Interview Guide

---
name: interview-guide
description: Plan and conduct research interviews — guides, probing techniques, rapport, recording, and ethical practice. Use when gathering deep qualitative insight from conversations.
category: ai-research
---

# Interview Guide

Interviews surface what surveys can't: reasoning, context, emotion, the unexpected. Good 
interviewing is a craft — preparation, listening, probing — plus ethics done right.

## Overview

An interview guide (not a script) structures the conversation: opening, core topics with open 
questions, probes for depth, and closing. The interviewer's real skill is responsive listening — 
following interesting threads while covering the guide, probing without leading, and creating 
safety for honest answers. Ethics — consent, confidentiality, the right to stop — aren't 
paperwork; they're what make candor possible.

## When to use

- Exploratory research: understanding experiences, motivations, workflows.
- User research: needs, pain points, mental models.
- Evaluation: how a program or product lands in real life.
- Any question where "why" and "how" matter more than "how many."

## Core concepts

- **The guide**: topics and open-ended questions in a logical flow, with probes noted per question. 
A guide keeps coverage consistent across interviews while allowing natural conversation.
- **Open questions**: "tell me about…", "walk me through…", "what was that like?" — 
invitations, not interrogations. Avoid yes/no and leading questions.
- **Probing**: the follow-ups that get depth — "can you say more?", "what made you decide that?", 
"can you give an example?", comfortable silence. Most insight lives one probe past the first answer.
- **Rapport**: the conditions for honesty — explain the purpose, affirm there are no wrong 
answers, match energy, respect boundaries. Trust is methodological.
- **Sampling**: purposive — choose participants for relevant diversity of experience, not 
randomness. Sample until saturation (new interviews stop surfacing new themes).
- **Ethics**: informed consent, confidentiality/anonymity, data handling explained, right to 
withdraw. Sensitive topics need extra care and referral resources where appropriate.

## Practical workflow

1. Define what you need to learn; draft the guide — 6–10 core questions with probes, ordered 
easy → deep.
2. Pilot the guide with 1–2 people; fix confusing questions and timing.
3. Set up: consent process, recording (with permission), backup notes, comfortable setting.
4. Conduct: open warmly, follow the guide loosely, probe generously, watch time, close with 
"anything I should have asked?"
5. Write field notes immediately after — impressions, surprises, things the recording won't 
capture.
6. Transcribe (or detailed notes), then analyze systematically — the guide structures collection, 
coding structures analysis.

```text
Interview guide skeleton:
OPEN:    <purpose, consent, "no wrong answers", ~5 min>
WARM-UP: <easy descriptive question about their context>
CORE:    <4-6 open questions, each with 2-3 probes>
DEEP:    <the sensitive/central question — placed after rapport>
CLOSE:   <anything missed? who else should I talk to? thanks>
```

## Common pitfalls

- **Script rigidity**: reading questions verbatim, missing the interesting thread. The guide serves 
the conversation, not vice versa.
- **Leading probes**: "So you were frustrated, right?" Don't put words in mouths. Ask neutrally.
- **No probing**: accepting the first answer. Depth requires follow-ups — plan for them.
- **Talking too much**: the interviewer filling silence. Your airtime should be under 20%.
- **Skipping the pilot**: discovering mid-study that a key question confuses everyone. Pilot first.
- **Ethics as checkbox**: rushing consent. Participants who don't feel safe give safe answers — 
which is to say, useless ones.