How to conduct stakeholder interviews?

When?

Generally, stakeholder interviews are conducted during the early stages of a design project, after the project scope and objectives have been defined, but before any design work has started.

Getting Started

Stakeholder interview is a research technique that involves talking to individuals or groups who have a stake or interest in a particular project, product, or service. The goal of stakeholder interviews is to gather information about the needs, goals, and perspectives of stakeholders in order to better understand their expectations and preferences.

Stakeholder interviews can be conducted in a structured or unstructured format, and can be done in-person, over the phone, or through online communication tools. These types of interviews help you get a better understanding of user needs, business goals, technical limitations, constraints and identify pain points. 

You can interview the stakeholders with the following questions:

• What are the short- and long-term business goals?

• Are there any technological limitations?

• Which are a few product concerns?

• What is the stakeholder’s definition of product success?

• How will you define success for this project?

• What are the goals you need to achieve from this project?

• What have you tried that has or hasn’t worked?

• What went wrong in that case?

• How do you expect to differentiate this product?

• What do you know for sure about your users?

• What are the most common problems your users face?

• What worries you about this project?

Gathering this information from them builds a solid foundation for the product. 

How to?

1. Identify your stakeholders: Identify the individuals or groups who have a stake or interest in your project or product. These could be customers, employees, suppliers, investors, regulators, or other relevant parties.

2. Define your objectives: Clearly define the objectives of the stakeholder interview. What specific information are you trying to gather? What decisions will be taken using this information?

3. Prepare your questions: Develop a set of open-ended questions that will allow stakeholders to share their thoughts, opinions, and experiences related to the project or product. Make sure your questions are focused and relevant to your objectives.

4. Schedule interview: Contact your stakeholders to schedule interviews at a time and place that is convenient for them. Consider whether you will conduct the interview in person, over the phone, or through online communication tools.

5. Conduct interview: Begin each interview by introducing yourself and explaining the purpose of the interview. Ask your questions and listen carefully to the stakeholder’s responses. Take notes or record the interview if possible.

6. Analyze data: After all the interviews have been completed, analyze the data to identify key themes, patterns, and insights. Look for commonalities and differences among stakeholders’ responses.

7. Share your findings: Share your findings with your team or stakeholders and use them to make informed decisions and improve communication and collaboration.

 

Do’s & Don'ts

 

Do’s	Don’ts
Avoid biases. Be prepared. Do a dry run before the actual interview. Pick the right mix of stakeholders to ensure comprehensive understanding. Build rapport with the stakeholders. Ask open-ended questions. Listen carefully to the stakeholders. Have an interview guide in place. Get into details. Be respectful of the stakeholders’ time and opinions.	Don’t use too formal or technical language. Don’t interrupt stakeholders during the interview. Don’t talk more than the stakeholders. Don’t make suggestions. Don’t be judgmental.  Don’t make assumptions about stakeholder’s knowledge and opinions. Don’t argue with the stakeholders.  Don’t disclose any confidential information to the stakeholders.

 

 

Templates 

• Good Questions for Stakeholder Interviews Template from IxDF <https://public-media.interaction-design.org/pdf/Good-Questions-for-Stakeholder-Interviews-Template.pdf> 

• Stakeholder Interviews from StormBoard <https://stormboard.com/templates/gallery/detail/stakeholder-interviews> 

• StakeholderInterviewTemplate.doc from Balsamiq <https://balsamiq.com/assets/learn/courses/intro-to-ux-design/stakeholder-interview-template.pdf> 

• Atlassian-Stakeholder-Interview-template from Atlassian <http://atlassian.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/Atlassian-Stakeholder-Interview-template.pdf> 

Suggested Tools 

• Pen & paper

• GoogleDocs

• Office365

References 

• The Guide to Stakeholder Interview Questions from Adam Fard <https://adamfard.com/blog/stakeholder-interviews#:~:text=Stakeholder%20interviews%20are%20valuable%20research,Business%20goals.> 

• Super Importance of Conducting Stakeholder Interviews in UX. from UserFacet <https://www.userfacet.com/importance-of-conducting-stakeholder-interviews-in-ux> 

• Stakeholder Interviews 101 from NN Group <https://www.nngroup.com/articles/stakeholder-interviews/> 

• The ultimate guide to stakeholder interviews: understand your clients from UX Collective <https://uxdesign.cc/the-ultimate-guide-to-stakeholder-interviews-understand-your-clients-a3bcf87b6e8b> 

• A Stakeholder Interview Checklist from Boxes and Arrows <http://boxesandarrows.com/a-stakeholder-interview-checklist/> 

Other Related Best Practices

• Basics of User Research

• Project Planning