Interviews. For some, just hearing the word can evoke a sense of dread and concern. The preparation, rehearsing of questions and answers, and the unknowing when you are walking into the interview room. But when it comes to your website redesign, interviews are a different kind of conversation. Instead of a stress-induced job interview, an interview (particularly a stakeholder interview), is a chance for an open conversation to find out valuable insights and information from your stakeholders about your website. In this article, we’ll cover what stakeholder interviews are, why they matter, the questions you should ask, and what you can learn from them.  

What is a stakeholder interview?  

You might be wondering, what exactly is a stakeholder and what is a stakeholder interview? First, let’s start out with some basic definitions to help us define what a stakeholder is and what is involved in an interview. A website stakeholder is an individual or group who influences, sponsors, contributes to, or is impacted by the website and its success. In turn, a stakeholder interview is essentially conversations with that individual (or group) to talk about your website. Sometimes, these individuals can be within your organization, or they can be outside of your organization. These interviews can help you understand how these individuals (or groups) use your site, what is working well, what isn’t, and which content resonates. When looking to identify stakeholders you should look for individuals who know: your organization, your website target audience(s), or who are important leaders within your organization who may have strong opinions late in the process that could stop the project from moving forward.  

How to identify stakeholders

At times, it may be challenging to identify stakeholders. If you need a place to start, here are some recommendations. When looking to identify people or groups you can start by looking at:

• Your organizational chart – Start by understanding who owns the site formally or informally. Which individuals lead the people that own the website?
• Your content owners – Look at who owns the content on the site by studying the site itself. Some individuals might own certain sections of the site while others own another section. Identify individuals that know when content needs updated or changed on the site.  
• Your audience and their advocates – Look at who uses your site to accomplish a particular goal or work, or who are champions for your audience.  

Why do they matter?  

Stakeholder interviews can be a valuable tool because they can give you direct access to the people who understand either your department and/or unit or the audiences you're trying to reach and whose opinions can be valuable as you work through your website. Your stakeholders may manage or own content on your website or they can represent the audiences your site serves. Their perspective can be helpful in revealing challenges or opportunities you might not have considered. These individuals often subject matter experts and involving them early can help to guide the project and foster buy-in.  

How to conduct them  

Conducting stakeholder interviews doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be a simple as scheduling a conversation to listen and take notes, or as structured as using surveys or formal questionnaires. The key is to create an open environment where stakeholders feel comfortable sharing honest feedback. Some ideas on formats to conduct them could include: a Zoom or Teams video meeting,  
discussion over coffee, a Qualtrics survey, or an email with questions. Additionally, you could combine multiple methods like a conversation with some stakeholders and a survey with others. When scheduling these conversations, we recommend scheduling with no more 2-3 people in a group setting to ensure all voices have a chance to participate and time blocking for a conversation no longer than 45 minutes maximum.  

Questions to ask participants 

You may or may not have a standard set of questions that you are asking all participants and that is okay. If you are not asking all participants the same set of questions for your interviews, we recommend having a list of topics that you would like to cover so that you give each interviewee similar opportunities to provide input across all discussions. Some questions to get your conversation started could include:  

• What do you like about our current website?  
• What frustrates you or doesn’t work well?  
• Is there anything missing that you’d like to see?  
• How do you see our website working with other sites across campus?  
• How do you or your team use the site?  
• Who do you think is the primary audience? And what do they need to accomplish on your site?  
• Are there any content or features that are particularly important for your area?  

Additional tips to consider

As you work to set up your interviews we recommend prepping the individual ahead of your meeting. This would include framing the conversation in the calendar invite so the person has the URL handy, understands the goals of the project, and anything else to help keep scope relevant. We recommend you also send the list of questions ahead of time so that the interviewee has time to understand and reflect on what you’ll be asking.  

When asking questions, it is important to keep the conversation open and let the participant know that they are free to share anything that comes to mind. You should tell the person you're interviewing that while you may know some of the answers to the questions, they should still answer them like as if you don't. Using phrases like “tell me more" or "help me understand,” can give you insight into your interviewees thought process and how they are thinking about the website. When you conclude your interview, let the interviewee know what next steps are. Often, stakeholders can get fixated on questions like “when will this site go live?” or “when can I edit the content?” Having a timeline and answers to those questions can help set expectations on the timeline of the project.  

What you can learn   

Stakeholder interviews can uncover a wealth of information. You might discover that certain parts of your current website are working very well, or you could learn about content and audience needs you hadn’t considered before. These insights help ensure your redesign not only looks great but truly serves its users. By investing time in stakeholder interviews, you help your University of Iowa website better speak to its audience and become a more effective, user-friendly resource for everyone.