Expert interview template

What are expert interviews?

Expert interviews are structured conversations with subject matter experts who possess deep knowledge in specific domains, industries, or technical areas. Unlike user interviews that focus on behavior and needs, expert interviews gather specialized insights, validate technical approaches, and explore complex industry dynamics that require years of experience to understand.

These interviews help product teams navigate unfamiliar domains, validate technical feasibility, understand regulatory landscapes, and make informed decisions when entering new markets or building specialized products. Expert perspectives provide context and credibility that accelerates learning and reduces costly mistakes.

What is this expert interview template?

This template provides comprehensive frameworks for planning, conducting, and documenting expert interviews that deliver actionable insights for product and business decisions. It includes expert identification strategies, specialized question frameworks, and analysis tools designed specifically for extracting and applying expert knowledge.

The template addresses expert interviews across different contexts including technical validation, market intelligence, regulatory guidance, and strategic advising, with particular emphasis on efficiently extracting insights from busy experts with limited availability.

Why use this template?

Many teams conduct expert interviews without adequate preparation, leading to superficial insights, wasted expert time, and missed opportunities to gather critical knowledge. Without structured approaches, teams often ask the wrong questions, fail to probe deeply enough, or struggle to apply expert insights to actual product decisions.

This template addresses common expert interview challenges:

• Unfocused conversations that waste valuable expert time without extracting actionable insights
• Surface-level questions that fail to leverage the expert's specialized knowledge and experience
• Poor preparation that prevents teams from asking informed follow-up questions
• Insight application gaps where expert knowledge doesn't translate into product decisions

This template provides:

1. Expert identification frameworks: Find and prioritize the right experts based on knowledge gaps, decision needs, and accessibility considerations.
2. Specialized question frameworks: Craft questions that extract deep insights, challenge assumptions, and explore nuanced perspectives only experts can provide.
3. Interview preparation guides: Research experts thoroughly and prepare contextual questions that demonstrate respect for their time and expertise.
4. Insight extraction techniques: Use probing strategies and follow-up approaches that uncover the reasoning behind expert opinions, not just surface-level recommendations.
5. Application planning tools: Convert expert insights into specific product decisions, strategic recommendations, and validation checkpoints that guide development.

How to use this template

Step 1: Define expert interview objectives
Establish specific knowledge gaps you need to fill, decisions requiring expert validation, or complex domains you need to understand. Identify what success looks like for these conversations.

Step 2: Identify and prioritize expert candidates
Research potential experts based on relevant experience, accessibility, and knowledge alignment with your needs. Create a prioritized outreach list considering expert availability and engagement likelihood.

Step 3: Prepare interview framework and questions
Design question flows that efficiently extract insights given limited expert time. Prepare context that demonstrates you've done preliminary research and respect their expertise.

Step 4: Conduct expert interviews with strategic probing
Execute interviews that balance structured frameworks with flexibility to explore unexpected insights. Use probing techniques that uncover the reasoning behind expert perspectives.

Step 5: Synthesize insights across expert perspectives
Analyze patterns and divergences across multiple expert interviews. Identify consensus views, conflicting opinions, and implications for your product or business decisions.

Step 6: Apply expert insights to product decisions
Translate expert knowledge into specific actions, validation criteria, or strategic adjustments. Document how expert perspectives influenced key decisions for stakeholder communication.

Key expert interview types included

1) Technical validation interviews
Frameworks for interviewing technical experts to validate product feasibility, assess implementation approaches, and understand technical constraints or opportunities in specialized domains requiring deep engineering or scientific knowledge.

2) Market intelligence interviews
Structured approaches for gathering competitive insights, market trends, and industry dynamics from veterans who understand market evolution, customer behavior patterns, and competitive positioning in specific sectors.

3) Regulatory & compliance expert interviews
Specialized frameworks for understanding regulatory requirements, compliance implications, and risk factors in regulated industries where expert legal or policy knowledge prevents costly mistakes.

4) Domain expert interviews
Comprehensive approaches for understanding complex user workflows, industry practices, and specialized knowledge in fields like healthcare, finance, or manufacturing where product success requires deep domain understanding.

5) Strategic advisory interviews
Executive-level interview frameworks for gathering strategic perspectives on market opportunities, business model validation, and high-level product direction from experienced business leaders and advisors.

If you're building products without expert validation, start conducting structured expert interviews that accelerate learning and reduce the risk of costly strategic mistakes.

‍