Interview guide (student textbook reader)

Owned by James Yoon
Last updated: Jun 15, 2011 by Jonathan HungVersion comment
2 min read

Interviewee:
Title:
Institution:
Interviewers:
Place:
Date & time:

0. General things to look out for during the interview

  • Work processes
  • Tools used (OCR/digitizing software, scanning hardware, etc.)
  • Output generated (raw text, PDF document, etc.)
  • Stakeholders (esp. other possible interviewees)
  • Pain points & frustrations

1. Getting started

Introduce the team and explain why you're there. Give a brief overview of the interview session, and assure him or her that they don't need to answer any questions they might feel uncomfortable in answering.

2. Demographics, context, icebreakers

  • What are you studying?
  • What kinds of activities do you typically use a computer for?
  • Do you have any favourite applications or websites? Why?
  • Any you don't like? Why?

3. Main interview

The goal is to gain a general understanding of the kind of activities the user does to get their work done. It's important to note the user's primary (most critical, most often, etc.) activities.

  • Could you walk us through the process of what you would do with a printed textbook?
  • Do you do the scanning work yourself?
    • If so, do you sometimes require someone to validate the scans?
    • What tools do you use to do this?
    • Frequency: How often do you use the tool? What are the most common things you do with the tool?
    • Preference: What do you like most about the tool?
    • Pain points: What do you dislike about the tool?
    • What frustration do you have in general with the tools and/or process?
    • How does the product help/hinder your work flow?
    • How do you work around problems?
  • If someone else does it for you,
    • What are the barriers preventing you from completing the process yourself? (i.e., why?)
    • Who does it for you? (acquire contact information)
  • (assuming the scanning goes through an intermediate output file step before being read) What is the file format output that you use? (PDF, raw document, etc.)
  • What is your use experience around the output? (e.g., text flow, alternative text/captions for images, etc.)
    • How effective is the output?
    • What are some of your frustrations with the output?
  • Do you have any other peers that are in the same boat as you that we might be able to talk with?

5. Wrap-up

Thank the student for their time.

Ask if it would be OK to contact them with follow-up questions and/or design review as we move through the project.