Interviews are a key gathering technique in elicitation and reveal clear stakeholder insights

Numbers, dashboards, and user stories – they all need a voice. In the world of IREB Foundation Level topics, one quiet hero often makes the biggest difference: elicitation. It’s the process of drawing out the real needs, expectations, and constraints from the people who know the system best. And there’s a simple truth that sometimes gets glossed over: when you want to gather information effectively, an interview is a gathering technique. Let me unpack why that’s true, what it means for your day-to-day work, and how to use it well without getting stuck in a ruck of jargon or false choices.

What elicitation really means for teams

Think of elicitation as the listening phase of a project. You’re not solving problems yet; you’re making sure you’ve heard the problems correctly. If you rush this part, you’re building on assumptions. If you slow down and listen, you set up your next steps for clarity, not chaos. That’s the core idea behind gathering techniques: they’re the methods you use to collect fresh, concrete information from stakeholders, users, and experts.

Gathering techniques vs. other approaches

In the realm of requirements work, there are several families of techniques. Some are about asking people questions directly; others are about observing, or about using analogies to spark ideas. Here’s the practical breakdown you’ll see in IREB materials and in real-world practice:

• Gathering techniques (the heartbeat of discovery)

• Interviews: direct conversations that dig into needs, goals, pain points, and constraints.

• Questionnaires or surveys: leaner, broader data collection that’s easy to scale.

• Workshops or focus groups: structured discussions with multiple stakeholders to surface shared understanding.

• Other techniques (useful, but different in aim)

• Analogy technique: a way to frame ideas by comparing them to familiar things; great for brainstorming, not so much for direct data collection.

• System archeology: inspecting an existing system to understand its components and behaviors; more about observation and history.

• Apprenticing or shadowing: learning by watching someone do the job; you’re absorbing practices rather than cataloging needs from conversations alone.

• Observation: watching workflows in real time to see how things actually work rather than how people say they work.

Let’s be crystal clear about the statement you gave me. An interview is a gathering technique. Yes. It’s not just a passing phrase. It’s the classic gathering method because you bring people together (even if it’s just one-on-one) to gather qualitative data about what’s needed, what’s possible, and what’s unclear. The other options—analogy, system archeology, apprenticing—shine in their own right, but they aren’t primarily about gathering information through direct dialogue in the same way an interview is.

Why interviews land so well in practice

Interviews are powerful for a few concrete reasons:

• They offer nuance. A conversation lets the speaker reveal subtleties in priorities, fear, and urgency that a checklist alone would miss.

• They’re adaptable. You can steer the talk toward unanticipated topics that matter to the project, not just to a predefined form.

• They build trust. When stakeholders feel heard, they’re more likely to share candid insights, including constraints or trade-offs they hadn’t promised to disclose.

• They handle ambiguity gracefully. If a requirement seems vague, you can ask follow-up questions, reframe terms, or probe examples until the meaning becomes clear.

With interviews, you’re not just collecting facts; you’re interpreting needs in real time. That’s the edge that helps teams avoid major rework later.

When to use interviews (and when to hold off)

Interviews shine in several scenarios:

• You’re at the early discovery stage and need a broad sense of goals from key stakeholders.

• The domain is complex or sensitive, and you want to capture nuanced perspectives without the pressure of a group setting.

• You’re dealing with specialists or SMEs who have tacit knowledge that isn’t well documented.

On the flip side, there are times when other techniques might be more efficient or appropriate. For example, if you need input from hundreds of users, a well-crafted questionnaire can save time. If you want a shared understanding across many voices, a facilitated workshop can align everyone quickly. And if you’re tracing how a current system actually behaves, some light shadowing or system observation might be more revealing than a string of interviews.

Practical tips for running great interviews

If you’re aiming for insightful, reliable results, here are some practical moves that make interviews sing:

• Prepare a lightweight guide, not a rigid script. Start with open-ended questions like, “What are the biggest challenges you face with X?” Then follow with clarifying questions based on their answers.

• Choose a comfortable setting. A quiet meeting room or a calm video call helps people speak freely. If it’s a remote chat, ensure you’re not juggling other tasks.

• Balance structure and spontaneity. Have a few anchor questions but let the conversation wander to discover unspoken needs.

• Record and capture real examples. Request permission to take notes and, where possible, ask for concrete scenarios or user stories.

• Listen actively. Nod, paraphrase what you heard, and confirm you understood the key points. It sounds simple, but it’s incredibly effective.

• Be mindful of bias. Frame questions neutrally, avoid leading phrases, and be aware of your own preconceptions shaping the answers.

• Respect schedules and confidentiality. Some topics are sensitive; make it clear what will be shared and with whom.

• Follow up with a light synthesis. After the interview, summarize the main themes and share them with the stakeholder to confirm accuracy.

A tiny example to bring it to life

Imagine you’re working on a new scheduling tool for a small clinic. You sit down with a receptionist who manages patient appointments all day. Through a few thoughtful questions—“What tasks take the most time?”, “Where do things tend to stall?”, “What would a perfect day look like for you?”—you start painting a picture of needs: faster appointment entry, clearer overlap checks, and a simple way to handle walk-ins. The conversation might surface a nuance you wouldn’t spot from a written spec alone: the receptionist often deals with last-minute slot changes and needs a quick way to flag urgent cases. That insight becomes a design thread you can carry into requirements with confidence. An interview, plain and simple, helped you connect dots that charts alone would miss.

Common pitfalls and how to sidestep them

Even with the best intentions, interviews can go astray. A few missteps to watch for:

• Leading questions or strong opinions from the interviewer that steer answers. Tip: ask neutral, exploratory questions, then let the stakeholder disclose freely.

• Skipping stakeholders who hold critical pieces of the puzzle. Tip: map who has domain knowledge and schedule interviews with a representation from each area.

• Making assumptions about what “the user wants” without validation. Tip: push for examples, not only statements of need.

• Treating the interview as a data dump. Tip: pause to synthesize what you’ve heard and check it back with the interviewee.

How interviews fit into the bigger picture of requirements work

Let’s connect the dots. Elicitation is the first stepping stone. The data you gather through interviews then feeds into analysis, modeling, and validation. You’ll translate what you’ve heard into requirements that stakeholders can review, confirm, and refine. The key value of interviews is that they ground your later steps in real, living context. If you skip them or replace them with something far less interactive, you’ll risk a product that fits a theory but misses real-world usage.

A quick tour of related techniques (with a nod to why they matter)

To keep things practical, here’s how other techniques compare, in plain terms:

• Questionnaires: great for breadth, less depth. They’re fast, scalable, but the nuance often lives in the space between answers.

• Workshops: collaborative and energizing. You get alignment quickly but can be dominated by louder voices unless you curate the flow.

• System archeology (observing the current setup): reveals how things actually work, not how people say they should work. It’s excellent for uncovering gaps between design and reality.

• Apprenticing/shadowing: hands-on learning from practitioners. You gain context, but you’ll need to organize time with the experts.

When to mix and match, and how to keep it simple

Most projects benefit from a light blend: an interview to surface core needs, a short observation session to verify how things run in practice, and perhaps a workshop to align perspectives across teams. The trick is to keep the process as lean as possible while still capturing essential truths. If you overdo it, you’ll drown in data; if you underdo it, you’ll miss critical insights. Start with a practical plan, stay flexible, and adjust as you learn.

A few thoughtful digressions you might enjoy

Talking about interviews oddly mirrors conversations you’d have with a good neighbor. You listen, you reflect, you ask for a story rather than a yes-or-no answer. And just like a neighbor who remembers the little details about your routine, stakeholders appreciate being seen. When you approach elicitation with that mindset, you’ll notice people become more forthcoming, more precise, and more cooperative.

Another angle: the language of requirements matters. Clear phrases, concrete examples, and well-phrased scenarios help keep everyone on the same page. It’s not about fancy vocabulary; it’s about making the line from problem to solution as visible as possible.

Final reflections

Here’s the bottom line: in the tapestry of elicitation techniques, the interview stands out as a quintessential gathering technique. It’s where you actively invite stakeholders into the conversation, where you can probe, clarify, and understand the real drivers behind requests. While tools like analogies or observational methods have their roles, the interview gives you that direct line to meaning. If you’re shaping a solid, user-centered set of requirements, you’ll likely start with interviews and then layer in other methods as needed to fill in the gaps.

If you’re curious to dive deeper, consider mapping out a few interview templates for different stakeholder groups you work with. A small, thoughtful guide can turn a good interview into a great one. And that, in turn, helps you build a clearer, more usable product from the ground up.

Want to explore more ideas about elicitation, stakeholder engagement, and turning conversations into solid requirements? You’re in good company. The world of IREB fundamentals is full of practical wisdom, and a well-chosen technique can make all the difference.