Comparison
Funnel vs inverted funnel interview questions
When to start broad and when to start with a specific question
A side by side comparison of the two ways to sequence interview questions. The standard funnel starts with context and narrows to specific probes and closed checks, which suits discovery work. The inverted funnel starts with one concrete, recent event and widens out, which helps when participants have not thought much about the topic. Use it when planning a discussion guide.
Where this appears
What's in this comparison
Inverted funnel: start narrow
- Open with one concrete, recent event
- Widen out to patterns and feelings
- Use when a broad opener gets a shrug
- Keep the narrow opener neutral
Funnel: start broad
- Open with context and the wider area
- Narrow to a recent episode
- Probe, then rate or count
- Default for discovery interviews
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:
html
<a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/funnel-vs-inverted-funnel-interview-questions"><img src="https://www.koji.so/visuals/funnel-vs-inverted-funnel-interview-questions/funnel-vs-inverted-funnel-interview-questions.png" alt="Comparison of the funnel and inverted funnel: start broad for discovery, or start with one concrete event when a broad opener gets nothing." width="1200" height="630" /></a>
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/funnel-vs-inverted-funnel-interview-questions">Funnel vs inverted funnel interview questions</a>, Koji</p>
