What is a crucial first step before conducting user interviews?

Identifying key stakeholders and their needs is a crucial first step before conducting user interviews because it helps to frame the context and objectives of the interviews. Understanding who the stakeholders are allows you to tailor the interviews to gather relevant insights that address their specific concerns and interests. This ensures that you focus on the right topics and questions, leading to more meaningful and actionable outcomes from the interviews. Without this foundational step, the interviews could miss critical perspectives or overlook important issues, resulting in less effective data collection and insights.

In contrast, preparing a set of fixed questions might limit the flexibility of the interviews and hinder spontaneous discussions that can reveal valuable insights. Creating a comprehensive budget is more relevant to the logistics of the project rather than the interview process itself, while deciding on the technology to be used does not directly influence the effectiveness of gathering user feedback. Understanding stakeholders' needs helps to focus the interviews effectively and ensures that the information collected is relevant and useful.