Stakeholder Interview

Purpose

Stakeholder Interviews uncover the priorities, political dynamics, constraints, and success criteria of the people who fund, approve, or are affected by a project. They align the design team with organisational reality and surface hidden requirements before costly misalignment occurs.

At a glance

• Group size: 2–3 (interviewer(s) + 1 stakeholder)
• Duration: 50 minutes
• Difficulty: Moderate
• Facilitation style: Semi-structured conversation
• Setting: Private meeting room or video call

How to run

1. Prepare (15 min before): Research the stakeholder’s role, recent decisions, and public statements. Draft 6–8 open questions covering goals, concerns, constraints, metrics, and worst-case scenarios.
2. Open (5 min): Introduce yourself, state the purpose, confirm confidentiality, and ask permission to record.
3. Explore goals (15 min): "What does success look like for you?" "What are you most worried about?" "What would make you veto this?"
4. Explore constraints (10 min): "What can’t change?" "What resources are fixed?" "Who else needs to agree?"
5. Explore relationships (10 min): "Who else should I talk to?" "Where do you see tension between teams?" "What history should I know?"
6. Close (5 min): Summarise what you heard, ask for corrections, and agree on follow-up cadence.
7. Debrief (5 min after): Capture key themes, power dynamics, and surprises immediately.

Materials needed

• Interview guide
• Recording device (with consent)
• Notebook
• Stakeholder map (if available)

Pitfalls & common mistakes

• Only interviewing sponsors: Include sceptics and operators, not just champions.
• Leading with solutions: This interview is about understanding, not pitching.
• Ignoring political dynamics: What a stakeholder says publicly and privately may differ. Note the gaps.
• No synthesis across interviews: Compare themes across stakeholders to find alignment and conflict.

Inclusion & accessibility

• Offer interview via the stakeholder’s preferred medium (in-person, video, phone, written).
• Share questions in advance for stakeholders who prefer preparation.
• Be culturally sensitive to hierarchy — in some contexts, direct questions to a senior leader may feel inappropriate.

Variations

• Group stakeholder interview: 2–3 stakeholders at once to observe dynamics (higher risk, higher reward).
• Stakeholder safari: Short, informal 10-minute chats with many stakeholders rather than deep interviews with few.
• Async stakeholder interview: Send a structured questionnaire when calendars make live sessions impossible.

When NOT to use this

• When stakeholders have already been extensively consulted and need to see progress, not more questions.
• When the project is purely user-facing with no organisational politics (rare but possible).
• When the interviewer lacks the seniority to have a candid conversation with the stakeholder.

Source & further reading

• Kim Goodwin — *Designing for the Digital Age* (Wiley, 2009)
• Steve Portigal — *Interviewing Users* (Rosenfeld Media, 2013)
• Leah Buley — *The User Experience Team of One* (Rosenfeld Media, 2013)