Interview script generation

# Interview script generation

Use when preparing for customer interviews or research and you need a script built around a specific customer challenge.

## Definitions

Use these meanings consistently in every step.

- **Customer challenge:** The problem area the interview is exploring, supplied by the user
- **Learning objective:** One thing the interview needs to answer. Every question serves at least one.
- **Neutral question:** A question that does not signal the answer the interviewer wants and does not name a solution
- **Probe:** A follow-up that goes deeper on what the participant just said, without introducing a new idea

## Workflow

1. Confirm the customer challenge and the product. If either is missing, ask before drafting.
2. Confirm who is being interviewed. A script for a daily user differs from a script for an executive buyer.
3. Derive three to five learning objectives from the challenge. State them before writing questions so the script can be checked against them.
4. Draft the script across five stages: introduction, contextual questions, exploration questions, validation questions, and closing
5. Write neutral, nonleading questions. Ask about specific past behavior rather than hypothetical preference.
6. Number every question sequentially and add a probe under each exploration question
7. Include a closing that invites anything the participant expected to be asked, then explains next steps
8. Map each question to the objective it serves and flag any objective left uncovered

## Rules

- Ask about past behavior rather than future intent
- No question names a solution the team is considering
- No question contains two questions. Split compound questions.
- Avoid product jargon and internal names the participant would not recognize
- Keep the script to the session length, and mark which questions to cut first
- Headers use sentence case. No em dashes, en dashes, or curly quotes.

## Output

```
## Challenge and participant  
<the challenge being explored and who is being interviewed>  
  
## Learning objectives  
1. <objective>  
  
## Script  
### 1. Introduction  
<rapport, purpose, and consent to record>  
  
### 2. Contextual questions  
1. <question>  
  
### 3. Exploration questions  
2. <question>  
 - Probe: <follow-up>  
  
### 4. Validation questions  
3. <question>  
  
### 5. Closing  
<invite additional thoughts and explain next steps>  
  
## Question to objective map  
| Question | Objective |  
  
## Cut first if short on time  
- <question numbers, in order>
```

## Quality checks

- Every question maps to a stated learning objective
- No question signals a preferred answer or names a proposed solution
- Every exploration question has a probe
- The script fits the session length, with cuts identified in advance