Audience and Message Research

Audience Interview Guide

Plan and run structured conversations that uncover reader situations, questions, barriers, vocabulary, information habits, and desired outcomes.

Free editable Markdown · User researchers, content strategists, and writers · Updated July 30, 2026

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Study and participant setup

Research decision: [What content choice will this inform?]
Target situation: [Recent task, question, or decision]
Recruitment criteria: [Required experience]
Variation sought: [Knowledge, access, outcome, language, or another factor]
Exclusions: [Who should not be recruited and why?]
Interviewer: [Name]
Note taker: [Name or recording plan]
Consent and retention: [What was explained and agreed?]
Participant code: [Use a non-identifying label]

Core interview prompts

Opening episode: Tell me about the last time you [relevant task].
Trigger: What was happening that made you look for information?
Starting point: Where did you begin, and why there?
Language: What words did you use or expect to see?
Sequence: What did you do next?
Decision: How did you choose among the options you found?
Barrier: Where did you pause, leave, or seek help?
Trust: What made information feel credible or doubtful?
Outcome: What happened, and how did you know you were done?
Missing support: What would have made that moment easier?

Neutral probes and checks

Ask “Can you walk me through that?” before proposing an explanation.
Clarify whether a statement describes this event or a usual habit.
Ask what evidence or cue influenced the decision.
Explore failure and workarounds, not only successful completion.
Avoid defending existing content or promising a product change.
Confirm recording or artifact permission before collecting anything.

Post-interview summary

Situation: [Concise context]
Primary need: [What progress was sought?]
Barrier: [What prevented progress?]
Participant language: [Permitted short phrases or close paraphrases]
Information source: [Where they looked and why]
Outcome: [Success, partial success, abandonment, or workaround]
Researcher interpretation: [Clearly label inference]
Contradiction or surprise: [What challenged the brief?]
Content implication: [Possible change, not a final conclusion]
Follow-up question: [What remains unknown?]

How to use this template

Define the content decision, target situation, recruitment criteria, exclusions, consent process, and note-taking roles.
Customize the core prompts around a recent event without adding leading product or message language.
Open with purpose and consent, then follow the participant’s sequence using neutral probes and clarification.
Separate observed or reported evidence from interpretation, and complete the post-interview summary immediately.
Compare several interviews before recommending content changes, recording contradictions, gaps, and confidence.

Recruit for situations, not demographic labels alone

Choose participants who recently faced the decision or task the content should support. A role, age bracket, or job title may help, but it does not prove relevant experience. Define screening conditions such as “attempted to compare plans in the last month” or “maintains the process the guide explains.” Include variation likely to affect the experience: prior knowledge, device or access constraints, language, success and failure, and whether someone abandoned the task. Do not overclaim representation from a small sample. Document who was included, who was missing, and how recruitment may shape the findings.

Ask for episodes before opinions

General questions invite idealized answers. Begin with a recent real event: “Tell me about the last time you needed this information. What happened first?” Follow the sequence, asking what prompted the search, what the participant expected, which words they used, what they opened, where they hesitated, and how they decided they were finished. Ask for artifacts only with permission. Neutral probes such as “What made that important?” and “What did you do next?” reveal more than suggesting a desired feature. Save broad evaluation questions until after behavior has been described.

Separate notes, interpretation, and action

During the interview, distinguish close paraphrases or short permitted quotations from the researcher’s inference. Record visible actions and sequence without diagnosing motives. Immediately afterward, summarize the main situation, need, barrier, vocabulary, and unresolved question while memory is fresh. Do not turn one vivid comment into a universal persona or publish a participant’s wording as marketing copy without appropriate permission. Synthesize patterns across interviews, look for contradiction, and connect proposed content changes to evidence. Important decisions should record confidence and what further research could disprove the conclusion.

See the fields in context

Fictional example: community garden permits

Participant R07 and the town service described here are invented for demonstration.

Situation: R07 tried to learn whether a small shared garden needed a fictional neighborhood permit.
Starting point: They searched for “shared garden rules,” while the service page used only “temporary land-use registration.”
Barrier: A table listed categories without examples, so R07 called a local office to identify the right one.
Interpretation: The issue may be vocabulary and category recognition, not a lack of policy detail.
Next research step: Compare this pattern across more participants before renaming or restructuring the page.

Frequently asked questions

How many interviews are enough?

There is no universal count. Recruit until the evidence is sufficient for the decision and important variation is represented, not until a ritual number is reached. Small samples can reveal usability problems but should not be reported as population statistics.

Can an interview be recorded?

Only when the participant gives informed permission and the research process allows it. Explain purpose, access, retention, and deletion. Offer a reasonable non-recorded option where possible, and do not collect more identifying detail than the study needs.

Should the interviewer show the existing page?

If the question concerns current content, observe unaided behavior before directing attention to the page. Showing it first can change search language and expectations. Later, use task-based prompts and ask participants to explain what they think information means.

What if a participant asks for product support?

Do not improvise promises or let the research session become hidden support. Acknowledge the request, follow the approved escalation or referral path, and keep the research record separate from service records unless consent and policy allow linkage.