Global Social Entrepreneurship 1

Module 1: Designing Your Venture

Method A: Learn from People
Instructions:
Use this template to create an interview guide to prepare for your conversations. When you are writing
interview questions, remember to consider exactly who you will be speaking with. What knowledge will this
person have? What is the best way to communicate with them?

Step 1: Define your audience

Before you start your research, it’s important to know who your venture will help. Think about the people or
groups that are directly affected by the problem you wish to solve. Then, think about those who are also
impacted by this problem but in a less immediate way. Within these groups of people, who are you most
interested in speaking to? Consider speaking with individuals who represent extreme (as opposed to
mainstream) viewpoints.

List at least 5 people you would like to speak to below. You may list individual names or general
descriptions (e.g. smallholder farmers, new mothers, etc.)

1. ________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________

4. ________________________________________________

5. ________________________________________________

6. ________________________________________________

7. ________________________________________________

8. ________________________________________________

Step 2: Define Your Objectives

Why are you doing this research? What do you hope to learn or find out?

Through my research, I hope to learn:

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Step 3: Plan Logistics

Once you have identified at least one individual to speak with, think about what exactly you want to do with
each participant. Where do you want to meet them? How much time will you spend with them? Is there an
activity you can do together to enrich the conversation? What will you ask them to show you?

Be sure to confirm plans with the individual prior to the interview.

(Optional) Plans
• Date:
• Time:
• Location:

Step 4: Write Questions

Based on the person you have selected to interview first, prepare questions that you can ask.

A. General Questions
What are some broad questions you can ask to open the conversation and warm people up? Ask people their
age, what they do for a living, if they have children, etc. Begin with questions your participants are comfortable
answering. For example, if you are designing new savings products, you might ask people to make a list of all
of the things they purchased yesterday.

Examples
• What do you do for a living?
• Who makes up your family or household?
• Describe your last family meal. Who was there? Where did it take place?

1. __________________________________________________________________________________

2. __________________________________________________________________________________

3. __________________________________________________________________________________
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B. Then, Go Deep
Afterwards, you can ask more profound questions about hopes, fears, and ambitions. It is best if these
questions are open-ended but relate to your design challenge. For example, if you were working on a project
related to saving money, you might ask someone to draw the five big things they are saving money for over the
next ten years.

What are questions that can help you start to understand this person’s hopes, fears, and ambitions?

Examples
• Draw your dream grocery store aisle. What would be on the shelves, in the coolers?
• Describe your favorite meal. What do you love about it?
• Imagine you can only eat one meal each day. What would it be and why?

Write Questions Carefully

Frame questions in an open-ended way. This helps you to further explore your challenge and elaborate on
interesting themes you discover during the conversations. Try:
• “Tell me about an experience ...”
• “What are the best/worst parts about ...?”
• “Can you help me understand about ...?”

Avoid questions that lead to just a yes/no answer. Encourage people to tell you their whole story.

Questions to Ask:

1. __________________________________________________________________________________

2. __________________________________________________________________________________

3. __________________________________________________________________________________

4. __________________________________________________________________________________

5. __________________________________________________________________________________

6. __________________________________________________________________________________