Run interviews to understand frustrations, needs, and expectations around your system. Use this early to capture perspectives from teams, disciplines, and leadership. Interviews reveal where a system could add the most value, surface hidden blockers, and create a record of insights you can draw on later. Pair with Maturity Assessment to check readiness, or feed outputs into Alignment and System Health Checks.
How to
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Plan who to speak to
Choose a mix of roles: designers, developers, QA, content, product managers, and leaders. Aim for a balance of frequent users and occasional contributors. You can use Influence Mapping to guide you.
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Prepare questions
Ask about workflows, pain points, and gaps in guidance. Include prompts about adoption, accessibility, and contribution so you capture a broad view.
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Run interviews
Keep sessions short and focused. Encourage stories and examples over generic feedback. Record with permission so nothing gets lost. Most importantly, avoid leading your interviewee and listen objectively.
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Capture and cluster themes
Group notes into patterns such as workflow issues, duplication, inconsistent naming, or unclear ownership. Use these clusters to inform Journey Mapping or Content Strategy.
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Summarise insights
Write a clear recap with quotes and key themes. Share back with stakeholders so findings are visible and can be referenced in later decisions.