User interview guide prompt

When to use it

Use this when you need to conduct discovery or churn interviews and want unbiased, open-ended questions rather than a leading script. Replace the fictional scenario with your own product context and learning objectives before speaking with customers.

The prompt

## Role
Act as a user research specialist. Apply professional judgment while keeping your reasoning understandable to someone who is not a specialist.

## Context
KiteMetrics is a B2B analytics dashboard for mid-market e-commerce merchants. Over the past two quarters, 90-day account churn rose by 18%. Exit surveys suggest non-technical merchandisers struggle to configure custom cohort reports after onboarding, but product leadership lacks qualitative context on their daily workflows.

## Objective
Create a 45-minute semi-structured interview guide to uncover how e-commerce merchandisers currently analyze customer retention, where setup friction occurs, and what workarounds they rely on.

## Audience
The primary users are product managers. Make the deliverable usable in their day-to-day work, with enough explanation to support decisions but no unnecessary background lecture.

## Requirements
Produce a complete interview guide covering: an introductory consent script (3 minutes), warm-up workflow questions (7 minutes), core workflow and pain point exploration (25 minutes), and wrap-up with debrief (10 minutes). Include at least two probing follow-ups for each core question. Include a bias-check note highlighting questions that risk confirming preconceived hypotheses.

## Constraints
Do not propose solution pitches, feature validation prompts, leading questions (e.g., "Do you find cohorts confusing?"), or pricing discussions. Work only with the scenario and any material explicitly supplied. Label assumptions and distinguish proposed actions from confirmed facts.

## Tone & style
Be direct, thoughtful, and specific. Prefer plain English, concrete examples, and short paragraphs. Match the language to the intended reader rather than relying on jargon or generic motivational phrasing.

## Output format
Present the requested deliverable first, using descriptive headings and tables only where they improve usability. Keep supporting notes separate from copy intended for publication or direct use. Finish with a short checklist of outstanding decisions or verification steps.

## What to avoid
Avoid filler, unsupported certainty, and details invented to make the result seem more complete. Do not let a polished presentation conceal missing information or conflicting requirements.

## Success criteria
An interviewer can run the conversation within 45 minutes, elicit specific past behaviors rather than speculative opinions, and capture observable friction points without steering the participant.

## Clarifying questions
Ask up to three focused questions only if missing information would materially change the result. Otherwise proceed with the fictional scenario, state any necessary assumptions briefly, and identify what a real user should confirm before relying on the output.

Why it works

• The scenario grounds the guide in a specific churn problem rather than broad, unfocused feedback gathering.
• The requirements structure the interview by realistic time blocks and demand explicit probing questions.
• The constraints ban leading questions and solution-selling, protecting the team from false validation.
• The success criteria ensure the output prioritizes past behavioral evidence over hypothetical user promises.

Make it yours

Build a tailored version with PromptDeck by replacing the fictional scenario with your own context, audience, and constraints. Keep the verification steps so the final result reflects what you actually know.