Stop 02 · Requirements ElicitationTopics · 2/10

Stakeholder Interviews

In short

An interview is the BA's most-used tool, and the easiest to do badly. Ask the right kind of question and people tell you things they'd never write in an email.

One-on-one conversations to understand a stakeholder's needs, pain points, and constraints — done well by asking open-ended questions and probing past behavior, not just accepting a stated solution at face value.

The purple blob takes notes at a kitchen table while an older lady stirs a pot.

Think of it like this

Getting nani's recipe

Ask nani for her recipe and she says 'a little salt, cook till done'. Ask her 'Walk me through how you made it last Sunday' and suddenly you hear about the extra jeera and the low flame. Ask about real past moments, not general rules.

Watch it happen

An interview that finds the real pain

Accounts clerk

Walk me through Monday

1/6An open question about a real, recent day. It invites a story, not a yes or no.

The big ideas

What you need to know

Open questions first

Start with 'how', 'what' and 'walk me through'. Save yes or no questions for confirming details at the end.

Ask about real past events

'Tell me about the last time' gets facts. 'What do you usually do' gets an idealised version.

Listen more than you talk

Aim for the stakeholder talking most of the time. Silence after an answer often brings out the best detail.

Play it back

End by summarising the main points and asking 'Did I get that right? Did I miss anything?'

See it in code

Walk through the code

text

11. Intro (2 min): who I am, why we're talking, how notes are used.22. "Walk me through the last time you processed a refund."33. "What happens just before that? And right after?"44. "Which part takes the longest? Why?"55. "What do you do when the system is down?"66. "If you could change one thing, what would it be?"77. "Who else should I talk to about this?"88. Close: read back the top 3 points. "Did I miss anything?"

1/4Set the stage so the person relaxes and knows their words won't be used against them.

A simple interview guide. It's a checklist to steer the chat, not a script to read word for word.

Save yourself the pain

Common mistakes

Oops

Asking leading questions like 'Wouldn't an auto-fill button help?'

Do this instead

Ask neutral ones like 'How do you fill this today?' and let the need come from them.

Oops

Typing every word on your laptop while they talk.

Do this instead

Jot key phrases on paper or ask a colleague to take notes, so you can keep eye contact and follow up.

Oops

Taking a stated solution as the requirement.

Do this instead

When someone says 'we need a new screen', ask what problem the screen would solve.

Your mission

Interview a real person

~35 min

Quick check

Which question is most likely to reveal what a user actually does?

Go deeper

1Write 8-10 open-ended questions for a hypothetical stakeholder interview.
2Practice the 'five whys' technique to dig past a surface-level requirement.
3Learn to distinguish a stated want from an underlying business need.