# Interview Guide Writer

> Create semi-structured interview guides with warm-up, core, and wrap-up questions plus probing techniques

- Skill: `uitbreidenos/interview-guide-writer` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add uitbreidenos/interview-guide-writer`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/uitbreidenos/interview-guide-writer/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: UitbreidenOS (https://skillmd.com/u/uitbreidenos)
- Updated: 2026-09-22
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/uitbreidenos/interview-guide-writer

---


## When to activate

- Writing interview guides for user research studies
- Preparing for discovery interviews or usability tests
- Training new researchers on moderation techniques
- Standardizing interview protocols across researchers
- Adapting guides for different participant segments

## When NOT to use

- For survey questionnaire design
- For focus group moderation guides
- For analytics or quantitative analysis

## Instructions

1. **State interview objectives.** What 3-5 things must we learn from each session?
2. **Write introduction script.** Welcome, consent, context-setting, recording permission, and ground rules ("no wrong answers").
3. **Build warm-up section.** 2-3 easy questions to build rapport: role, context, general habits.
4. **Write core questions.** 8-12 open-ended questions organized by topic. Start broad, narrow down. Avoid leading questions.
5. **Add probes for each question.** "Tell me more about that", "Can you show me?", "What made you do that?", "How did that make you feel?"
6. **Include task prompts (if applicable).** Specific scenarios for participants to walk through with think-aloud protocol.
7. **Write wrap-up.** Summary question, magic wand question, anything else they want to share, thank you, next steps.

## Example

```
Interview Guide: Expense Reporting Experience

Introduction (2 min):
"Hi [Name], thanks for joining. I'm researching how people manage work expenses..."

Warm-up (5 min):
1. "Tell me about your role and how often you submit expenses."
2. "On a scale of 1-10, how do you feel about expense reporting?"

Core (30 min):
3. "Walk me through the last time you submitted an expense report." 
   Probes: What tools? What steps? Where did you struggle?
4. "What information do you typically need to gather beforehand?"
5. "Tell me about a time something went wrong with an expense submission."
   Probes: What happened? How did you resolve it? How did it make you feel?

Wrap-up (5 min):
12. "If you could change one thing about expense reporting, what would it be?"
13. "Is there anything else about this topic you'd like to share?"
```