A few weeks ago, I came across a tweet that made me pause and affected how I set up a recent interview guide for conducting open-ended interviews. I’ve been fascinated by the results. Perhaps it will change your approach, too.

Tell me more…

Here’s the tweet that changed my approach to writing up an in-depth interview guide:

Asking “why” makes people feel like they have to rationalize something. Just say “Tell me more” #ESOMAR #MRX <3

— Annie Pettit (@LoveStats) September 29, 2015

Let’s think about this a moment.

You’re going along, asking questions in your in-depth interview, and you want them to elaborate. Put yourself in the interviewee’s shoes. How does hearing, “Why?” make you want to answer? Does it make you want to expound on what you said, or does it make you feel like you need to justify your answer?

Here’s an example:

Question: Name the top three reasons you enjoy this activity.
Probe: Why are those your top three?

Versus:
Question: Name the top three reasons you enjoy this activity.
Probe: Can you tell me more about (name the first reason)? (repeat for the next two items)

Just think how you would answer both sets.

In practice

Here’s how this ends up playing out in practice – as least from my limited experience of one set of interviews and one interview guide written using alternatives to the question, “Why?”

First, it makes me set up interview questions that lend themselves more to a “tell me more,” than a “why” follow-up. This seems to naturally make questions a bit deeper.

Second, during the course of the interview, I sound far more like I’m interested in learning more about their train of thinking and less like a toddler who just wants to know “why.”

Third, avoiding the follow-up “why” creates for deeper follow-up questions. It also seems to naturally allow me to clarify some items during the interview. I find myself starting with, “So, you said that you thought geeks would be the primary demographic for this product. Can you define what you mean by geek? What about geeks would naturally attract them to this product?” This gets a far better, richer, and more interesting response than, “So, you said that you thought geeks would be the primary demographic for this product. Why is that?”

Try it out for yourself – whether in an in-depth interview situation or even just in conversation. The next time you want to ask, “Why,” stop, and try a different choice of words, and see if you don’t get richer input as a result.

And then tell me more about your experience.