Process
The funnel technique: five levels of interview questions
Start broad, then narrow, so participants raise topics before you do
The funnel technique orders interview questions from broad to narrow. Open with the participant's context and the wider area, move to a specific recent episode, probe the parts you need, and only then ask closed questions to rate or count. Use it to plan a discussion guide and to sequence follow-ups inside each topic. Koji lets you order questions this way in a research brief and set follow-up depth per question.
Where this appears
What's in this process
- Context: Who they are and what a normal week looks like for them.
- Broad experience: The general area, without naming your topic, product or feature.
- Specific episode: A real, recent example. Ask about the last time it happened.
- Targeted probe: Narrow open questions about the parts of that story you need.
- Closed check: Confirm, rate or count once the story is on the table.
Use this image
Free to use in your docs, decks and posts under CC BY 4.0, as long as you credit Koji with a link to this page. To embed it, paste this into your page:
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<a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/funnel-technique-interview-question-levels"><img src="https://www.koji.so/visuals/funnel-technique-interview-question-levels/funnel-technique-interview-question-levels.png" alt="Process showing the five levels of the funnel technique: context, broad experience, specific episode, targeted probe and closed check." width="1200" height="792" /></a>
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/funnel-technique-interview-question-levels">The funnel technique: five levels of interview questions</a>, Koji</p>
