Glossary
Stakeholder interview
What is a stakeholder interview?
A stakeholder interview is a structured conversation with someone who has an interest in a project's outcome. They might be a manager, specialist, or member of customer-facing staff. The purpose is to understand goals, constraints, and relevant knowledge.
What to ask
- What would success look like in six months?
- Which technical or organizational limits matter?
- What planned changes could affect the work?
Example
Before revising an employee portal, a researcher interviews the teams that maintain employee records. Suppose IT explains that a database migration will occur in three months, with some records remaining in the old system during the transition. The portal may therefore need to retrieve information from both systems temporarily.
The researcher can ask which records move when, who confirms each transfer and how users would encounter missing or conflicting information. The team then checks the migration plan with its technical owners. If the requirement is confirmed, it can shape the design and testing: the portal needs to handle the transition period as well as the final system. The interview has connected an organizational fact to a specific design requirement.
Why it matters
Interviews can reveal organizational context early enough to affect a decision. Treat factual claims as information to verify, and keep stakeholder priorities distinct from evidence about users. An interview does not guarantee that every constraint has been found.