Gathering useful insights from user research takes planning. There are many research methods for collecting feedback, so most researchers want a rough draft of how they plan to guide participants during interviews or testing. This article explains how to write a discussion guide and the key elements to keep in mind.
We'll cover what a discussion guide is and why it matters, so you know when to use one. We'll also walk through how to write one for your specific research needs, along with the best practices.
What is a Discussion Guide?
A discussion guide is a structured outline or plan to guide conversations during qualitative research sessions. Researchers use it during interviews, focus groups, or user testing to keep the discussion on the research objectives. A guide also keeps the process organized and consistent across multiple sessions, which leads to better findings and helps you avoid missing essential topics and key insights.
Because discussion guides are easy to read, they can act as checklists for research questions. Focusing on the most important parts of the conversation lets you use your time well and cover the topics you need without going off course. Keep the guide flexible to protect the natural flow of the discussion, and it will help you stay on your research goals and objectives.
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How to Write a Discussion Guide
Now that you know how a discussion guide is used and why it matters, here's how to write one. These plans take real planning and structure. To build a guide that covers the most important topics while keeping the conversation flowing, you need to get a few key elements right.
Here is a step-by-step process for writing a discussion guide:
- Define research goals
- Create research questions
- Create an engaging structure
- Ensure flexibility
Define research goals
The first step is defining your research goals. A clear view of what you want to achieve helps you write better questions and guide the conversation. Your goals should focus on the data and information you want to gather so you can make data-driven decisions later.
If you're having trouble defining your goals, you can always follow the SMART framework, which stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound goals.
Create research questions
The second step is creating the research questions. Once your goals are set, brainstorm questions that will get you the answers you need to meet those objectives. Because you'll ask these in a real conversation, sequence them logically so they don't disrupt the flow. Start with general questions about a broader topic, then narrow down to specific information.
Encourage participants to give detailed answers. Make the questions open-ended and keep them focused on the users themselves. You may care about your product's performance, but the best insights come from focusing on the participants. Prioritize how users feel about the product over the product's features.
Create an engaging structure
The next step is creating an engaging structure. These plans outline the entire testing or interviewing process, so there are a few key elements to get right. Use this discussion guide template as a starting point:
- Introduction
- Core questions
- Follow-up questions and probing
- Closing questions and statement
Introduction
The first component is the introduction, where you introduce yourself and your business and establish rapport. Set the context by explaining the purpose of the session. Keep it relaxed and welcoming, and tell the participant what their feedback will be used for and why their insights matter.
You can also include simple ice-breaker questions to ensure the participant is comfortable and to gather their basic background information. If the session has any specific rules, this is the prime time to establish and explain them so the testing goes as planned.
Core questions
Once you've introduced yourself and the purpose of the session, start gathering feedback by asking core questions. These questions align directly with your research goals and can be grouped by main topic. For example, create one core question for each research objective, then expand on it with probing questions.
Keep these questions open-ended so participants can answer in detail. This encourages users to share their opinions, experiences, and thoughts on the topic, and helps you understand their needs, preferences, and pain points.
Because you group these questions by topic, watch the flow of the conversation. Ease into more complex themes by starting with general questions and gradually digging deeper for specific insights.
Follow-up questions and probing
After the core questions, probe the participant with follow-up questions to gather more insights. Participants often give short, vague answers to the main questions. To draw out more detail, use probing questions that encourage them to expand on their answers.
Here are some examples to include in your discussion guide:
- "Can you give me an example?"
- "Can you walk me through..."
- "Can you tell me more about..."
- "Can you explain what you mean by that?"
- "How would you compare this experience to others you've had?"
- "Why do you feel that way?"
- "What do you think would happen if...?"
If the answers still fall short, layer follow-up questions to draw out more detail. Start with broad questions before narrowing to specifics, and adapt each follow-up to the participant's response so it fits the flow of the conversation.
Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
Closing questions and statement
The last section is your closing questions and statement. Summarize what you gathered during the session and thank the participant for their time and feedback.
Ask if they have any additional insights before ending the call. If the session involved sensitive information, tell users how their feedback will be used and analyzed, and invite future collaboration.
Ensure flexibility
The last step is ensuring flexibility. Even with the whole session planned out, you'll sometimes need to improvise based on participants' responses. Be ready to deviate from your outline and adapt to the flow of the conversation.
To get the most out of the session, let the participant take the lead and match their tempo. If they steer the conversation toward related topics that aren't in the plan, let it go there. The participant will feel more comfortable sharing, and you may gain unexpected insights.
If the session drifts too far, steer it back by paraphrasing what the participant said and redirecting them to another question.
Conclusion
You'll improve at writing discussion guides through trial and error. A precise outline keeps you organized, but stay flexible and adjust to the natural flow of the conversation.
If you need a tool that helps you capture research findings while following a discussion guide, take a look at User Evaluation. Our AI platform brings your user research features into one place. With our revamped Note Taker, you can follow your session's outline and record key information side by side. Try the platform for free and see how it speeds up your customer understanding.