decisions will this research inform?
- Define the participant profile: who has the relevant experience to answer the question?
- Design the interview guide: open-ended, story-based questions; no leading questions.
- Structure the guide: warm-up → context → core questions → wrap-up.
- Define recruiting criteria and target number (typically 5–8 per segment for saturation).
- Define how notes or transcripts will be captured.
- Plan for synthesis immediately after interviews while memory is fresh.
Output
Provide:
- Research goal and decisions it will inform
- Participant profile and recruiting criteria
- Interview guide (warm-up, context, core questions, wrap-up)
- Note-taking protocol
- Synthesis plan
- Number of interviews needed and rationale
Risks / caveats
- Leading questions produce confirmation, not insight — review the guide for bias
- 5–8 interviews per distinct segment is typically sufficient for pattern saturation
- Never ask users what they want — ask what they do and why