Stakeholder Interview

A stakeholder interview is a structured discussion with all stakeholders in a project, during which you identify their expectations, objectives, requirements and concerns. You conduct these interviews before developing a website, brand identity or marketing strategy, so that you know what everyone expects from the outcome. This prevents you from discovering halfway through that the director has different priorities to the marketing team, or that the sales manager is missing features that are crucial to their day-to-day work.

How a stakeholder interview works in practice

You will schedule individual meetings of 30 to 60 minutes with each stakeholder. This could be the owner, but also the operations manager, the customer service lead or a key dealer. You will ask open-ended questions about their current working methods, frustrations, requirements for the new system and success criteria. During the meeting, you take verbatim notes of what they say, without interpreting their words. Afterwards, you compare the responses and identify overlaps, contradictions and differences in priorities. You translate these insights into a project brief setting out what the project is intended to deliver and for whom.

Why stakeholder interviews came about and why they still matter today

Stakeholder interviews have their roots in systems development, where engineers discovered that software failed as soon as end-users were not involved. In the 1990s, they became standard practice in user-centred design. Today, they are just as relevant, because digital projects often affect multiple departments and everyone has a different idea of what constitutes success. An online shop that works perfectly from a technical point of view but does not help the sales team is a failed investment. Stakeholder interviews reveal those expectations before you start building, not afterwards.

What stakeholder interviews offer small and medium-sized companies

For an SME company with 10 to 50 employees, stakeholder interviews help you avoid duplicating work. For example, you might discover that the operations manager needs an inventory integration that you would otherwise only have added after the launch. Or you might realise that the owner has a different brand image in mind to the marketer, which you can then immediately align within the corporate identity process. In a web design project, it provides concrete input for wireframes and functionalities. You gain buy-in from all parties, because everyone has been heard. This speeds up decision-making and reduces the need for adjustments later on. You build it once, based on a shared vision.

You should use stakeholder interviews as soon as a project affects multiple stakeholders or when the brief is abstract. They are most effective in situations where expectations differ or where there is no clear brief. Below you can see how companies use them in practice.

Rebranding and brand positioning for companies with multiple target audiences

With a rebrand, you often have to deal with internal stakeholders who each have a different vision of the brand. The owner wants a certain image, the sales manager wants recognisability among existing customers, and the recruiter wants to attract young employees. Through stakeholder interviews, you map out these wishes and discover which brand values everyone shares and where compromises are needed. This prevents you from delivering a visual identity that lacks internal support. You gain concrete input on tone of voice, colour scheme and visual language that aligns with all usage scenarios. The result is a brand identity that enjoys broad internal support and comes across as consistent externally.

Online shop development involving complex logistics or multiple sales channels

An online shop often involves more departments than just marketing. Logistics wants real-time stock integration, customer service wants a returns portal, finance wants automated invoicing, and the owner wants conversion optimisation. Without stakeholder interviews, you’ll build an online shop that’s technically sound but doesn’t work in practice. During these discussions, you ask each department about their current working methods, pain points and must-haves. For example, you might discover that warehouse staff print orders manually because the current system does not generate picking lists. You translate that information into functional requirements for the online shop project, so that you build a platform that supports the entire company, not just the front end.

Complex website redesigns involving multiple user groups

With a B2B website catering to both end customers and dealers, you’re dealing with different user needs. Dealers want a login portal with stock overviews and order history; end customers want product information and contact options; and the sales manager wants lead forms that feed directly into the CRM. Stakeholder interviews help you prioritise these requirements and translate them into a sitemap and information architecture. This prevents you from building a great-looking homepage but forgetting the dealer functionality, or creating a lead form that doesn’t align with the sales process. Each interview yields concrete use cases that you incorporate into wireframes and user flows.

When is a stakeholder interview the right choice, and when is it not?

Stakeholder interviews are valuable as soon as a project involves more than two decision-makers, or when the brief is abstract. They are less useful for small projects with a clear brief and a single client, such as a landing page or a simple leaflet. Similarly, in highly technical projects where stakeholders lack subject-matter expertise, an interview yields little benefit. Do not use them as a substitute for user research: stakeholders represent the company, not the end user. Always combine stakeholder interviews with user research to gain a complete picture. They work best during the orientation phase, not during implementation.