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Interview Guidelines 

Planning Process:

1)     Define the goals of the interview

• Decide what specific information you want to collect

• Decide what type(s) of maintenance technicians will be able to provide that information

• Determine the number of maintenance technicians you will need to interview to obtain the information (no fewer than 5 of each type)

2)     Determine time

• Plan for a maximum interview length of one hour

• Plan for a time that is the least stressful for the user

• Be sure to keep track of the time

• Plan your questions accordingly

3)     Determine location

• It is best to conduct interview at the interviewees’ normal work location.  Their “work home” will be less threatening; however, if the content of the interview requires more privacy, or there may be frequent interruptions or too much background noise, then plan to use a nearby office.

4)     Determine the number of interviewers

• It is better to have one interviewer present if one person is being interviewed; however, if there is a lot of detailed information to be collected, plan to have another person as note taker.

• If you plan a group interview, you will need an additional note taker to assist you in recording all of the information. 

5)     Prepare a script

• Make sure you are collecting the information you need to meet your goal.

• Group questions by major issues to be examined.

• Include your introduction, questions, and closing.

6)     Form of questions

• Questions should be open-ended (How? Why? When? etc.) so the participant cannot answer with “yes” or “no”.  For example, ask “What problems did you encounter when ….?” rather than “Did you encounter any problems when ….?”

·        Questions should not indicate a preferred answer.

·        Make sure questions are appropriate for the participant.  Ask questions that the participant should be able to answer making sure the terminology will be understood.

7)     Prepare a record

• For each question you have listed on your script, have space to record responses. 

• Try to anticipate areas you may want to probe further with appropriate questions. 

• Allow for flexibility and new directions of valuable discussion.

8)     Prepare additional forms/questionnaires

·        Make sure you have all necessary forms ready, such as the consent form and background questionnaire.

• Consider providing paper and pencil to draw a process rather than explain verbally.

• Consider asking follow-up questions on a questionnaire form that s/he can fill out afterward and send back to you.  Be sure to provide a postage-paid, self-addressed envelope.

9)     Pilot the interview to test the questions can be fully understood and provide the data you planned to collect

• Test the complete interview (including forms and questionnaires) on at least two technicians before the actual testing.

• Make adjustments to the script and/or questionnaires as necessary.

Conducting the Interview:

1)      Introduction

• Introduce yourself.

• Be sure to introduce any additional persons (e.g. notetakers) present and explain their function.

• Explain the purpose of the interview.  Be sure to include the benefits to the user.   For example, explain that the purpose of the interview is for improvement of the maintenance manual and their feedback is very important.

• Assure the participant that their opinions and input are important even if it seems trivial to them.

2)      Assure confidentiality

• Request consent from the participant.  Especially if the session is to be audio or video recorded.

• Assure the interviewee that their participation is confidential and anonymous.

• Try to create a sense of trust.

3)      Your manner

• Be professional rather than overly familiar or too formal

• Try to create a cooperative relationship with the participant

• Be neutral by not offering your own opinion or expression.  Appearing interested throughout the interview by making comments such as “good” and “fine” and smile or nod appropriately can significantly improve the quantity of information volunteered by the interviewee.

• If there are contradictions in their answers, don’t point it out.  Simply ask for clarification.

4)     Data Analysis and Reporting

• Shortly after the interview, plan to transfer or rework the data you’ve collected.  It is best to organize your notes after each interview rather than waiting until all the data is collected.  That way, you can probably remember what the interviewee said to fill in any missing words from the actual interview notes. 

• Set up a database for specific questions to record the responses from each participant.   There will be a lot of subjective information you may want to also consider, but set up a way to analyze the data across participants.

• After you have conducted all the interviews, write a report which contains your purpose for the interviews, the user group(s) you have tested, the method you used, your results, and a discussion of what the results means and the implications.