F5. Qualitative Interviews for Founders: Questions, Probes, Notes
After this lesson you can
- Structure a semi-structured interview from opening to close
- Write past-behavior questions and neutral probes
- Spot leading and double-barreled questions
- Take notes that separate observations from interpretations
- Record only with permission and protect interview notes
- Keep interviews on the problem rather than pitching a solution
Video coming soon
Videos are planned to publish from December 2026.
A step-by-step guide to running semi-structured interviews that produce evidence instead of opinions. It covers the interview guide, past-behavior questions, neutral probes, note-taking and recording with consent, and how to keep interviewer bias and invention disclosure out of the conversation.
Questions and answers
Questions a learner would ask about this lesson. Think through your own answer before you open each one.
- What is a semi-structured interview?
Show answer
It is an interview that follows a written guide of core questions while leaving room to follow the conversation with new questions. It sits between a fixed questionnaire read word for word and an unplanned chat. The follow-up is where the richest detail usually comes from.
- How should an interview be structured?
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The lesson's shape is opening, warm-up, core and close. The opening states who you are and why you are asking, says you are learning, not selling, agrees on the time, and asks separately before any recording. The warm-up covers the person's role and a typical week, the core covers past events one at a time, and the close asks about anything missed and who else to talk to.
- Why ask about past behavior instead of "Would you use this?"
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Hypothetical and opinion questions such as "Would you use a scheduling app?" or "How much would you pay?" produce guesses. Past-behavior questions such as "Tell me about the last time scheduling went wrong" and "What did you do about it?" describe real events that can be analyzed.
- What should I do if someone asks about my product or price during the interview?
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Don't pitch. A pitch turns the interview into a review, and people respond to you instead of their problem. The lesson's suggested reply is "I'm learning today, not selling," and any demonstration belongs in a separate, later step.
- Why does the lesson warn against describing an invention in interviews?
Show answer
Describing your solution biases answers toward your idea, and for anything potentially patentable it may disclose an invention before you have talked with a professional. The lower-risk practice is to discuss the problem and how people handle it now, and to talk to your technology transfer office first.
Practice quiz
- Question 1A semi-structured interview is best described as which of these?
- Question 2Which is a leading question?
- Question 3"How do you book patients and handle cancellations?" is an example of what?
- Question 4Founder D describes the sensor's circuit design to interviewees. What is the main concern raised in the course?
- Question 5Which note is an observation rather than an interpretation?
- Question 6Which is a strong probe according to the lesson?
- Question 7What does the lesson say about silence during an interview?
- Question 8In one study cited by the lesson (Griffin and Hauser, 1993), each analyst found what share of needs on average?
- Question 9What is the main difference between a verbatim note and a paraphrase?
- Question 10When Founder A reran an interview with the revised guide, what did they conclude about that one interview?
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Entrepreneurship for Graduate Students is education, not legal, tax, financial, or immigration advice. Bring questions about your own situation to your university technology transfer office, a licensed professional, or the right campus office.