Back to blogIdeoreto Guides

Should You Interview Stakeholders Before User Interviews?

Should you talk to stakeholders before user interviews? See how each conversation sharpens your research questions so you can choose the order that fits your project.

7 min readOctober 24, 2026

should you interview stakeholders before user interviewsstakeholder interview vs user interviewwhen to do stakeholder interviews in discoverywhat to ask stakeholders before user research

In this guide

What a stakeholder interview is What stakeholder interviews give you What user interviews give you The two interviews answer different questions When talking to stakeholders first makes sense When you can go to users first How to run a stakeholder interview Set a goal Prepare a discussion guide Introduce yourself and build rapport Meet one on one How stakeholder input shapes your user interviews A simple way to decide your sequence The short answer

What a stakeholder interview is

You have limited time for discovery and two obvious groups to talk to: the people who will use your product and the people who have a stake in the project.

Booking user interviews feels like the obvious first move, but jumping straight to users can leave you asking the wrong questions.

This article walks through what stakeholder interviews actually give you, what user interviews give you, and how to decide the order for your own project.

A stakeholder is anyone who has an interest in your project or whom you need to work with to complete it.

A stakeholder interview is a conversation with such a person.

Its goal is gathering insights that drive the project's success, per NN/g guidance.

These conversations are not about users directly.

They are about the project's landscape: business goals, constraints, history, and the expectations of the people you need on your side.

What stakeholder interviews give you

NN/g identifies several concrete payoffs from interviewing stakeholders source:

Context and history. Every project carries baggage: why it exists, what has been tried before, and known constraints. Knowing this upfront can lead to a more robust design process and avoid friction.
Business goals. While you focus on users and their needs, stakeholders focus on the business and its needs. Their interviews surface business problems, objectives, and key results.
Support and engagement. Interviewing stakeholders early helps them feel heard and keeps them engaged and supportive throughout the design process.

That last point matters even if you are a founder or freelancer rather than part of a large UX team.

If you need a partner's sign-off, a client's budget, or a community moderator's cooperation, a conversation that surfaces their concerns early can prevent obstacles later.

What user interviews give you

A user interview is a one-on-one research method where you ask participants about a topic, listen, and follow up to learn more.

NN/g describes it as an excellent discovery tool because it reveals who your users are, what their experiences are like, and what they need, value, and desire .