Interviewing for Empathy

Interviewing to gain empathy is a key pillar in human-centered design. The goal of an interview is to get deeper, more honest answers that inspire great insights. Interviewing takes patience and practice. The worksheet will help you plan and document your interview.

Video created by Ideo U

Activity:
Schedule an interview with someone from your interview candidate list. Use the workbook to plan and document your interview.

5 Tips for Interviewing – How to interview for empathy?

Ask open-ended questions: Open-ended questions allow room to truly hear how a person experiences the world. Interviews are more fruitful as a conversation. Always ask participants to explain their reasoning. Keep asking “why” until you get to the underlying meaning.

Show me: Ask participants to show you the things they interact with (objects, spaces, tools) instead of just talking about them. It might prompt an even richer conversation. Don’t be afraid to ask: “Can you show me how you do that?”

Start broad and finish deep: Pacing matters. First, get to know the person (if you don’t already), then explore your topics of interest and conclude by digging deeper into the most interesting areas.

Build rapport: Your body language, how you listen, the tone of your voice and your posture matter as much, if not more, than the questions you ask.

Mind the gap: Look for inconsistencies. Sometimes what people say and what they do are different. These inconsistencies often hide interesting insights. Pay attention to nonverbal cues. And then ask.