Why Stakeholder Interviews are Essential for a Strong UX Process
Throughout my career as a UX consultant, I’ve worked with a variety of companies, each with its own unique processes and challenges. But across all these experiences, one common issue stands out—the rush to conduct user interviews as soon as a new feature request comes in. This approach often results in a scattered problem statement, with user interview responses that lack focus and don’t yield actionable insights.
Here’s how to improve your UX process by taking a critical first step: stakeholder interviews.
Problem: Jumping Straight to User Interviews
When a new feature request comes in, there’s often a temptation to dive directly into user interviews. Without clearly defined goals, these interviews can go off track, leading to broad responses that don’t clarify the core issues. While user interviews are essential, they shouldn’t be the starting point.
Solution: Start with Stakeholder Interviews
While it’s tempting to skip stakeholder interviews and move right to user insights, the stakeholder phase is crucial. And stakeholders aren’t just limited to your manager or product owner; they include everyone involved in making the feature a reality—product managers, engineers, customer success reps, and even the C-suite in smaller companies.
But aren’t stakeholder interviews just as unfocused as jumping straight to user interviews? Not necessarily. Unlike user interviews, stakeholder interview goals are typically straightforward:
- Define the requested feature, product, or enhancement.
- Establish the timeline. Are stakeholders aligned on the timeline?
- Identify intended users. Who will benefit from this feature?
- Determine constraints. Are there any concerns or limitations?
The questions may vary by role. For instance, your CTO might share technical limitations, while a customer success manager might talk about the most common user complaints. Using tools like UserBit can help guide your questions and manage stakeholder insights.
Step 1: Conducting Stakeholder Interviews
Once you’ve spoken with stakeholders, the next step is ensuring alignment on the following points:
- Product or Feature Definition: What exactly are we building?
- Timeline: Are expectations aligned?
- Constraints: What are the technical, resource, or budget limitations?
- Primary Users: Who will use this feature?
- Success Metrics: How will we measure success?
- Key Stakeholders: Who needs to be involved throughout the project?
If you have only a few stakeholders, manually extract and organize this information. For larger groups, try using affinity diagrams to identify common themes and pinpoint conflicting assumptions.
Step 2: Building Consensus
Aligning stakeholder expectations is critical. For instance, a project might have conflicting assumptions:
- The CEO expects the project completed in a week.
- The VP of Engineering sees a timeline of three weeks.
- The Head of Sales views this as an adoption driver, while the product manager thinks it’s about discovering new features.
Aligning these perspectives now will save time and prevent confusion later.
Benefits of Stakeholder Interviews
- Creates a Sense of Ownership: Stakeholders feel included and invested in the project’s success. Questions like “What’s your biggest concern about this project?” open the door to collaboration and give stakeholders a more holistic view of the project.
- Improves Alignment: Stakeholder interviews clarify everyone’s expectations, so all parties are on the same page about goals, timelines, and metrics.
- Strengthens the UX Process: With insights from stakeholders, you can better tailor the UX process. For instance, a three-month project may allow for more research, while a three-week project might require a leaner approach.
Conclusion
Stakeholder interviews are foundational. They don’t take much time but yield invaluable insights that can make a significant difference in project outcomes. So, next time you’re tempted to skip them, remember the value they bring to the table. This simple step can transform your UX process into a strategic, focused journey toward achieving user and business goals.