Interviewing

GOOD PARTS FROM THE LECTURE

» Going out there to interview - one of the scaring things to do - but it is incredibly valuable.

  Before  

» Don't ask those fancy general questions - "Do you exercise regularly?" - my response would be - "What do you mean my regularly?"
» Before the actual interview set some goals and questions. Take a trial on your friends / colleagues .

» "What kind of tools he would like to have ?" - I don't carry around an index card of all the tools i would like to have someday. But if you would ask it in my environment where I perform a certain task or process then I would be able to tell you where my need lie.

» Plan is bad, planning however is valuable. - If you have a plan with all the questions you want to ask, then don´t be anal about this. You don´t need to answer all of them and you can mix the order of them ;).

  During  

» Bring along: notebook and a camera (documenting action)

» Objects tell a story-ask people about their artifacts that they carry around - kick off some excellent stories.

» Think from the perspective of the person who answers your questions.

» Let the silence in - give about 5 sec silence to process the question and form the answer

» Out there:

• Introduse youeself, explain your purpose
• The interview is about them, not you!
• Ask the question and let them answer
• Aollow up
  • Adjsut your questions to their precious answers
  • Ask questions in language they understand
  • Pick up on and ask for examples
• Be Flexible

  After  

» Should you record audio or video? - yes! Use short snippets afterwards to convince your boss or client about smth. 30 seconds of video is a great strategy.

» Synthesize and draw your conclusions.