--- title: "Markdown user interview template: follow one recent task" slug: markdown-user-interview-template excerpt: "Copy a plain Markdown interview script, ask about a recent task, then choose neutral follow-up questions from the participant's answers." quickAnswer: "Begin with one recent attempt at a task. Ask what happened, where the person paused, and what they did next. The blank script and fictional Doe sample show how to keep follow-ups tied to an answer." keyTakeaways: - "Anchor the opening question in a recent task the participant actually attempted." - "Leave room for an uneventful task instead of assuming that something went badly." - "Use a detail from the answer to choose the next question." - "Ask about an existing workaround before introducing a proposed change." - "Save the reusable script in its own named .md file." publishedDate: 2026-10-23 dateModified: 2026-10-23 author: Bobby Huang cluster: A role: post status: published faq: - q: "What makes a user interview question neutral?" a: "It leaves the participant room to describe what happened without accepting the interviewer's explanation. Ask what happened next before suggesting a cause." - q: "Does every task need a friction question?" a: "The script asks whether anything took extra effort. If nothing did, accept that answer and ask how the person knew the task was finished." - q: "How do I choose a follow-up?" a: "Choose a concrete detail the participant has just mentioned, then ask them to describe that moment. Avoid inserting a difficulty they have not described." related: - what-is-a-md-file - markdown-paragraphs-blank-lines - markdown-file-naming --- A user interview script can fit in one Markdown file: an opening question about a recent task, prompts about what happened, and space to adapt the next question to the answer. This template keeps attention on a task the participant has already attempted, before you introduce an assumption about what they need. Copy the empty script into a text editor and replace the bracketed phrases. Its questions concern actions and circumstances. An answer can describe difficulty, a way around it, or a task that went without trouble. ## What this interview script covers Ask the participant to recall one recent occasion, rather than describe what people might do. A particular attempt gives you something concrete to ask about: what prompted it, what the person did, and how it ended. Leave explanations open until the participant supplies them. For example, asking whether a booking process was frustrating assumes frustration. Asking what happened when the person tried to book a room leaves space for a different experience. If they describe no difficulty, that answer belongs in the conversation too. This file holds questions to use during an interview. It does not prescribe the participant's answers or turn them into a polished account. For the file format, see [what a .md file is](what-is-a-md-file.md). ## Empty interview script Fill the bracketed spaces with wording about your chosen task. Keep the conditional follow-ups as prompts for yourself; ask only the one that fits the answer you hear. ```markdown # Interview about [task] ## Opening question Tell me about the last time you [attempted the task]. What was happening when you began? ## Walk through the attempt What did you do first? What happened after that? How did you know you had finished, or decide to stop? ## Extra effort Which part took the most time or attention, if any? Please describe that moment, if there was one. If a difficulty comes up: What were you trying to do at that point? If no difficulty comes up: What told you things were going as expected? ## Workaround Did you do anything outside the process you started with? If so: What did you do, and what happened when you tried it? If not: What happened next within that process? ## Follow the answer Return to one detail the participant has mentioned: You mentioned [detail]. What happened just before that? Then ask: What did you do next? ## Last question Is there anything else about that attempt you want to add? ``` The opening narrows the conversation to one occasion. The walk-through prompts let the participant describe the sequence in their own terms. Extra effort and Workaround leave room for either answer; they do not require a problem to exist. Follow the answer is a reminder to listen before choosing the next prompt. Substitute a detail the participant actually used for the placeholder. Keep a pause between questions so the person can finish an answer before you add another. ## Filled script for a Doe interview The following situation is fictional. John Doe prepares to interview Jane Doe about her last attempt to book a room at Doe Holdings. The task is narrow enough to discuss a particular booking without asking for Jane Doe's whole working history. ```markdown # Interview about booking a room at Doe Holdings ## Opening question Jane Doe, tell me about the last time you tried to book a room at Doe Holdings. What was happening when you began? ## Walk through the attempt What did you do first to find a room? If Jane Doe mentions choosing a room: What happened after you chose it? How did you know the booking was finished, or decide to stop? ## Extra effort Which part of that booking took the most time or attention, if any? Please describe that moment, if there was one. If a difficulty comes up: What were you trying to do at that point? If no difficulty comes up: What told you the booking was going as expected? ## Workaround Did you do anything outside the booking process you started with? If so: What did you do, and what happened when you tried it? If not: What happened next within that process? ## Follow the answer If Jane Doe mentions an occupied room: You mentioned finding someone in the room. What happened just before you got there? Then ask: What did you do after you found someone there? ## Last question Is there anything else about that booking you want to add? ``` Suppose Jane Doe describes finding someone in the room, then moving to another room. John Doe can ask how she found that other room. That follow-up grows from an action in her answer; it does not assume the booking system caused the overlap. If Jane Doe instead describes completing the booking without trouble, John Doe can ask what confirmed it for her. The occupied-room prompt stays unused. A prepared script gives the interviewer a starting point, while the participant's answer determines which detail comes next. ## Keep questions close to what happened Prefer an account of a recent action to a prediction about future behavior. Asking whether someone would use a proposed feature introduces your idea before you have heard about the task. Hold that question until the participant has described the attempt and any workaround. Ask one question, listen, then choose a follow-up. Even a neutral question can become hard to answer when joined to several others. If the person uses a broad word such as difficult, ask which part they mean before supplying your own interpretation. An explanation can wait. For the fictional booking, moving rooms establishes an action, but leaves its cause open. Questions about what Jane Doe saw before moving can explore that moment without naming a fault for her. ## Name and keep the script file Save this script as `room-booking-interview.md` in an `interviews/` folder. The task name distinguishes it from a script about a different activity. Reuse the questions for another interview about that task, adjusting follow-ups to the answers you hear. For word separators and date choices, consult [naming Markdown files](markdown-file-naming.md). Keep the script separate from any account of what a participant answered, so the next interview starts with questions rather than someone else's experience. Blank lines separate each group of prompts. The post on [paragraph spacing in Markdown](markdown-paragraphs-blank-lines.md) shows how those gaps divide text. Here they leave a visible pause between the opening, the walk-through, and the questions that depend on an answer. ## Where Sashmark fits Sashmark is a planned desktop app that will pair Markdown reading with editing. The intended use centers on .md work that people receive from AI agents. The app remains in development; none of it can be used today. An interview script will be one possible .md file to read or edit there.