Practical Guide to User Interviews — Part 1: Preparation & Execution

A hands-on guide to running user interviews that lead to real insight — not just polite feedback.

Hey, Dmytro here — welcome to Atomic Product.
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• Design Thinking: How to Think Like a Product Manager

• Double vs. Triple Diamond: Why two Product Diamonds aren’t always enough

• B2B or B2C PM? Take the checklist and choose your side

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In the first part of this series, we covered why user interviews matter and the mistakes even experienced PMs often make [link]. Now it's time to get down to the practical side of things — we’ll break the user interview down to its atomic components.

I’ve put together a detailed guide (in two parts) to help you run interviews that actually lead to insights and impact.
Ready? Let’s go. 🚀

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Preparing for the interview: 60% of success happens here

If you’re asking yourself, “Do I really need to prepare?”, the answer is simple: a poorly prepared interview is worse than no interview at all.

A user interview isn’t just a “chat with a user.” It’s a research tool — one that should influence your product strategy. But if you’re not prepared, the whole thing turns into a waste of time.

🚨 Without proper prep:

• ❌ You’ll ask vague questions and get useless answers.

• ❌ Your interviewee will be confused and give you superficial feedback.

• ❌ You won’t be able to compare interviews or extract patterns.

An interview ≠ conversation. It’s a decision-making tool. And like any tool, it works only if it’s properly set up.

Proper prep includes three key steps:

1. Defining your objective: What exactly do you want to learn?

2. Choosing the right people: Who should you talk to and where do you find them?

3. Building your interview guide: What questions will lead to real insights?

Let’s break each one down.