Information Gathering

• A guided but open-ended conversation exploring a person’s experiences.
• You should be fluid and able to react to new information.
• The interviewee should do the majority (90%) of the talking.
• Be comfortable with brief silence.

Rapport is key

• Be active & respectful listeners
• Smooth transitions
• Professionalism

“Good interviews are like telling good stories” – Steve Fadden’s INFO 213 at UC Berkeley:

1. Introduction
2. Rapport-Building & Setup
3. The “Heart”
4. Retrospection
5. Wrap-up

Introduction

• Greetings & Thanks.
• Informed Consent. Even if employee or referral from a client, everyone will be given the opportunity to choose what shall happen to them and their information.
• 3 Elements (from Belmont Report):
  • Information: Who you are, what will happen during the interview, how will data be stored & used
  • Comprehension: Adapt delivery of info to ensure understanding
  • Voluntariness: free of coercion, “end at anytime”, “refuse to answer any question”, ask for permission and will reiterate during interview

Building the “Heart” of the interview guide

Types of questions:

• Direct: “What types of multi-factor authentication do you use?”
• Sequence: “Walk me through your process to reset a password…”
• Specific Examples: “In the last month, what strange incidents have you experienced with your online accounts?”
• Projection: “What do you think would happen if that information was stolen…”
• Changes Over Time: “What are the differences in online attacks since the election?”
• Exhaustive List: “What are all the devices you use in your office in an average week/day?”
• Tasks and organizational structures: “Can you draw me a diagram of your incident response plan?”

Probing deeper into a “story” or “incident”:

• Time since last experience: “When was the last time you experienced online harassment?”
• Description of experience: “Can you describe that time…”
• Actions taken: “What did you do next… “
• Feelings: “How did you feel when that happened… “
• Outcome: “How did the situation get resolved?”
• Future actions: “If this happened again tomorrow, what would you do…”

Be prepared with common follow-ups:

• “5 Why’s”: “Why do you use security keys…”
• Naïve Outsider Perspective: “I’m not familiar with the US’s freedom of information laws, can you explain how you obtain that information?”
• Quantity: “How many of your employees fall into that category?”
• Peer Comparison: “Do your colleagues also use wireless hotspots?”
• Reflecting Back: “So, what I hear you saying is….. is that right?”
• Native Language: “Why did you refer to Facebook as “Spambook”?”
• Clarification: “…when you mentioned ‘probably from the United States’, what threat did you mean exactly?”
• Point to Their Reaction: “Why did you laugh when you said that?”

Retrospection

• Anything that you missed or want to clarify?
• Ask your subject what they thought you should’ve asked

Wrap-ups

• Any next steps you need to describe?
• Reiterate how you will use this information and provide options for follow-up
• Thank yous

Surveys

Surveys don’t allow you to interact with the respondent and there may not be much opportunity to clarify or improve survey questions after they have been completed by your client.

• Questions should be unambiguous. For example, asking “what is the version number of your device?” can result in operating system numbers, model numbers, serial numbers. Providing detailed examples or instructions can help.
• Shorter surveys are generally better. Remember the time constraints for your partner.
• Each question should be justified. Consider what is potentially useful information and how will the answers affect your analysis.
• Consider the risks of the survey system and each question. Is there a less riskier way to collect this information? Do we really need this information?
• Other considerations include language, jargon, accessibility, and usability of the survey tool.

Pilot the interview guide or survey with an advisor not on your team or with one employee in the organization.