3 user types and how to deal with them during interviews

Talking to users is a crucial part of a Product Designer job. You can only learn so much by looking only at the quantitative data, to fully understand the problem you have to talk to users.

Some interviews are better than others. Sometimes you leave the conversation with a clear picture, and sometimes by the end of the interview, you have even more questions than you had before. Sometimes people are sharing things willingly, and sometimes you have to interrogate them for a 2-sentence answer.

The quality of the insights you take away depends heavily on what kind of person you are talking to. This is why I put together this article with 3 tricky user types I identified and some strategies for navigating a conversation with them.

The Oversharer

This is the most talkative user type you have ever met. The conversation flows like you are talking to a friend or a relative. They come to the interview, and you don’t even need to warm them up right after explaining the scope of your research the Oversharer will just keep talking and sharing things.
At first glance, it seems like this is the best user type to talk to, yet it is only the first glance. With the Oversharer you have to stay extra focused. At the end of the interview, you might realize you know the names of their pets and neighbours, yet you haven’t received any insights out of that pleasant conversation.

Here are some tips for your next meeting with the Oversharer:

Keep your question list next to you.

With this type of user, it is paramount, otherwise, they will take you places without sharing any valuable information. With this list, you can quickly assess if the question has been already answered.

Take a lot of notes.

At Relive, we record 90% of user interviews, yet when dealing with Oversharers the amount of information you receive is enormous. It is easy to slip and lose something on which you would like to follow up.

Interrupt.

This is my least favourite part yet extremely important if you want to have a fruitful interview. When you hear…