Conduct 5 User Interviews & Synthesize Findings
Part of the Product Management Roadmap
In short
Five honest conversations will teach you more than fifty opinions in a group chat. This project takes you from recruiting people to a short, sharp findings doc.
The single most valuable practice rep in this phase — talk to 5 real people about a real problem, then turn the raw transcripts into 3-5 written insights.
Think of it like this
The detective's witness rounds
A good detective doesn't ask "did the butler do it?". They ask each witness what they saw, when and where, then compare stories. Patterns across five witnesses solve the case. Your interviews work the same way.
Watch it happen
The project, step by step
1/6Write one learning goal, like "How do final-year students prepare for placements?"
The big ideas
What you need to know
One clear goal
Know what you want to learn. A focused goal keeps questions sharp and synthesis easy.
Listen 80% of the time
Ask, then stay quiet. The best details come after an awkward pause.
Keep exact quotes
Real quotes make findings believable to people who weren't in the room.
Findings fit on a page
Three to five themes with evidence and next steps. Nobody reads a 30-page report.
See it in code
Walk through the code
1Intro: thanks, ~30 min, OK to record?21. Tell me about your last placement test.32. How did you prepare for it? Walk me through it.43. What was the hardest part?54. What did you try to fix that? Did it work?65. If you had a magic wand, what would change?7Close: anything I should have asked?1/4Set expectations and ask for consent before recording.
A starter interview guide. Questions are open and about real past events. Follow interesting answers with "tell me more".
Save yourself the pain
Common mistakes
Oops
Interviewing five close friends who will say what you want to hear.
Do this instead
Recruit people who match your target user but don't owe you anything.
Oops
Asking leading questions like "Isn't it annoying when…?".
Do this instead
Ask neutral, open questions like "How did that go?" and let them describe it.
Your mission
First milestone: guide and two interviews
Quick check
A participant says "I'd definitely use an app for that!" What's the best follow-up?
Go deeper
- 1Pick a product or problem space you have genuine access to talk to users about.
- 2Record (with permission) and transcribe each conversation.
- 3Synthesize with affinity mapping and write a one-page findings summary.
More projects at this stop
Build a Customer Journey Map for a Real Product
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