Over the years, I’ve made my share of mistakes and learned about the types of questions and topics that participants have a hard time answering accurately in user research. Most people do try to answer your questions, but they may not be able to easily and accurately answer these types of questions:

• Remembering details about the past
• Predicting what they might do in the future
• Accurately answering a hypothetical question
• Discussing the details of their tasks out of context
• Telling you what they really need
• Imagining how something might work
• Envisioning an improved design
• Distinguishing between minuscule design differences
• Explaining the reasons for their behavior

I discuss these types of difficult questions, and better ways to get that information from participants, in my latest article on UXmatters:
Avoiding Hard-to-Answer Questions in User Interviews.

Image credit: Véronique Debord-Lazaro on Flickr