A comprehensive guide to conducting effective UX interviews, including best practices, sample questions, and interview scripts for gathering valuable user feedback

When creating a digital product, whether its an app, website, or software tool, its easy to guess what users want. But guessing is risky. Thats where UX interviews come in.

What is a UX Interview?

A UX interview is a qualitative research method where a UX designer or researcher speaks directly with users to understand their behaviors, motivations, pain points, and expectations. Unlike surveys or analytics, UX interviews offer rich, open-ended insights that help you see the why behind the what.

These conversations are typically semi-structured, meaning the interviewer prepares questions but allows room for follow-up and exploration.

What Do You Ask in a UX Interview?

Here are a few typical questions:

  • “Can you walk me through how you currently solve [problem]?”
  • “Whats the most frustrating part of using this feature?”
  • “If this product disappeared tomorrow, how would you feel?”
  • “Whats the first thing you notice when you open this screen?”

Youre uncovering patterns, pain points, and workarounds that guide your product team to meaningful solutions.

Best Practices

  • Record (with permission) so you can focus on listening
  • Start with open-ended, non-leading questions
  • Ask for stories or examples, not just opinions
  • Be quiet, silence invites deeper responses
  • Always thank participants and close with a debrief

Request

Option 1

Hi [name]. This is Alan from DevMatch. We are looking to improve the user experience of our website. Would you be willing to meet with me to test a prototype of our website? It will be a short and easy meeting, about 15 minutes over Zoom. I would love to hear your feedback. Thank you so much!

Option 2

Hi [name], my name is Alan. I’m a student at the University of Washington studying informatics. I’m currently working on a project and looking to get feedback on my designs on a platform that helps hiring managers do better software interviews.

Would you be willing to meet with me to test a prototype? It will be a short 15-minute meeting over Zoom.

Looking forward to hearing from you, -Alan

The interview

Hi [insert name]. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us. My name is Alan and I work for a company called [Company Name].

Today, I will be showing you a prototype of our website and asking you to perform some tasks to test the design. While you are performing the tasks, Im going to try not to answer your questions. If you get stuck, try to see what you can do on your own. When you are done, I will be asking some questions.

I want to emphasize that there are no right or wrong answers and getting your most straightforward feedback is really important. The more honest you are about how you feel and answer, the better we can improve our product for you. Dont worry about hurting our feelings with your answers.

As you work on the tasks, please try to think out loud and share how you feel about what you see. Do you have any questions before we begin?

Lastly, I will be recording this interview so we can look back on it later. The video will only be seen by the company’s team and will not be shared with anyone else. Is that okay with you?

Tasks

Imagine you are a recruiter that just discovered the website. Using the website, see if you can do the following tasks:

  • Create an account
  • Create an assessment
  • Invite someone to take your assessment
  • Remove one of the problems you have added to the assessment
  • Close your assessment

Questions at the end

Thank you so much for meeting with me! That was really helpful. I will ask a couple questions now.

  • What did you like the most about the website?
  • What did you like the least?
  • How would you describe your overall experience?
  • Was there anything that was confusing?
  • Do you have any questions for me?

Final Thoughts

UX interviews aren’t about proving your design is rightthey’re about staying curious. The most valuable insights often come from listening without an agenda. If you’re building something for people, you need to talk to them.

User interviews wont give you hard numbers. But they will give you stories, context, and claritywhich are just as critical in designing products people actually want to use.