User Interviews
Customizing User Interview Questions for Specific Personas
This prompt helps teams craft tailored interview questions for specific user personas to uncover targeted insights. By aligning questions with persona characteristics, the interviews yield more relevant, actionable feedback for different user segments.
Responsible:
Product Management
Accountable, Informed or Consulted:
Product, Design, Customer Success, Marketing
THE PREP
Creating effective prompts involves tailoring them with detailed, relevant information and uploading documents that provide the best context. Prompts act as a framework to guide the response, but specificity and customization ensure the most accurate and helpful results. Use these prep tips to get the most out of this prompt:
Define the key characteristics and behaviors of the user persona.
Review previous feedback or data related to this segment.
Identify the specific insights needed from the persona to guide question development.
THE PROMPT
Create customized user interview questions designed for [specific persona, e.g., first-time users, power users, churned users]. For this persona, focus on:
Questions that align with their unique characteristics or behaviors (e.g., 'As a [persona role], what do you find most valuable about [product/feature]?').
Exploring challenges or unmet needs specific to their segment (e.g., 'What difficulties have you faced when trying to achieve [specific goal] with our product?').
Hypothetical questions to understand their expectations or desires (e.g., 'If we introduced [feature/improvement], how would it impact your workflow?').
If additional details about the persona or interview goals are required, ask clarifying questions to refine the questions.
Bonus Add-On Prompts
Suggest ways to adapt interview questions for personas with limited product familiarity.
Develop exploratory questions for power users to uncover advanced needs or preferences.
Propose interview questions for users who have stopped using the product to identify reasons for churn.
Use AI responsibly by verifying its outputs, as it may occasionally generate inaccurate or incomplete information. Treat AI as a tool to support your decision-making, ensuring human oversight and professional judgment for critical or sensitive use cases.
SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE
Tailor questions to address regional or cultural differences in persona behaviors.
Focus on a particular stage of the user journey relevant to the persona.
Include questions about the persona’s experiences with competitor products.
Adjust tone and language to align with the persona’s familiarity with technical terms.
Add follow-up questions designed to clarify vague or broad responses.
WHEN TO USE
When targeting specific user segments to gather tailored feedback.
To understand nuanced needs and challenges unique to a particular persona.
Before designing features or campaigns aimed at a distinct user group.
WHEN NOT TO USE
If the persona is too broad or poorly defined.
When insights are needed from a diverse group rather than a specific persona.