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Pull user-interview insights with exact quotes
Practice: Keeping the AI to your sources. About 5 minutes.
About this exercise
You're sharing findings from 4 user interviews with your designer, who wants real words, not your paraphrase. You need exactly 3 numbered insights, each one sentence followed by one word-for-word quote from a participant in quotation marks with their ID, like (P2). Quotes must come from participants, not the interviewer, and the whole thing stays plain text.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Asking for 'a synthesis'. The AI writes themes with bold headings, several paraphrased quotes and a recommendations section. Try: Be exact: "Exactly 3 numbered insights, each one sentence plus one quote. Plain text."
- Accepting paraphrased quotes. AI tidies quotes up, so the 'quote' isn't what the person said. Try: Add: "Quotes must be copied word for word from the transcript, with the participant ID."
- Quoting the interviewer. The interviewer's leading questions sound like findings, and the AI picks them up. Try: Add: "Only quote participants P1-P4, never Kim."
- Not saying what counts as an insight. The AI picks one-off comments as insights. Try: Add: "Lead with themes more than one participant raised."
What a strong prompt includes
- Asks for exact quotes
- Asks for participant IDs
- Excludes the interviewer
- Sets the number of insights
- Asks for plain text
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