In our product design org, product designers had always been responsible for doing user research and it’s very much a part of our design process. So when we were looking to hire a lead user researcher, we weren’t looking for someone who would do all the research themselves. We wanted someone who we could do research with and who we could learn from.

Someone once told me that when you’re picking up the phone, people can really tell if you’re smiling or not. So I always put a smiley face here to remind myself to smile and bring my energy to the interview when I’m starting off. It seems like a silly, small thing, but having it there is a good reminder to bring my best self to the interview.

There isn’t always time to ask every one of these questions, but I make sure I ask at least one from each topic.

I’ve anonymized these notes for privacy, but this is where I’d track the candidate’s responses to each question during/immediately after the interview.

This is my favorite question to ask researchers. If they have a really confident answer to this, and they have examples of how they evangelize and track insights over time, it’s a really good signal to me that they’ll be able to bring the user story to the whole company. 

I've always found this to be the most difficult part myself, and so in addition to seeing how they would approach it, it's just a great chance for me to learn how to do that better.

It’s actually a little bit intimidating to ask this question, because at times I’ve been insecure about my own research practices and I never know what a researcher is going to ask me here. But I’ve taken it as an opportunity to share some of our specific pain points, like how do you create a research repository? How do you make sure you’re not constantly reaching out to the same people? Sometimes the people I’m interviewing offer advice and help, whether or not they’re joining the team.

Erin Mongan

Ali Riehle

As a hiring team member in search of an excellent Lead User Researcher at Reforge, I used this format to run the interview, take notes, and keep what she was looking for in candidates top of mind during the interview.

Review previous notes about this candidate

View the candidate’s Linkedin & Resume, make note of past experience and current company

View the candidate’s portfolio/website, make note of specific projects to ask about

You can effectively turn your research into compelling narratives both verbally and in writing

You can take data and turn it into an interesting and compelling narrative

 - You listen deeply, seeking to fundamentally understand our users

 - Can effectively practice active listening

I enjoyed checking out your background and I’m excited to hear more about your work

10-15 min for any questions you have about the Reforge team

Do you have any questions for me before we start?

Ask one question from each topic

Tracking interview question responses

Favorite question to ask researchers

Thank you for sharing your work! I enjoyed hearing about your approach to...

Call out 2-3 specific moments from the interview

What questions do you have for me about Design or Research at Reforge, or anything else?

It was really nice meeting you today and getting a chance to hear more about your work

The team will reach out to you to follow-up with next steps

Thanks again, I hope you have a great rest of your day and a nice weekend.

Fill out the scorecard in Greenhouse within 1-2 hours, if possible

Send a note to the candidate to thank them for the interview (if applicable)

Send a note to the hiring team or manager about how it went (if applicable)

Excellent storyteller - You can effectively turn your research into compelling narratives both verbally and in writing

Human-Centered - You listen deeply, seeking to understand our users fundamentally

User Researcher Interview Guide at Reforge

Before the interview

Things to look for during the interview

Sign up to see more