How to Transcribe Interviews for UX Research

User interviews are not just conversations—-they're goldmines of insights waiting to be unearthed. But transforming these spoken words into actionable data? That's where the real challenge begins. 

Interview transcription for UX research is a crucial process that bridges the gap between raw conversations and refined insights. 

In this comprehensive guide, we'll dive deep into the world of transcribing user interviews, covering everything from finding the right participants to selecting the most effective tools for the job.

How do you interview for UX research?

Conducting effective UX research interviews is an art that combines preparation, skill, and adaptability. Let's break down the key steps:

1. Define your research goals
Before you even think about questions, clarify what you're trying to learn. Are you exploring user pain points? Evaluating a new feature? Understanding user behavior? Your goals will shape every aspect of your interview.

2. Create an interview guide
This isn't just a list of questions; it's your roadmap for the conversation. Start with broader, open-ended questions to get users talking, then drill down into specifics. Include prompts for follow-up questions to explore interesting tangents.

3. Recruit participants
Finding the right interviewees is crucial. Aim for a diverse group that represents your target audience. Use screening questions to ensure participants meet your criteria and can provide valuable insights.

4. Conduct the interview
This is where your skills shine. Start by building rapport – make the participant comfortable. Listen actively, showing genuine interest in their responses. Be prepared to go off-script if the conversation takes an interesting turn. Remember, the goal is to uncover needs, behaviors, and pain points, not just get answers to your questions.

5. Analyze and synthesize the data
Post-interview, review your notes and transcripts. Look for patterns, surprises, and quotes that illustrate key points. This is where the real insights emerge, informing your design decisions and driving user-centric solutions.

The art of interviewing improves with practice. Each interview is an opportunity to refine your technique and uncover deeper insights.

How do I find interviewees for UX research?

If you are recruiting users of your product for usability tests, read Looppanel’s guide to it here. If you want to expand the field and find non-users, read this.

Finding the right participants for your UX research is like panning for gold – it takes effort, but the payoff is worth it. Here are some effective methods to help you strike research gold:

Use social media and online forums

Platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, or Reddit can be goldmines for finding participants. Look for groups or threads related to your product or industry. Engage authentically and explain the value of participating in your research.

Leverage your existing user base
If you have a product already in use, your current users are a valuable resource. They're already familiar with your product and likely have insights to share. Use in-app notifications or email campaigns to invite them to participate.

Partner with recruitment agencies

Specialized user research recruitment agencies can save you time and effort. They have databases of potential participants and can handle screening and scheduling. While this option can be more expensive, it's often worth it for complex or large-scale studies.

Tap into your professional network

Don't underestimate the power of your own connections. Reach out to colleagues, attend industry events, or post in professional groups. Often, people are willing to participate or can connect you with potential interviewees.

Use user research platforms

Platforms like UserTesting or Respondent.io connect researchers with participants. These tools often allow you to specify detailed criteria for your ideal participants, ensuring you get relevant insights.

When recruiting, aim for a diverse group that truly represents your target audience. This diversity ensures that your user interview transcript can capture a wide range of perspectives, leading to more comprehensive and reliable insights. Remember, the quality of your participants directly impacts the quality of your research, so invest time in finding the right people.

How to write a user interview script + Examples

A well-designed script ensures you cover all necessary topics while allowing flexibility for unexpected insights. Here's a detailed break-down of the four essential elements for writing your user interview script:

Introduction and warm-up questions

Start with a friendly introduction to put the participant at ease. Explain the purpose of the interview and how the information will be used. Begin with simple, non-threatening questions to build rapport. Here are a few examples to demonstrate.

Introduction: 

"Thank you for participating in our research today. I'm [Your Name], and I'll be conducting this interview about your experience with our app X. We're interested in understanding how you use the app and any challenges you might face. There are no right or wrong answers – we're here to learn from your experiences. Do you have any questions before we begin?"

Warm-up:

"Can you tell me a bit about yourself and how you typically use mobile apps in your daily life?"

Main questions aligned with research goals

These form the core of your interview. Craft open-ended questions that encourage detailed responses. Avoid leading questions that might bias the participant's answers. Here are some examples:
"Walk me through how you usually use our app. What's the first thing you do when you open it?"

"Can you describe a recent time when you found the app particularly helpful?"

"Have you ever encountered any difficulties while using the app? If so, can you describe what happened?"

Follow-up questions for deeper insights

Prepare probing questions to explore interesting points that arise during the interview. These help you dive deeper into the user's thoughts and experiences.

"You mentioned struggling with the checkout process. Can you take me through that step-by-step? What exactly was confusing or frustrating?"

"How did that experience make you feel about using the app?"

Closing questions and thank you

End with a few wrap-up questions and an opportunity for the participant to add any additional thoughts. Always thank them for their time and insights.

"Is there anything else you'd like to share about your experience with our app that we haven't covered?"

"If you could change one thing about the app, what would it be and why?"

"Thank you so much for your time and insights. They're incredibly valuable for improving our app."

While having a script is important, it's equally crucial to remain flexible during the interview. Be prepared to deviate from the script if the participant brings up unexpected but valuable information. The goal is to gather rich, qualitative data that truly reflects the user's experience and needs.

What is the transcript of the interview?

Think of a transcript as a time capsule of your interview. It preserves not just the words spoken, but the context, tone, and nuances of the conversation. This level of detail is crucial, as a user interview transcript allows you to revisit the interview multiple times, each time potentially uncovering new insights you might have missed during the live conversation.

User interview transcripts serve multiple purposes:

• Thorough analysis: With a transcript, you can methodically go through the conversation, identifying patterns, themes, and key quotes that support your findings.
• Team collaboration: Transcripts allow team members who weren't present during the interview to gain insights directly from the source.
• Accountability: They provide a reliable reference point, ensuring that your research findings are grounded in actual user feedback rather than memory or interpretation.
• Legal and ethical compliance: In some cases, transcripts serve as documentation for legal or ethical requirements in research.

What is a user transcript?

In the context of UX research, a user transcript is a specialized form of interview transcript. It's a detailed, written account of a conversation between a researcher and a user, capturing the entirety of the user interview.

A user transcript includes:

1. The interviewer's questions and prompts

2. The participant's responses, verbatim

3. Notations for non-verbal communication (like pauses, laughter, or gestures)

4. Time stamps to mark different sections of the conversation

User transcripts serve as the raw material for analysis in UX research. They allow researchers to:

• Identify recurring themes and patterns across multiple users
• Extract powerful quotes that illustrate key insights
• Analyze the frequency and context of specific terms or concepts
• Revisit the interview multiple times, potentially uncovering new insights with each review

What is the best format for interview transcripts?

The best format for a user interview transcript balances readability with comprehensiveness. While the exact format can vary based on your specific needs, here are some key elements to include for a clear, usable transcript:

• Speaker labels: Clearly distinguish between the interviewer and participant. Use consistent labels throughout (e.g., "Interviewer:" and "Participant:").
• Timestamps: Include timestamps at regular intervals or at the start of new topics. This helps in navigating long transcripts and referencing specific parts of the conversation.
• Clear paragraph breaks: Start a new paragraph each time the speaker changes or when there's a significant shift in topic.
• Non-verbal cues: Include relevant non-verbal information in brackets, such as [laughs], [pause], or [shows frustration].
• Verbatim speech: Capture the exact words used, including filler words and incomplete sentences. This preserves the authenticity of the conversation.
• Formatting for readability: Use a clean, easy-to-read font and include adequate white space.

For example, here's what a transcript excerpt looks like, generated automatically by the AI transcription tool Looppanel.

How to transcribe an interview for UX research

Transcribing user interviews is a critical step in the UX research process, transforming spoken conversations into analyzable data. Here's a detailed guide on how to do it effectively:

1. Choose your transcription type

There are three main types of transcriptions, each serving different purposes:

1. Verbatim: This type captures everything, including filler words (um, uh, like), false starts, and non-verbal sounds (laughter, sighs). It's the most detailed form of transcription, preserving the exact way things were said. This is useful when you need to analyze speech patterns or want to capture the full emotional context of the interview.
2. Intelligent Verbatim: This type omits filler words and false starts but keeps the essence of the conversation intact. It's cleaner than full verbatim but still preserves the speaker's original words and intent. This is often the best choice for UX research as it balances accuracy with readability.
3. Edited: This type cleans up the text significantly for improved readability. It removes repetitions, corrects grammar, and may even restructure sentences for clarity. While this makes for easy reading, it can lose some of the nuances of the original conversation.

For UX research, intelligent verbatim is often the best choice. It maintains the authenticity of the user's voice while being easier to read and analyze than full verbatim. However, the choice ultimately depends on your specific research goals and analysis methods.

2. Type as you listen to your audio recording

If you're transcribing manually, here's a step-by-step process to make it more efficient:

• Use a media player that allows speed control: Start with a slower speed (around 50-70% of normal) and gradually increase as you get more comfortable.
• Type in short bursts. Listen to a few seconds of audio, pause, type what you heard, then continue. This method, known as the "listen-pause-type" technique, helps maintain accuracy.
• Use keyboard shortcuts. Learn and use shortcuts for play/pause, rewind, and timestamp insertion. This can significantly speed up your workflow.
• Take regular breaks. Transcription is mentally taxing. Take a 5-10 minute break every 30 minutes to maintain focus and accuracy.

OR just use transcription tools like Looppanel!

Consider using software like Looppanel or Otter.ai, it’ll make your work 10x easier! Plus, you also reduce the risk of errors—Looppanel’s AI can transcribe with over 95% accuracy, for instance.

Benefits of Transcribing User Interviews

Transcribing user interviews and research sessions offers numerous advantages for UX researchers. 

For Stakeholder Interviews

Transcribing stakeholder interviews is crucial for maintaining clarity and alignment throughout your UX research project. 

Firstly, it sets clear expectations. A transcript provides an exact record of each stakeholder's requirements, preventing misunderstandings later in the project. You can also easily refer back to these transcripts to ensure you're meeting all stated objectives as the project progresses.

Transcripts also serve as a concrete record of agreed-upon goals and expectations, useful for project reviews and evaluations.

Stakeholders often provide valuable insights beyond just project requirements. Transcripts ensure these nuggets of wisdom aren't lost.

Using your transcribed stakeholder interviews

Once you have your stakeholder interview transcripts, here are a few ways to leverage them effectively:

• Create a project brief: Use key points from the transcripts to develop a comprehensive project brief that aligns with stakeholder expectations.
• Develop research questions: Extract specific concerns or areas of interest from the transcripts to inform your research questions.
• Prioritize features: Use stakeholder input to prioritize which features or aspects of the user experience to focus on in your research.

For Research Sessions

Interview transcription for UX research is a game-changer for data analysis. 

By writing out the conversations, you can ensure that you don't miss any details shared by participants during the session, or the recurring themes or issues across multiple sessions.

Transcripts also provide exact quotes, which are powerful for illustrating user sentiments in reports. Team members who weren't present during the session can easily review and analyze the data.

Digital transcripts like Looppanel’s allow you to quickly search for specific terms or topics across multiple sessions.

Using your research session transcriptions

Here are some effective ways to utilize your research session transcripts:

• Thematic analysis: Highlight and code different themes or topics in the transcripts to identify patterns.
• Feature prioritization: Analyze the frequency and context of feature mentions in the transcripts to guide product development priorities.
• Report creation: Use direct quotes from the transcripts to support your findings and recommendations in research reports.
• Knowledge base: Build a searchable database of user insights from your transcripts for future reference and ongoing learning.

User Research Note-taking Guide

Effective note-taking is a crucial skill in UX research, particularly when it comes to supporting transcription efforts. Let's dive into the essentials of good note-taking practices.

Why good note taking is important

• Captures real-time insights: Good notes complement transcriptions by highlighting key moments and observations that might not be apparent in audio alone.
• Provides context: Notes can capture non-verbal cues, environmental factors, and other contextual information that enriches the transcript.
• Aids in transcription accuracy: Detailed notes can help clarify unclear audio or ambiguous statements during the transcription process.
• Facilitates efficient analysis: Well-structured notes can guide you to the most relevant parts of a transcript, saving time during analysis.
• Supports memory: Notes taken during the session can help you recall important details that might not be evident in the transcript alone.

How to prepare for good note taking

1. Create a template. Develop a standardized note-taking template that aligns with your research objectives and interview structure.
2. Familiarize yourself with the research goals. Understanding the key objectives will help you focus your note-taking on the most relevant information.
3. Practice active listening. Train yourself to listen critically while taking notes, focusing on capturing the essence rather than transcribing verbatim.
4. Set up your environment. Ensure you have all necessary tools (laptop, notepad, pens) and minimize distractions in your note-taking space.
5. Review previous notes. Before a new session, review notes from similar past sessions to refresh your memory on key areas to focus on.

Do's and Don'ts for good note taking

Do's:

• Use shorthand or abbreviations for common terms to increase note-taking speed
• Focus on capturing key ideas and insights rather than every word
• Note down timestamps for particularly important or quotable moments
• Include contextual information like participant's body language or tone
• Organize your notes with clear headings and subheadings

Don'ts:

• Don't try to capture everything word-for-word; focus on the essence
• Avoid making judgments or interpretations in your raw notes
• Don't let note-taking distract you from actively listening to the participant (using a note-taker tool helps with this!)
• Don't forget to review and clean up your notes immediately after the session

How to improve your note-taking skills during UX research sessions

• Practice active listening. Focus on understanding the core message rather than capturing every word.
• Develop a personal shorthand. Create abbreviations for common terms in your field to speed up note-taking.
• Use a structured format. Organize your notes with clear headings, subheadings, and bullet points for easy reference.
• Leverage technology. Experiment with digital note-taking tools that allow for quick organization and searching.
• Review and reflect. After each session, review your notes and reflect on what worked well and what could be improved.
• Collaborate and compare. Share notes with colleagues and compare techniques to learn from each other.

Popular Note-taking Methods & Frameworks

Effective note-taking is a crucial skill in UX research, allowing you to capture valuable insights during user interviews. If you are transcribing user interviews manually, it’s important to have good notes on the side to provide context. Here are some popular methods, each with its own strengths:

Cornell Method 

This structured approach divides your page into sections for questions, notes, and summary. During the interview, jot down key points in the main notes section. Use the questions column for follow-up ideas or areas needing clarification. After the interview, summarize the main points at the bottom. This method is great for organizing information and identifying key takeaways.

Mind Mapping

This visual technique starts with a central theme (like "User Experience") in the middle of the page. As the interview progresses, branch out with subtopics and details. Mind mapping is excellent for showing relationships between different aspects of the user's experience and can help in identifying patterns.

Bullet Journaling

This flexible system uses symbols to quickly categorize information. For example, a dot (•) for facts, a circle (○) for tasks, and a dash (-) for observations. This method allows for rapid note-taking during fast-paced interviews and makes it easy to review and categorize information later.

AEIOU Framework

This ethnographic approach categorizes observations into Activities, Environments, Interactions, Objects, and Users. It's particularly useful for contextual inquiries or when observing users in their natural environment. The framework ensures you capture a holistic view of the user's experience.

Affinity Diagramming

While typically used after interviews, this method can be adapted for note-taking. Write each observation or insight on a separate sticky note. After the interview, group related notes together to identify themes and patterns.

The 5 W's (and How)

Structure your notes around Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. This ensures you capture comprehensive information about each aspect of the user's experience.

Choose a method that aligns with your cognitive style and the type of research you're conducting. The best note-taking technique is one that allows you to capture information quickly and accurately without disrupting the flow of the interview. Remember, the goal is to document key insights that will inform your design decisions and improve the user experience.

3 UX Research Note-taking Templates

Here are 3 templates that can streamline your note-taking process:

1. Looppanel’s Note-taking Figma Template

This template is excellent for collaboratively taking notes with your team.

You can use different coloured stickies for different participants, so you can identify the user as you cluster and find insights. Try it out here.

2. Notion Template for Shadowing Notes

This is a great note-taking template if you’re shadowing another user researcher, or assisting them in a user interview. You can use it to organize your note-taking and prompt ideas during the session. Find it here.

3. Miro User Interview Notes Template

If you’re a fan of Miro boards, here’s another simple template to user as a starting point for user interviews notes, questions and marking responses. View the template here.

4. Use Looppanel’s AI note-taker

Alternatively, you can also use Looppanel’s AI note-taker to take notes on your calls automatically! 

Looppanel's notes are highly accurate, and taken with your context in mind—what question was asked, how did your user answer, etc. You can always edit or tag any note to add in additional perspective.

Try out Looppanel here.

Top UX Research Transcription Tools

In this section, we'll explore some popular transcription tools used in UX research, comparing their features, pricing, and performance.

1. Looppanel 

‍

Price: Starts at $30/month for the Solo  plan, with a 15-day free trial

Looppanel is an AI-powered research repository tool that can do extremely accurate interview transcription for UX research, among other cool features. It’s unique compared to other transcription services on this list, as it also lets you record your calls directly, and receive high-quality transcripts almost instantly. 

Features:

Here’s some more of Looppanel’s cool features:

• Collaboratively take notes with colleagues during your user interviews 
• Save key time-stamps of important quotes as they come up
• Sentiment analysis of transcripts with highlights for questions, positive and negative responses
• Generate AI-powered notes from your transcript for you, with a dedicated analysis space where you can see all your data by question or tags
• Do Google-like search within your research repository to find any quote or data point you need, in minutes.

Example of transcription: 

Languages Supported: 8 languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, and Hindi

Time taken: 3-5 minutes

Accuracy: Over 90% accuracy for clear audio in supported languages

2. Dovetail

Price: Starts at $29/month per user for the Professional plan, with a limited free plan available.

Dovetail is also a UX research repository tool, which offers video transcription services for user interview call recordings. 

Features:

Dovetail’s features include:

• Automatic transcription of video recordings
• Sentiment analysis of transcripts with highlights for positive and negative responses
• Built-in analysis tools for coding and tagging of transcripts

Languages Supported: Over 30 languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Mandarin

Time taken: Typically within minutes for a 1-hour audio file

Accuracy: Over 85% accuracy for clear audio in well-supported languages

3. Reduct

Price: Starts at $24/per editor monthly for the Standard plan

​​Reduct is a collaborative transcript-based video and audio platform for professionals across industries, including qualitative researchers, legal professionals, marketers and content creators.

Features:
Reduct’s features include:

• AI-powered transcription with speaker identification
• Human-powered transcription for complex audio with more noises and accents
• Editable transcripts exportable in all formats

Languages Supported: 90+ languages including English, French, Arabic, Dutch, Russian and Mandarin

Time taken: Often within minutes for AI-generated transcripts, much longer for human-powered transcription

Accuracy: Claims up to 94.78% accuracy for clear audio

4. Descript

Price: Starts at $12/month for the Creator plan, with a free plan available for limited use.

Descript is an AI-powered, end-to-end audio and video editor that also offers automatic transcription services for researchers.

Features:

• Automatic transcription within minutes
• Speaker labels can be added in seconds with their AI-powered Speaker Detective
• Overdub voice synthesis for corrections

Languages Supported: Over 22 languages including English (US and UK), Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese

Time taken: Within minutes

‍Accuracy: 90%+ accuracy for clear audio in supported languages

3 Quick Tips for Accurate Qualitative Data from Automatic Interview Transcription for UX Research

1. Optimize audio quality for transcription: Clear audio is crucial for accurate interview transcription for UX research. Invest in high-quality microphones and conduct interviews in quiet environments. This ensures that the user interview transcript captures every nuance of the conversation, enhancing the quality of your UX research data.
2. Review and refine automated transcripts: Always meticulously review automatically generated user interview transcripts. Pay special attention to industry-specific terms, user experience jargon, or participant names that might be misinterpreted. This step is crucial in maintaining the integrity of your interview transcription for UX research.
3. Integrate automatic transcription with user research note taking: Combine the efficiency of automatic transcription with the context-rich practice of user research note taking. Use your manual notes to cross-reference and enhance the automated user interview transcript, filling in any gaps or clarifying ambiguities. This hybrid approach ensures a comprehensive and accurate record of your UX research interviews.

How to Analyze the User Interview Transcript

Once you've completed the interview transcription for UX research, it's time to extract valuable insights. Follow this step-by-step process:

1. Comprehensive transcript review: Begin by reading the entire user interview transcript to grasp the overall flow of the conversation and identify major themes in the user's experience.
2. Systematic coding: Apply labels or codes to different sections of the user interview transcript based on themes, user behaviors, or other relevant categories identified in your user research note taking.
3. Pattern recognition: Analyze the coded transcript to identify recurring themes or ideas, both within individual user interview transcripts and across multiple interviews.
4. Quote extraction: Highlight powerful or representative quotes from the user interview transcript that vividly illustrate key points about the user experience.
5. Insight synthesis: Create a summary that synthesizes the main findings and insights gleaned from your analysis of the interview transcription for UX research.
6. Alignment with research objectives: Connect your findings from the user interview transcript back to your original UX research questions and project goals.
7. Collaborative review: Present your analysis to team members or stakeholders, encouraging discussion and additional perspectives on the insights derived from the interview transcription for UX research.

Read Looppanel’s detailed guide on analysing user interviews here.

By meticulously following these steps and leveraging both automatic transcription and manual user research note taking, you can effectively analyze your UX research interviews.