User interviews are a method where user researchers use to learn more about their customers. They talk to users one-to-one about their wants and needs. Interviews are simple, but it can be easy to mess them up and ask the wrong questions. The most common mistake is to ask your interviewee to come up with a solution. The design part should be left to the professionals. Let’s take a look at some of the most common bad questions and what to do about them instead. 

• For what would you use this app/website/product for?

People are not really good at predicting their future behaviors. Asking this question wouldn’t make any sense since you’ll most probably get the wrong answer. Instead of trying to ask them about the future, try asking about the past. Try to make the users recall what problems they have faced and what they actually did to solve them. 

• Do you think this feature is helpful?

To be honest, every feature is useful. The thing you actually have to find out is to measure if the feature you’ve designed will solve a known problem. Try creating a task-driven usability test to see if the users can find and use the feature on their own. Or try other research methods like A/B testing.

• How does this design look?

Most users don’t know what makes a design good. They can say that it looks nice, but they can’t comment any further unless they’re trained as a designer. Instead, try picking up hints about the effect the brand and visuals are having. For example, if a user comments that the design is “childish” then that might mean the branding is too colorful.
Read on to know more about User Interviews and what questions to avoid and what to ask instead.