User interview questions for first-time UX researchers: A practical guide with real examples

Key takeaways:

• Asking the right questions is the key to getting useful, honest feedback in user interviews.

• Use a mix of question types – like behavioral, emotional, and opinion-based – to get a well-rounded view.

• Tailor your questions to the stage of the interview: start with warm-ups, dig deep, and finish strong.

• Follow up, stay curious, and listen closely – the real gold often lies just beneath the first answer.

User interviews are your chance to step inside your customer’s world, see what they see, and feel what they feel. 

However, the questions you ask determine the quality of your findings. 

Ask surface-level questions, and you’ll get surface-level answers. But ask the right questions, and you’ll turn scattered feedback into clear patterns, sharp pain points, and practical insights.

This guide will help you do exactly that. 

We’ll show you the key types of UX research questions, how to structure your interviews, and share over 20 questions you can copy, customize, and use today. 

By the end, you’ll be turning small talk into big wins. 

Types of UX research questions

To get the most value from different types of user interviews, ask questions that go beyond the surface. Each one should dig deeper – revealing behaviors, uncovering opinions, or highlighting pain points. Here are the four key types of questions that will make your interviews sharper and more effective.

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Screening questions

These questions help you make sure you’re speaking to the right people. (Always a good start…) Before the interview even begins, screening questions filter out participants who don’t match your target audience. For example, if you’re testing a product for small business owners, you’ll want to confirm that participants actually run or work in a small business.

Examples:

• “Do you currently own or manage a small business?”

• “How often do you use [product category] in your daily work?”

Top tip: Focus on must-have attributes, not nice-to-haves. If your research hinges on a specific behavior or role, make that a non-negotiable and phrase the question so it’s easy to disqualify mismatches fast.

Discovery questions

Discovery questions are all about context. They help you understand the user’s background, goals, and pain points. These questions provide valuable context for the rest of the interview, so you can see how their needs connect to your product or service.

Examples:

• “Can you walk me through how you currently solve [problem]?”

• “What’s the biggest challenge you face when [goal or task]?”

Top tip: If a participant gives a vague answer, try anchoring them in a real moment: “Think about the last time this happened – what did you do?” Real stories reveal more than generalizations.

User behavior questions

If you want to know what people actually do – not just what they say they do – behavior questions are key. These questions focus on users' actions, habits, and decisions. Unlike opinions, which can be subjective, behavior-based responses give you a clear picture of how people engage with products and services.

Examples:

• “Can you describe the last time you used [product] and how it went?”

• “What steps do you typically follow when [goal or task]?”

Top tip: People often forget the details of their actions (some of us more than others …). Use time-based prompts like “What did you do last week when …” or ask them to walk you through it like they’re training someone new.

User opinion questions

Sometimes, you just need to know what users think. Opinion questions tap into their thoughts, preferences, and feelings about a product, feature, or experience. While opinions can be subjective, they’re essential for understanding user satisfaction and identifying potential improvements.

Examples:

• “How would you rate your experience with [product] on a scale of 1 to 10? Why?”

• “If you could change one thing about [product], what would it be?”

This mix of question types gives you a well-rounded view of the user experience – from who they are to what they do and how they feel about it.

Top tip: Don’t stop at the rating – the magic is in the follow-up. Ask, “Why not a 10?” or “What held it back?” to get to the heart of what’s working (or not working).

How many questions should you ask in a user interview?

The number of questions you ask in a user interview depends on the time you have, the depth of information you’re looking for, and the structure of your session. But here’s a simple rule: less is more. Cyndy Marasign, UI/UX designer at ExaWeb warns that, “if a study involves too many questions, participants may become overwhelmed or lose interest, which can result in low-quality responses”.

Packing your interview with too many questions also leaves little room for follow-ups – and follow-ups are often where the real insights happen.

Michele Ronsen, Founder and CEO of Curiosity Tank, recommends structuring your interview using a discussion guide. This approach breaks the session into clear sections with time estimates for each part. She suggests dedicating time for introductions, warm-ups, deep-dive questions, and a wrap-up. This method helps you avoid cramming too many questions into one session.

Use our discussion guide template the next time you're planning user interviews.

How to ask the right questions in user research interviews

Asking the right questions isn’t just about phrasing; it’s about mindset. The goal isn’t to validate your assumptions or fill time. It’s to uncover insights you wouldn’t get any other way. Great questions invite storytelling, reveal context, and make space for unexpected discoveries.

Here are 6 techniques to help you ask better questions – and get better answers.

1. Start with open-ended questions

The best questions prompt detailed responses. Avoid questions that can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." Instead, ask “how,” “what,” and “why” questions. For example, instead of asking, “Do you use this feature often?” try “How do you use this feature in your daily workflow?”.

This approach encourages users to share their experiences and thought processes, which leads to richer responses.

We like this recommendation from Grant Polacheck, Head of Marketing and Operations at Squadhelp:

2. Keep questions neutral, not leading

A leading question pushes the participant toward a certain answer. Instead of saying, “How much do you love this new feature?” (which assumes they love it), you could ask, “What are your thoughts on this new feature?”.

Keeping your language neutral helps you avoid biased feedback and gives you more honest, well-rounded responses.

Milo Cruz, CEO at Freelance Writing Jobs, advises:

3. Avoid stacking questions

It’s easy to ask a multi-part question without realizing it – but it often confuses users. For example, “Can you tell me about your workflow and how you manage deadlines?” might seem simple, but it’s actually two questions in one.

Break it up into two clear, separate questions, like this:

• “Can you walk me through your daily workflow?”

• “How do you manage deadlines within that workflow?”

This way, participants know exactly what you’re asking and can give clear, focused answers.

4. Be specific, but leave room for detail

Vague questions like “What do you think of our product?” can result in vague answers. Instead, be specific. If you’re looking for feedback on a certain feature, call it out directly. For example, “How did you feel about the checkout process?” gives users a clear focus.

But don’t make your questions so narrow that they limit responses. The goal is to give users a direction while still encouraging them to elaborate.

5. Use simple, everyday language

Don’t use jargon or overly technical terms in your questions. Users shouldn’t have to decode what you’re asking. Instead of saying, “How do you perceive the usability of this feature?” you could say, “Was it easy or difficult to use this feature?”

Simple, clear language makes it easier for users to respond – and gives you better-quality feedback.

6. Leave space for follow-ups and clarification

Some of the best feedback comes from follow-up questions. If a participant mentions something unexpected, don’t move on too quickly. Use prompts like:

• “Can you tell me more about that?”

• “What do you mean by that?”

• “Why do you think that happened?”

Follow-up questions give you richer details that pre-planned questions might miss.

30+ sample questions to ask in user research interviews 

If you’re looking for inspiration, here are some ready-to-use user research interview questions. We’ve grouped them by type, so you’ll have the right questions for every part of your interview – from screening participants to uncovering behaviors and opinions. Feel free to customize them to fit your specific goals.

Screening questions

These questions ensure your participants have the right experience, perspective, or needs for your research.

• “What’s your role at your company?”

• “Have you used [product or service] before? If so, how often?”

• “What tools do you currently use to [achieve goal]?”

• “How familiar are you with [process, tool, or concept]?”

• “Have you made a purchase in this product category in the past 6 months?”

Discovery questions

These questions give you insight into user motivations, pain points, and decision-making processes.

• “Can you tell me about your typical day at work?”

• “What’s the most challenging part of [task, process, or goal]?”

• “Can you describe the last time you faced [specific challenge]?”

• “When you’re deciding on [product, service, or decision], what factors matter most to you?”

• “How do you usually go about researching solutions for [problem or task]?”

User behavior questions

With these questions, you’ll uncover specific user behaviors – which often differ from what users say they do.

• “Can you walk me through how you last used [product, service, or tool]?”

• “What steps did you take to complete [task or goal]?”

• “What’s the first thing you do when you’re trying to solve [specific problem]?”

• “How often do you use [product, tool, or feature]?”

• “Can you show me how you typically navigate through [website, app, or platform]?”

User opinion questions

While opinions are subjective, they can still reveal key areas for improvement – especially when you start spotting patterns across multiple interviews.

• “What’s your first impression of [product, feature, or design]?”

• “What’s one thing you would change about [product, feature, or experience]?”

• “On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your experience with [product, feature, or process]?”

• “If you could have one new feature in [product], what would it be?”

• “How does [product] compare to other tools you’ve used?”

So far, we’ve covered the core types of questions every good interview includes, from screening and discovery to behavioral and opinion-based prompts. But sometimes, you need more than just the basics.

The examples below are designed for specific moments in the interview – like building rapport, understanding emotional responses, or wrapping up with meaningful feedback. They’ll help you shape the conversation, not just collect data.

Start strong: Opening questions to build rapport

The first few minutes of a user interview are about making the participant feel comfortable. Warm-up questions help ease them into the conversation, lower any interview anxiety, and create a natural flow before diving into deeper topics. These questions should feel friendly and low-pressure, but they can still reveal useful context about the user’s mindset.

Examples:

• What’s your role and what does a typical day look like for you?

• How familiar are you with [product or tool]?

• When did you last use a tool like this – if at all?

Gauge experience: Familiarity scale questions

These questions help you assess how confident or experienced a participant is with your product or a specific feature. Using a simple numeric scale allows you to compare responses across interviews, but don’t stop at the number – always ask why. The goal is to uncover gaps in understanding or expectations that may affect usability.

Examples:

• On a scale of 1 to 5, how familiar are you with [feature]?

• How confident do you feel using [tool]?

• What would help you feel more comfortable using [feature]?

Understand emotions: UX experience questions

UX isn’t just about what users do, it’s also about how they feel while doing it. These questions help uncover emotional reactions, which are often tied to friction points or moments of delight. Pay close attention to both the words and the tone to spot areas for improvement.

Examples:

• How did you feel as you went through [process]?

• Was there anything that felt confusing or frustrating?

• What part of the experience felt smooth or satisfying?

Jobs to be done: Understand user goals & motivations

JTBD questions focus on the bigger picture – what users are ultimately trying to achieve, not just how they use your product. These questions reveal the real motivation behind behavior and help you build features that support progress, not just process.

Examples:

• What were you hoping to accomplish when you used [product]?

• What made you start looking for a tool like this?

• What does a successful outcome look like for you?

What would you change? Recommendation questions

Asking users what they’d change puts them in the driver’s seat. These questions often surface friction points or unmet needs, and can even lead to valuable feature ideas. Just remember to look for patterns, not one-off requests.

Examples:

• If you could change one thing about [product], what would it be?

• What’s something you wish worked differently?

• Is there anything that slows you down or gets in your way?

Finish strong: Closing questions that invite final thoughts

The end of the interview is a great time to uncover final feedback. These open-ended wrap-up questions give participants a chance to bring up anything you missed – or reflect on what stood out to them most. You’ll often hear some of the most honest, unfiltered feedback here.

Examples:

• Is there anything we didn’t cover that you think we should know?

• What’s one thing you’d want our team to take away from this?

• Any other thoughts or feedback you'd like to share?

Product-focused user interview questions with examples

Product-focused questions help you understand how users interact with specific features, designs, and workflows. These questions can uncover areas for improvement, highlight user pain points, and reveal new opportunities for product development. The goal is to see how well your product fits into the user's existing workflow – and where it might fall short.

Examples:

• “How easy or difficult was it to complete [specific task] using this product?”

• “Can you walk me through the steps you took to [action, like ‘complete a purchase’]?”

• “Was there anything confusing or unexpected about using [specific feature]?”

• “If you had to describe [product or feature] in one word, what would it be?”

• “If you could improve one part of [feature or process], what would it be?”

These questions help you see your product from the user’s perspective – often revealing design issues, usability barriers, or unmet needs. Listening carefully to their responses lets you discover where to prioritize product updates and improvements.

Sample interview questions for post-launch reviews

Post-launch review questions help you measure user satisfaction, uncover any lingering issues, and identify areas for future improvement. These questions focus on the user’s experience after launch – when real-world usage reveals information you can’t get from testing alone.

Examples:

• “Now that you’ve used [product or feature] for a while, how would you describe your overall experience?”

• “Were there any moments when you felt stuck, confused, or frustrated while using [product]?”

• “Have you noticed any differences in how [product] fits into your workflow compared to what you expected?”

• “Have you recommended [product] to anyone? If so, why?”

• “What’s one thing you’d like us to improve or change about [feature]?”

These questions give you a clear picture of how users feel after spending time with your product – not just their first impressions. They can reveal lingering pain points, highlight what users love most, and guide your next round of updates or enhancements.

Pro tip: Conducting global research? Lyssna supports interviews in 30 languages (in addition to English), with all participant communications delivered in your preferred language. This helps you gather authentic feedback from diverse participants worldwide who can express themselves comfortably in their native language.

Turning raw data into meaningful UX insights

Once you’ve wrapped up your user interviews, chances are you’ll be staring at a mountain of notes, transcripts, and cryptic scribbles that seemed brilliant at the time. It’s a lot to manage – but with the right process, you can turn that beautiful chaos into clear, actionable recommendations.

Here’s how to make sense of it all.

1. Organize your notes and recordings

Start by gathering all your interview notes, video recordings, and transcripts in one central place. This could be a shared folder, a research repository, or even a simple spreadsheet. The goal is to make it easy to search, review, and compare user responses.

Top tip: Label each file with the participant's name, date, and key topics discussed. This small step makes it easier to track patterns later.

2. Identify themes and patterns

Look for common themes, repeated feedback, and key moments where users struggled, hesitated, or shared strong opinions. You’ll start to see trends – like multiple users pointing out the same confusing feature or mentioning a common workflow.

You can check out this guide on thematic analysis for a step-by-step approach. It walks you through how to group related feedback into broader themes that make it easier to spot opportunities for improvement.

3. Prioritize the key insights

Not all feedback carries equal weight. Some issues impact a large percentage of users, while others only affect one or two. Focus on the research insights with the biggest potential to improve the user experience.

Ask yourself:

• Which issues were mentioned most often?

• Did any participant express strong emotions (like frustration) during specific moments?

• Which insights directly impact product adoption, usability, or customer satisfaction?

The goal is to separate “nice-to-know” insights from the game-changers that drive real improvements.

4. Turn insights into action items

Once you’ve prioritized your insights, the next step is to take action. This might mean improving a design, updating your onboarding process, or creating a new feature. Write clear, specific action items for your team, like:

• “Simplify the onboarding flow by removing one unnecessary step.”

• “Redesign the 'Add to Cart' button to make it more visible.”

These action items should be specific enough for anyone on your team to understand what needs to change and why.

5. Share your findings with stakeholders

Your stakeholders – like product managers, designers, and executives – want to see the bigger picture. Instead of sharing every single interview detail, present the key insights, themes, and action items. This makes it easier for them to connect the dots and understand what changes are needed.

Visual tools like charts, heatmaps, or simple summary reports can help communicate your findings.

This guide on analyzing and synthesizing UX research covers how to turn raw research into an engaging, easy-to-understand story. And if you’re looking for inspiration on presenting your findings, check out this detailed ux research report example to see how to structure your insights for maximum impact.

By following these steps, you’ll turn your interview data into a roadmap for product improvements. It’s not just about collecting data – it’s about turning it into decisions that make a real impact.

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Level up your user research questions with Lyssna

Great user research starts with great questions – and with Lyssna, you’ll have everything you need to get them answered. From screening participants to analyzing feedback, Lyssna makes it easy to run user interviews that deliver real, actionable results.

Here’s how Lyssna can support your user research process:

• Recruit participants fast – Access a panel of over 690,000 vetted participants and target them using 395+ demographic and psychographic filters.

• Run unlimited tests and interviews – No limits on tests, surveys, or interviews, so you can ask as many questions as you need.

• Collect high-quality responses – If you’re not happy with your responses, we’ll exchange them free of charge – no questions asked.

• Affordable research for every team – Use our simple research panel calculator to get an estimate of the cost and turnaround time. 

No more chasing down participants or relying on guesswork to make design decisions. With Lyssna, you’ll have a clear, structured process for gathering insights that move your product – and your business – forward.

Stop guessing – start asking. Sign up for free and turn curiosity into clarity, insights into action.

Alexander Boswell is the Founder/Director of SaaSOCIATE, a B2B SaaS, MarTech and eCommerce Content Marketing Service and a Business PhD candidate. When he’s not writing, he’s playing baseball and D&D.