Structured Interview
Description
Provide in-depth interview methodology for extracting clear, actionable requirements from vague user descriptions.
Users
- •
requirements-analyst: For user interviews during the requirements exploration phase - •
team-architect: For initial requirements assessment and direction confirmation
Core Methods
Funnel Questioning Method
From broad to narrow, progressively converge:
- •Open exploration: "What goal do you want to achieve?" — Let users describe freely
- •Boundary confirmation: "What does this team NOT need to handle?" — Define scope by exclusion
- •Concretization follow-up: "What specifically do you mean by X? Can you give an example?" — Eliminate ambiguity
- •Verification playback: "My understanding is Y, is that correct?" — Confirm consensus
Follow-up Triggers
Must follow up when encountering these signals:
- •User uses vague words: "roughly", "probably", "things like that", "etc."
- •User skips process details: States results directly without explaining process
- •User's description has logical gaps: Missing B between A and C
- •User's requirements have implicit conflicts: Demanding both "fast" and "high quality"
Reverse Validation Method
After user provides requirements, validate with opposite questions:
- •"If role X didn't exist, which work would have no one doing it?"
- •"If Y and Z were merged into one role, what problems would arise?"
- •"What's the most likely reason this team would fail?"
Interview Rhythm Control
- •Focus each response on one direction only, don't ask multiple unrelated questions simultaneously
- •Provide an interim summary every 3-4 rounds to confirm direction is correct
- •Control total interview rounds to 8-15, adjusted by complexity
- •When user starts repeating previously stated content, that dimension is fully explored — move to next dimension