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A great user interview is a structured conversation about a person’s real work, recent experiences and unmet needs—not a product pitch. For construction and building-design teams, interviews can reveal how occupants, facilities staff, contractors or clients actually use a space and where a proposed solution may fail. The ten tips below show how to prepare, ask useful questions, listen, document findings and turn conversations into design decisions.
Interviews are one research method among several. The Building Design + Construction introduction also identifies observation, surveys, focus groups and remote tools as ways to learn about users. Choose interviews when you need context, stories and explanations in a participant’s own words, then combine them with other methods when the question requires direct observation or broader measurement.
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What makes a user interview useful?
A useful interview produces evidence about what people do, what constrains them and what they have already tried. It does not simply collect compliments, feature requests or predictions about a product that does not yet exist.
Keep the conversation focused on the participant’s life and specific past experiences. A facilities manager describing the last time a maintenance issue delayed a handover is more actionable than a general statement that “better software would help.” Likewise, an occupant describing where visitors get lost in a building can reveal a wayfinding problem that a hypothetical question may never uncover.
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The complete list from the original reprint is not available in the supplied record, so this is a field-ready synthesis of ten practical tips rather than a transcription of that article’s exact recommendations.
10 tips for conducting a great user interview
1. Start with the decision you need the interview to inform
Write down the decision before recruiting anyone. You might be deciding whether a lobby needs clearer wayfinding, which handover tasks create the most rework, or whether a proposed resident portal solves a real problem.
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A clear decision prevents a sprawling conversation. Turn it into two or three learning goals, such as: “Understand how visitors currently find the accessible entrance” or “Identify what information site supervisors lack during daily coordination.” Do not begin with a goal as broad as “learn everything about users.”
Share the learning goals with the interview team, but do not read them as a script to participants. They are a compass for the interviewer and a filter for later analysis.
2. Choose interviews for the question—and pair them with other methods when needed
Interviews are strong for understanding motivations, workarounds, language and the sequence of events behind a problem. They are weaker when you need to count how often something happens or see behavior that participants may forget or describe inaccurately.
Use observation when the physical setting matters: watch how a visitor approaches a site entrance, how a cleaner moves through a building or how a crew records a defect. Use surveys for a wider pattern, focus groups for interaction among a defined group, and remote tools when travel or access makes an in-person session impractical. This method choice follows the framing in the Building Design + Construction source.
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In practice, an interview can explain why a problem occurs, while observation checks what happens in the environment. Treat the methods as complementary rather than competing.
3. Recruit people with recent, relevant experience
Recruit for experience, not status. The person who performs a task regularly may know more about its friction than the person who approved the project. Depending on the question, that could mean occupants, visitors, facilities teams, site supervisors, subcontractors, project administrators or client representatives.
Ask for a recent example during screening: “When did you last complete this task?” If someone has never encountered the situation, their answer will mostly be speculation. Include different contexts that could change the experience, such as new construction versus refurbishment, a staffed versus self-service building, or a small project versus a multi-site programme.
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Explain the purpose in neutral language. Avoid promising that an interview will change the design or that a specific feature will be built. Tell participants how their information will be used, how long the conversation will take and whether recording is requested.
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A discussion guide keeps the interview consistent without turning it into an interrogation. Organize it in a natural order:
- Welcome, purpose and consent.
- Participant background relevant to the task.
- A recent episode from start to finish.
- Workarounds, frustrations and consequences.
- What has been tried, including existing solutions.
- Closing questions and anything the participant wants to add.
Write open prompts that invite a story. The transcript of Eric Migicovsky’s user-interview advice gives useful examples such as, “What is the hardest part about the task you’re addressing?” and “Tell me about the last time you faced this problem.” These examples appear in the UseTranscribe summary; they should be adapted to your project rather than treated as a script.
Put essential questions first in case time runs short. Keep optional probes in a separate column so you can follow the participant’s language instead of constantly looking down at the page.
5. Ask about what happened, not what might happen
Past behavior is usually more concrete than a prediction. Ask, “Tell me about the last time a delivery could not reach the loading area,” rather than, “Would you use a better delivery-booking system?”
Useful prompts include:
- “What happened first?”
- “Who else was involved?”
- “What did you do next?”
- “What made that step difficult?”
- “What did you try instead?”
- “What do you dislike about the current solution?”
- “What was the consequence when it went wrong?”
Ask for concrete artifacts when appropriate: a form, checklist, marked-up plan, photo or anonymized message. An artifact can help participants remember the sequence and expose handoffs that a general opinion hides.
6. Listen more than you speak
The interviewer’s job is to understand, not demonstrate expertise. The user-interview transcript summary cautions founders against dominating the conversation; the same principle applies to design and construction teams.
After asking a question, allow a pause. Do not rush to fill silence or finish a participant’s sentence. Use brief acknowledgements—“I see,” “What happened then?”—without signalling that one answer is preferred.
Watch for your own assumptions. If a participant uses an unfamiliar term, ask what it means in their process. If they say something is “fine,” ask what “fine” looks like and when it is not fine. Your notes should capture their wording as accurately as possible, not your interpretation in the moment.
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7. Probe for detail without leading the answer
Good probing goes one level deeper than the first response. If a site supervisor says, “The handover is messy,” ask, “Which part becomes difficult?” and then, “Can you walk me through the most recent handover?”
Avoid questions that contain your preferred explanation: “Was the problem caused by the confusing dashboard?” presumes both a problem and a cause. Replace it with, “What made the information difficult to use?”
Separate facts from interpretations. “The drawing was late” is a claim about an event; “the consultant did not care” is an interpretation. Ask what the participant saw, when it happened and what effect it had. This distinction helps the team investigate without assigning blame.
8. Do not turn the interview into a product pitch
Showing a concept can be useful in a later evaluative session, but an exploratory interview should not become a sales presentation. If you describe your proposed solution too early, participants may try to be polite, help you, or adjust their answers to match what they think you want.
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Keep positive feedback in proportion. A compliment is not evidence of repeated use, budget approval or improved outcomes.
9. Make the conversation safe, accessible and easy to document
Explain consent before recording. Tell participants who will see the notes, whether names will be removed and how they can decline a question. In occupied buildings or active sites, protect confidential project information and avoid capturing identifiable people or documents without permission.
Offer an accessible format and a setting where the participant can speak freely. A remote call may suit a distributed team; an on-site conversation may be necessary when the physical environment is central to the issue. Have a backup for poor connectivity, interruptions or restricted site access.
If recording is not appropriate, assign one person to lead and another to take structured notes. Mark direct wording clearly, record the date and context, and note what was observed versus what was inferred. Good documentation makes later synthesis more reliable.
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10. Synthesize patterns, exceptions and next actions
Review notes soon after each session while details are fresh. Extract statements about goals, barriers, workarounds, triggers and consequences. Keep each observation tied to its context: a visitor’s experience at a public entrance may not represent a contractor’s experience at a controlled gate.
Group similar evidence, but do not erase disagreement. A pattern is more useful when you can state who experiences it, under what conditions and how it affects the work. Record counterexamples and unanswered questions alongside recurring themes.
Translate findings into decisions or testable follow-ups. For example: “Visitors miss the accessible entrance when arriving from the car park; compare sign placement and route visibility during observation.” An interview finding is not automatically a design requirement. Validate important conclusions with observation, existing project records, a survey or another appropriate method.
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Use the following sequence when you need a repeatable process for a design, construction or facilities project.
- Define the learning goal. State the decision, user group and situation you need to understand.
- Choose participants. Prioritize people with recent experience and include relevant differences in role, setting or project stage.
- Draft the guide. Start with easy context questions, move to a recent episode, then explore workarounds and consequences.
- Arrange consent and logistics. Confirm location or call details, accessibility needs, recording permission and confidentiality expectations.
- Open neutrally. Explain that you are studying the participant’s experience, not testing their knowledge or selling a finished solution.
- Follow the story. Ask open questions, pause, and probe specific events before moving to the next topic.
- Close carefully. Ask what you missed, clarify permission for follow-up and explain what happens to the notes.
- Debrief and compare. Capture key evidence immediately, then compare sessions without treating one vivid story as a universal pattern.
Which questions should I avoid?
Avoid questions that invite a socially desirable answer, demand a prediction or combine several issues at once. “You find the current process frustrating, don’t you?” is leading; “How does the current process work for you?” is open. “Would you use an app that solved this?” asks for a hypothetical commitment rather than evidence.
Also avoid “Why didn’t you just…?” It can sound accusatory and hide the constraints that shaped the person’s choice. Ask, “What prevented that option?” or, “What other options did you consider?” instead.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What should I do when answers are vague or contradictory?
Return to a specific episode. Ask when it happened, where the participant was, who was involved and what they did next. If two statements conflict, do not force a resolution; describe the conditions for each and investigate whether role, project stage or location explains the difference.
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How can construction teams turn interviews into better design decisions?
Connect each finding to a decision owner and a next action. A facilities interview may change maintenance access, while an occupant interview may affect circulation, signage or room controls. Keep those implications separate so one group’s preference does not override another group’s operational requirement.
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Use interviews early enough to influence the brief, but continue listening when a design changes or a building is occupied. Comparing accounts with site observation, defect records, service requests or post-occupancy feedback can show whether an issue is isolated, recurring or caused by the environment rather than the interface.
How do I know when I have learned enough?
Stop when additional conversations are no longer changing the important themes for the defined decision, while documenting which user groups or situations remain uncertain. “Enough” depends on the scope and diversity of the question; it is not a universal participant count.
If a high-risk group has not been heard—such as people with accessibility needs, night-shift staff or subcontractors working under different constraints—continue recruiting even if other interviews sound repetitive.
Bottom line
Great user interviews stay close to real events. Define the decision, speak with people who have recent experience, ask what happened and what they tried, listen without pitching, and turn carefully documented patterns into decisions that can be checked with the right follow-up method.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should a user interview be?
Choose a time box that matches the participant’s availability and the complexity of the task, then state it when inviting them. A focused conversation with one recent episode is usually more useful than an overlong session that covers too many unrelated topics.
Should I interview users individually or in a group?
Use one-to-one interviews when you need candid accounts, personal workarounds or detail about a specific incident. Groups can reveal shared language and disagreement, but dominant voices or workplace hierarchies may suppress less confident participants.
Can I interview people who are not the final customer?
Yes, if they perform, maintain, approve or are affected by the task you are studying. In construction, the person who installs, operates or maintains a system may expose constraints that a purchaser or project sponsor cannot describe.
What is the best way to share interview findings with a project team?
Use short evidence statements tied to context, supported by anonymized quotes or artifacts where permission allows. Separate observed facts, participant interpretations and your team’s recommendations so readers can see how each decision follows from the evidence.
