interview-script
owl-listener/designer-skills
Generate structured interview scripts with warm-up, core exploration, and wrap-up sections for user research.
What is interview-script?
Creates a ready-to-use interview guide for qualitative user research, following best practices in open-ended questioning and the funnel approach. Use this before conducting interviews to ensure consistent, non-leading questions that reveal motivations and behaviors.
- Generates interview scripts with introduction, warm-up, core exploration, scenario walk-throughs, and wrap-up sections
- Applies JTBD (Jobs to Be Done) probing techniques to uncover motivations and mental models
- Includes facilitator notes on staying neutral, handling tangents, and time management
- Validates questions against leading-question patterns and rewrites them as open invitations
- Organizes questions by research theme with built-in follow-up probes
- Accepts personas, research goals, and product context files to tailor the script
How to install interview-script
npx skills add https://github.com/owl-listener/designer-skills --skill interview-scriptHow to use interview-script
- 1.Run the skill and provide your research goals, target participant profile, and interview duration
- 2.Optionally upload personas, research goals, or product context files for tailored output
- 3.Review the generated script for your specific research themes and questions
- 4.Customize facilitator notes and timing based on your interview setting
- 5.Use the script during interviews, taking notes on participant responses
- 6.After interviews, use the `summarize-interview` skill to analyze findings
Use cases
- Preparing for user interviews on a new product feature or redesign
- Creating consistent interview guides for multi-participant research studies
- Developing discovery interviews to understand customer pain points and workflows
- Conducting Jobs to Be Done research to uncover underlying motivations
- Structuring feedback sessions with stakeholders or beta testers
- UX researchers and designers planning qualitative research
- Product managers conducting user discovery
- User researchers new to interview methodology
- Teams running iterative design validation interviews
interview-script FAQ
This skill applies research best practices like the funnel approach, JTBD probing, and non-leading question patterns. It catches leading questions and rewrites them, ensuring consistent methodology across interviews.
Yes. The script format works for phone, video, or in-person interviews. Facilitator notes include guidance on managing different settings.
The script is structured for 45–60 minutes total. You can adjust section timing based on your needs; the skill will help you allocate time across warm-up, core exploration, and wrap-up.
Include those in the 'Specific scenarios' section. Provide the skill with product context or feature descriptions, and it will generate task walk-throughs that avoid leading language.
Use it as a guide, not a rigid document. Memorize the key questions and themes, then adapt based on participant responses. The script ensures you cover all research goals while staying flexible.
Full instructions (SKILL.md)
Source of truth, from owl-listener/designer-skills.
name: interview-script
description: Write a structured interview guide — warm-up, core exploration, and wrap-up. Use before running interviews. For analysing what comes back, use summarize-interview.
Interview Script
Create a structured user interview script for qualitative research.
Context
You are a senior UX researcher preparing an interview script for $ARGUMENTS. If the user provides files (personas, research goals, product context), read them first.
Domain Context
- User Interviews (Steve Portigal, Interviewing Users): Open-ended questions that reveal motivations, behaviors, and mental models.
- Follow the funnel approach: broad context questions before specific feature questions.
- Use JTBD probing: When did you last...? What were you trying to accomplish? What happened next?
- Avoid leading questions, hypotheticals, and yes/no questions.
Instructions
- Clarify objectives: Confirm the research goals, target participants, and interview duration.
- Create the script with these sections:
- Introduction (2-3 min): Welcome, explain purpose, set expectations, get consent
- Warm-up (3-5 min): Easy context-setting questions about their background and role
- Core exploration (20-30 min): Deep-dive questions organized by research theme, with follow-up probes
- Specific scenarios (10-15 min): Walk-through of specific tasks or experiences
- Wrap-up (3-5 min): Summary, anything we missed, next steps, thank you
- Include probing techniques: "Tell me more about that", "Why was that important?", "What happened next?"
- Add facilitator notes: Tips for staying neutral, handling tangents, and managing time.
- Think step by step. Present the script in a ready-to-use format.
Question Quality Guardrails
Ensure all questions are non-leading. A leading question contains the answer or implies a preferred response. Replace any question that assumes sentiment, behaviour, or outcome.
| Leading (avoid) | Non-leading (use) |
|---|---|
| "Was that frustrating?" | "How did you feel about that?" |
| "Did you find it easy?" | "How easy or difficult was that for you?" |
| "Did you like the feature?" | "What did you notice about that feature, if anything?" |
| "Would you use this?" | "How would you use this in your work, if at all?" |
Test each question before including it: If the question contains its own implied answer, rewrite it as an open invitation. If the question can be answered with yes or no, extend it ("...and why?").
Further Reading
- Interviewing Users — Steve Portigal
- Just Enough Research — Erika Hall
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