Interview Prompt

Surveys give you scale. Interviews give you depth. A user interview prompt survey serves two purposes: it identifies users who are willing to participate in a research interview, and it pre-screens them so you can select the right participants and prepare better questions.

This survey is the bridge between quantitative data ("30% of users report frustration with feature X") and qualitative understanding ("here is exactly why it frustrates them and what they wish would happen instead").

When to deploy an interview prompt survey

After a quantitative survey reveals an interesting pattern. If your NPS, CSAT, or feature satisfaction data shows a notable trend, recruit interview participants to understand the story behind the numbers.

Before a major product decision. When you need deep qualitative input to inform a redesign, new feature, or strategic pivot, recruit interviewees from the relevant user segment.

As part of continuous discovery. Some teams run ongoing interview programs, conducting two to four user interviews per week. A standing recruitment survey keeps the pipeline of willing participants full.

When you need to understand a specific cohort. Churned users, power users, new users, enterprise accounts, each cohort has different perspectives. Target your recruitment survey to the cohort you need to understand.

Interview prompt survey questions

Screening and recruitment:

1. Would you be willing to participate in a 20-30 minute conversation about your experience with [product]? | Yes / Maybe, depending on timing / No | Required
2. What is the best email to reach you at? | Email field | Conditional on "Yes" or "Maybe"
3. What time zone are you in? | Dropdown | Conditional
4. Do you have any scheduling preferences? | Morning / Afternoon / Evening / No preference | Conditional

Pre-screening (to select the right participants):

1. How long have you been using [product]? | Multiple choice | Required
2. What is your primary use case for [product]? | Open text | Required
3. What best describes your role? | Multiple choice | Required
4. How would you rate your overall experience with [product]? | 1-5 scale | Required
5. Is there a specific topic or area of [product] you would like to discuss? | Open text | Optional

Selecting interview participants

Not every willing participant is the right participant. Use the pre-screening data to select a balanced and relevant set.

Match to your research question. If you are investigating why onboarding satisfaction is low, recruit users who joined recently and who rated their experience below average.

Seek diversity within the segment. Within your target segment, select participants with different roles, use cases, and satisfaction levels.

Include outliers. The user who rated satisfaction at 1 and the user who rated it at 5 both have stories worth hearing.

Balance tenure. Long-time users and new users have different perspectives on the same product. Both are valuable.

Pre-interview preparation using survey data

The pre-screening responses give you a foundation for each interview.

Customize your questions. If a participant said their primary use case is onboarding surveys, prepare questions about that specific workflow.

Note their satisfaction level. A participant who rated 2 out of 5 has specific frustrations. A participant who rated 5 out of 5 has specific highlights.

Follow up on their stated topic. If a participant mentioned wanting to discuss reporting, make sure your interview guide includes questions about it.

Interview logistics

Compensation. Offering an incentive significantly increases participation rates. $25 to $50 for a 30-minute interview is standard for B2B products.

Scheduling. Use a scheduling tool that shows available times in the participant's time zone.

Recording. Always ask for permission to record. Recordings let you focus on the conversation rather than note-taking.

Follow-up. Send a thank-you note and any promised compensation within 24 hours.

Common mistakes

Recruiting only from your most engaged users. Power users are easy to recruit but represent a narrow perspective.

Asking too many screening questions. The recruitment survey should take under two minutes.

Not following through. If a user says yes to an interview and never hears back, trust is broken.

Conducting interviews without preparation. The pre-screening data exists to help you prepare.

Set up this survey in Formbricks

Formbricks supports interview recruitment surveys as in-app or email surveys. Target specific user segments based on usage, satisfaction scores, or custom attributes to recruit from the right cohort.

The template includes screening questions, contact information collection, and scheduling preferences. Conditional logic ensures only willing participants see the detailed questions.

Responses are stored alongside user attributes, giving your research team the context they need to select participants and prepare interview guides.