Discussion guide builder
What it does
A discussion guide is the plan behind a semi-structured interview: an ordered set of topics with prepared questions under each, and deliberate room to follow whatever the participant raises. It also goes by interview guide, moderator guide, topic guide or protocol. The craft sits in order and phrasing. You open wide and narrow as you go, keeping every question clean of the answer you are hoping to hear.
This skill starts from your objectives and works backwards. Each objective gets the questions that could actually answer it, and each question gets probe lines for the moderator. Anything that would lead the participant is rewritten on the way through. It budgets time across sections so a 60-minute session doesn't run dry at the part you cared most about. Questions it cuts come back to you in a list with the reason attached, so you can overrule it.
What you get back
- A sectioned guide of timed topic blocks, sized against the session length you name.
- Probe lines under each question, for when the answer arrives in four words.
- A map from each objective to the questions serving it, including objectives no question currently covers.
- The questions it cut, with the reason it cut them, from leading phrasing through to overlap with a question you already have.
- Consent and warm-up wording you can read aloud.
- A markdown guide, or a version formatted for a Great Question interview study.
How to use it
Example Prompts:
"Build a 45-minute discussion guide for these objectives."
"Rewrite this guide to take out the leading questions and add probes."
"We're down to 30 minutes. Cut this guide and tell me what I lose."
What it won't do
It won't tell you whether your objectives are worth a study. Hand it a vague objective and you get a guide that faithfully explores a vague objective. It also can't pilot the guide, and the timings are estimates: a talkative participant will run over section two, and the moderator has to make that call live.
Questions
What's the difference between a discussion guide and an interview script?
A script is read verbatim, and you want one when every session has to be identical, usually in evaluative or regulated work. A guide holds topics and question stems, and expects the moderator to follow the conversation. This skill writes guides by default and will write closer to a script if you ask.
Can it write for a specific method, like usability testing or JTBD interviews?
Yes, if you name the method in the request. Task-based sessions get task prompts and observation points in place of open questions. For jobs-to-be-done timeline interviews the JTBD interview guide builder is sharper, since it follows the switch-moment structure end to end.
How many questions should a 60-minute guide have?
That depends on how much you want each answer to open up. The skill sizes the guide against the session length you give it and leaves room for follow-ups. If your topic list is too long for the time you have, it tells you which topic to drop and what that costs you.
