The biggest mistake teams make when running user interviews

From the outside, it felt like a strong set of interviews. The kind you’d expect to produce useful insightglossary×InsightAn insight is a meaningful understanding that explains why something is happening and what it means.Open glossary term→.

And to be fair, they did produce output.

There were notes, themes, quotes, clips, all the usual artefacts that signal we’ve done the work.

But when we stepped back and looked at what had actually been learned, it was surprisingly thin.

Not because the users didn’t have anything to say.

But because the sessionsglossary×SessionA session is a single period of user interaction with a product, from entry to exit within a defined timeframe.Open glossary term→ never really got past the surface.

Every question was answered.

Very few things were actually understood.

That’s a patternglossary×PatternA reusable solution to a common design problem.Open glossary term→ I’ve seen repeat itself over and over again.

The biggest mistake teams make in user interviewsguide×User InterviewsDirect conversations with users to understand behaviours, needs and motivations.Open guide→ isn’t asking the wrong questions.

It’s accepting the first answer they get.

Most users will give you an answer quickly.

They’ll tell you what they think, what they expect, what they usually do. And it often sounds reasonable enough to move on. The sessionglossary×SessionA session is a single period of user interaction with a product, from entry to exit within a defined timeframe.Open glossary term→ keeps flowing, the script keeps moving, and you cover everything you planned to cover.

It feels productive.

But the first answer is rarely where the insightglossary×InsightAn insight is a meaningful understanding that explains why something is happening and what it means.Open glossary term→ is.

I remember a sessionglossary×SessionA session is a single period of user interaction with a product, from entry to exit within a defined timeframe.Open glossary term→ where a user was going through a fairly standard journeyglossary×Pain PointA specific problem or frustration users experience when trying to complete a task.Open glossary term→ and described part of it as fine. No hesitation, no visible frustration, nothing that would flag it as an issue if you were just taking the answer at face value.

It would have been very easy to move on at that point.

But we didn’t.

We stayed there a bit longer.

Asked them to walk through what they were thinking. Why they chose that option. What they expected to happen next.

What came out wasn’t fine at all.

They didn’t fully understand what they were doing. They weren’t confident in the decision they’d just made. They were moving forward because it seemed like the only available option, not because it felt right.

That’s a completely different picture.

And it only surfaced because we didn’t accept the first answer.

I’ve seen the same thing in more complex environmentsglossary×EnvironmentA specific setup where software runs, such as development, staging, or production.Open glossary term→ as well.

Working across the NHS, users would often describe journeysglossary×Pain PointA specific problem or frustration users experience when trying to complete a task.Open glossary term→ in very general terms. It’s a bit confusing, there’s a lot going on, it’s not very clear. Useful signalsglossary×SignalsSignals are data points or triggers that indicate changes in user behaviour, context, or external factors.Open glossary term→, but not particularly actionable on their own.

If you stop there, you end up with vague problems and equally vague solutions.

But when you start digging into those responsesglossary×ResponseA response is the data or result returned by a server after receiving a request.Open glossary term→, asking them to show you where that confusion comes from, what they expected instead, what they were trying to achieve in that moment, things start to sharpen.

You move from this is confusing to this specific part breaks because the structure doesn’t match the user’s mental modelglossary×Mental ModelA mental model is the way users understand how a system works based on their past experiences and expectations. It shapes how they predict interactions and outcomes.Open glossary term→.

That’s where decisions can actually be made.

The challenge is that it requires a different mindset.

Most interview guides are designed to cover ground. To make sure certain topics are touched, certain questions are asked, certain areas are explored. There’s a natural pressure to keep moving, to get through everything, to make the most of the time you have.

And that pressure works against depth.

In my experience, the most valuable interviews are rarely the ones where you cover everything.

They’re the ones where you follow something unexpected and stay with it longer than planned.

Where you notice a small hesitation and choose to explore it. Where an answer doesn’t quite add up and you gently push on it. Where you’re willing to abandon the script because something more interesting is happening in front of you.

That’s where the real insightglossary×InsightAn insight is a meaningful understanding that explains why something is happening and what it means.Open glossary term→ tends to sit.

I’ve worked on projects where the difference between average and genuinely useful researchservice×User ResearchUnderstand user behaviour, validate ideas, and make clearer product decisions with evidence you can act on.Open service→ came down to that one thing. Whether the person running the sessionglossary×SessionA session is a single period of user interaction with a product, from entry to exit within a defined timeframe.Open glossary term→ was comfortable going off-script and sitting in the uncomfortable space of not immediately knowing where a conversation would leadglossary×LeadA lead is a potential customer who has shown interest in a product or service, typically by providing contact information or engaging with content.Open glossary term→.

Because that’s where users stop giving you rehearsed answers and start revealing how they actually think.

And that’s ultimately the point.

User interviewsguide×User InterviewsDirect conversations with users to understand behaviours, needs and motivations.Open guide→ aren’t about collecting opinions.

They’re about understanding behaviourglossary×BehaviourBehaviour refers to how users interact with a system, including actions, patterns, and responses.Open glossary term→.

If you treat them like a questionnaire, you’ll get answers.

If you treat them like a conversation, and you’re willing to go deeper when something doesn’t quite make sense, you’ll start to get insightglossary×InsightAn insight is a meaningful understanding that explains why something is happening and what it means.Open glossary term→.

That’s the difference between researchservice×User ResearchUnderstand user behaviour, validate ideas, and make clearer product decisions with evidence you can act on.Open service→ that sounds useful and research that actually changes something.