The seats of the interviewer and interviewee are best set at a 90-degree angle. Directly facing each other can be too stressful. Placing the interviewee's seat near the door can further make them feel secure.
Greeting the participant is essential for a successful interview and in-person usability test. The goal is to make sure the participant feel safe and relaxed, which leads to better communication and more authentic reaction. In the U.S., one common way to build rapport is to ask about the drive. In other parts of the world, it could be the weather, their lunch, or a clothing item. Appropriate length and topic vary greatly from culture to culture.
One may find themselves struggling to come up with the right words to say when interviewing. Common responses such as "why" and "then what" may become repetitive and even come across as unnatural to the other person. To make the conversation flow better, one can use these question-starting techniques.
Tell me more is a general invitation to elaborate on a previous point. For example, "You mentioned that the angle of the screen is important to you. Could you tell me more about what makes it important?" or "You said that you didn't feel like you answered the stakeholders' questions well in the review meeting. Could you tell me more about that?"
Explain and Describe are used to obtain more detailed and specific information. Examples include "Please explain the role of a photography assistant" or "Can you describe the key skills of a product manager?" or "Explain why you clicked on that link."