This article reflects information as of 2020. For the latest details, please contact us.

Web Tips

Web Tips #01: Question Everything — The Art of Requirements Interviews

2020.10.09

This article reflects information as of 2020. For the latest details, please contact us.

Written by: Tomohiro Koizumi, Representative Director, tentus inc.

What is a requirements interview?

Put very simply, it means "going to hear from the client what they want to do." But this is actually extremely difficult.

If you fasten the wrong button at this crucial first stage of a project, all the work that follows becomes enormously harder.

You are only there to hear what they want to do — but the point is not to take the client's words at face value. It is vital to see through those words to the problem hidden behind them.

Tips for running an interview

There are broadly three tips for running an interview.

1. Question the wording!

2. Question the premise!

3. Question the very person doing the talking!

The methods differ, but all three share the same goal:

"Bring the hidden problem (the true intent) to light."

Let me explain the three tips as approaches toward that goal.

Tip 1: Question the wording!

This is a very common kind of request:

"I want a site like such-and-such."

You often get asked this, but it is a very dangerous phrase.

With requests like this, the person in charge is frequently just naming a site they happen to like. But when the industry, the business model, the company's brand power, its awareness, the functions the site needs, and so on are all different, making "just the site look similar" your goal ultimately produces the feeling: "Something's off."

"Something's off" is a magic phrase.

If you proceed with production without properly clarifying that person's "something" during the interview, then even if you build a design like the reference site, well — "something" will indeed be off.

Of course it will. The company's brand and products were different from the start.

So even when a request looks perfectly straightforward on the surface, failing to bring out the point hidden behind it creates a gap in the final deliverable. When the phrase "like such-and-such" comes up, make sure you draw out the true intent hidden behind it.

For example:

- Which part of that site did you find appealing?

- Is there any part that you feel wouldn't fit your own brand?

- There are sites with similar designs, such as this one — is the image the same?

In other words, when someone says "like such-and-such," it is important to get that person to recognize for themselves which part they like.

Keep at it until, as a result of that recognition, "like such-and-such" becomes something clear like: "The simple, persuasive way that site presents its products matches the characteristics of our own products, so that's the part we want to emulate."

Tip 2: Question the premise!

A. "We want to renew our site."

B. "We want to improve our contact form."

C. "We want to build an EC site."

D. "We want to run a social media account."

These look like easy-to-understand requests, but they too must be properly questioned.

Every one of these requests is missing the "why."

By carefully interviewing on why they want to do it, you can draw out:

A. "We want to renew our site in order to increase the number of inquiries."

B. "Our bounce rate is low, but access from smartphones has been rising, so we want a contact form optimized for smartphones."

C. "We want to sell directly, so we want to build an EC site."

D. "We want to run a social media account where we can communicate directly with users."

But even this is only 50 points out of 100.

There is still something missing one step further back: the "current problem." By asking about the current problem, you get:

A. "Our conversion rate hasn't changed, but traffic to the site itself is dropping, and as a result inquiries are down, so we want to renew the site." 　→ Wait — wouldn't focusing on SEO or advertising be better than a renewal?

B. "The bounce rate of the smartphone users who've recently increased is low, and their conversion rate is higher than PC users', so we want a contact form optimized for smartphones." 　→ Wait — don't we also need to care for the PC users whose conversion rate was low to begin with? Should we build separate versions?

C. "The products we were wholesaling to supermarkets have become dead stock because of COVID, so we want to build an EC site for direct sales for a limited period. We plan to go back to retail-only once COVID is over." 　→ In that case, the key is how to keep the investment down.

D. "Because of our distribution structure we can't interact with users, so no complaints or feedback reach us at all. We want to run a social media account as a channel to hear users' voices directly." 　→ Then a channel that allows two-way communication would be best.

In this way, by firmly recognizing that what we build is something that solves some problem, you can establish a shared understanding with the client along the lines of:

【Current problem】 ↓ 【Why they want to do it】 ↓ 【What they want to do】

Tip 3: Question the very person doing the talking!

Put simply, this means "understand differences in perspective."

It would be ideal if what the contact person wants, what their boss wants, and what the company wants all lined up perfectly.

But since a company is a gathering of human beings, it is also a fact that all sorts of gaps in understanding arise.

Contact person: I want a cool site that showcases the product. Manager: I want to maximize sales from the web. President: I want to raise the company's brand power through the new product.

More often than not, people at different layers are thinking about completely different things.

Frankly, unifying these is impossible, and there is no need to.

But by recognizing that this is the case and communicating accordingly, you can surface functions and presentation approaches the contact person hadn't even been aware the site needed.

Bonus tip: If anything, question yourself too!

Finally, always question yourself as well — not only during the interview but throughout the project.

Clients are often gripped by the trap of the manufacturer's viewpoint:

"If we make something good, it will sell."

"This product is so good it needs no explanation."

"If we just put this information here, everyone will read it."

These assumptions are born of love for one's own products, so they are by no means wrong. But we, the makers, must always build from the user's point of view.

So take the client's love-driven assumptions, think them through carefully from the user's perspective, and guide how they get built.

As your relationship with the client deepens, keep questioning yourself so that you don't fall into the manufacturer's-viewpoint trap together with them.

That's it for the tips on running an interview!