Interview Roll-Playing

PM09.40 Exercise #4

Interview roll-playing

Instructor’s notes

Break the group into teams of three. There are three project scenarios, so that each person on each team can have a chance to be the interviewer, the interviewee (person being interviewed) and the observer. For each scenario, cut the interviewer notes from the interviewee notes so that no person has both sets of notes for one scenario.

For each exercise, the interviewee and the interviewer should take a few minutes to read and prepare for their scenario.

The interviewer will have enough information to start asking questions. The interviewee will have enough information to start providing answers. As the interview gets going, each person will need to start improvising and adding the details needed to respond to the situation.

The third person is an observer and can take notes. The observer should also keep track of time so that the interview ends after five minutes. The observer, the interviewer and the interviewee should then discuss the exercise and talk about what worked well and what could be improved. After five minutes of discussion, change the roles and start a new role-play with a new scenario.

Scenario #1: Marketing Advertisement Database

Interviewee: You are a senior Vice President of the Marketing Division. You are the sponsor of a project to create a new Marketing Database to hold information and graphics on all of the company’s advertising campaigns. You want to store advertising information and images from ad campaigns done at the national and local branch levels. These ads and images can then be accessed and modified by other branch offices. This will allow the best ad campaigns to be reused without having to redevelop everything from scratch

Since you are the sponsor, you are not expected to know a lot about the detailed requirements. Your knowledge is at a higher level. If the interviewer asks you detailed questions about requirements, let him / her know that you don’t have those kinds of details, but your Advertising Manager would. If the discussion gets into technology, let the interviewer know you know nothing about that aspect. At a high-level, here is your vision. The interviewer should be able to draw much of this information from you.

You want the database to hold text, images, movies, etc. Everything about the advertising should be captured and saved.
There should be ways to search the database based on keywords, dates, type of campaign, etc.
You want access controlled so that the information is secure.
Designated people from the corporate office, as well as the branches, should have access. Some vendors and customers may have limited access as well, although that is not finalized yet.
In addition to the actual advertising campaign, you also want to store information about how successful the advertisement was.

The last project you worked on with the IT staff did not go well. Try to find an opportunity to mention that IT better not mess this project up like they did the last one.

Cut here ------

Interviewer: You are interviewing the senior Vice President of the Marketing Division. He/she is the sponsor of a project to create a new Marketing Database to hold information and graphics on all of the company’s advertising campaigns. The Marketing Division wants to store advertising information and images so that the ads can be reused by your local branch markets. The Marketing Division wants to make sure that all of the branches have access to the advertising being done at a national level, as well as ads run by other branches. In this way, the best advertising campaigns can be reused without having to rewrite and redevelop everything.

Prepare for the interview and list the requirements that you gather.

Scenario #2: Building a Better Car

Interviewee: You are asked to participate in an interview to determine how you feel about cars. The automobile company is going to use your input, as well as the input from hundreds of other people, to redesign their cars.

Your role is that of a user. You “use” a car, and it is your user’s experiences and opinions that the interviewer is interested in. However, it turns out that you are also very savvy about cars because you are an auto mechanic. The interviewer is trying to get user requirements from you, but your tendency is going to be to give more technical requirements. Depending on how the questions are asked, try to give some “user” requirements, but also try to steer the discussion toward the technical (or mechanical) questions. The interviewer should try to move you away from the technical details to keep you more focused on the user requirements.

Use the following list for examples of user and technical requirements. If you provide a technical requirement and the interviewer asks what that means, you should then give the user requirement.

Technical (Mechanical) Requirements / User Requirements
V8 engine with positronic overdrive / Needs to hit 120 miles per hour and get very fast acceleration
Transmission made in Dearborn, Michigan, since they make them the best / Transmission must be very reliable and long-lasting – 100,000 miles at least
Computerized sensors to detect engine problems / Onboard help button to automatically contact a help line if you are stuck or disabled
Trans-axel technology for sharp cornering / Needs to have tight handling around corners
Nickel-plated bearings for longer engine life / Engine should last at last 200,000 miles
Needs to be as big as the “boat” I used to drive in the 70’s. / Roomy., Able to hold three in the back seat, Lots of storage space
Clear access to the oil filter / You should be able to easily change your own oil.
Computer-etched cam shafts / At least 30 miles per gallon
60 watt stereo speakers for louder sound / Good sound system
Halogen headlights / Want to see through fog
The new dream-ride shock absorbers / Smooth ride over bumps
Stationary coffee encapsulation / Drink holders

Cut here------

Interviewer: You are interviewing people to determine user requirements for what they consider to be the perfect car. You are interested in the typical driver requirements such as color, driving experience, luxury, size, etc. Find as many user requirements as possible. If you receive technical or mechanical requirements, try to determine why they are important from a user perspective.

Prepare for the interview and list the requirements that you gather.

Scenario #3: Invoice Auto-fax

Interviewee: You are a Collections Analyst working in the Finance Collections area. If customers do not pay invoices in a timely manner, you call themand usually end up sending them another copy of the invoice.Today, this requires you to reprint the invoice and then mail or fax it to the customer. Itcan take a week or more before the customer receives the new copy.

The Collections Department needs a new software package to allow them to email or fax a copy of the invoice to the customer directly from the Billing System. You can then immediately validate that the customer has the invoice.

You have asked the IT group to evaluate, recommend and purchase the email and auto-fax software. Your manager has asked you to provide requirements since you understand the business problem and are also somewhat technically savvy. Based on the questions from the interviewer, you can provide a set of true requirements and false requirements.

Note that the two columns in the table below do not line up. In other words, the true requirements in each row do not match up with the false requirement sin the same row.

True Requirements / False Requirements
We need to be able to get the email or fax through our company firewall, but make sure that nothing can get back in on the same path. / The fax software should come from Allfax, Inc., since they are the best. (not a requirement, this is an opinion)
If the invoice is faxed and the fax line is busy, the fax software must retry automatically up to five more times. If still no success, the call should be abandoned and logged. / You don’t want the project to cost over $25,000. (This is not a requirement. It is a scope statement or constraint. This type of statement should come from the sponsor.)
The package must be able to interface with your current Billing System. / The solution should be state-of-the-art. (vague)
The invoices can be long – perhaps up to ten pages, maybe more / We need to be able to send this over a T1 line. (This is a technical implementation detail.)
If we send the invoice by email, it must include the email address of the Collections Analyst. / All of the email and fax transactions should be captured in an Oracle database. (This is a technical concern, not a requirement.)
We need to capture and save the date and time the fax or email was sent to the customer. / If the customer did not pay the first invoice, they probably will not pay the second one either. (not relevant, opinion)
We need confirmation that the fax or email was received. / The invoice must print in color at the customer end. (outside of our control)
If the invoice copy is emailed, it should be an attachment that can easily be read by the receiver – probably PDF format. / The customers say they have lost the invoice, but really they just don’t want to pay on time (opinion)

Cut here------

Interviewer:You are a member of the IT organization. The Finance Collections Department has asked you to look at software that will allow an invoice image to be faxed or emailed directly to a customer without having to print the invoice first. In other words, they need a package to be able to grab an invoice image from the server and email or fax the image directly to a customer. Your job as an interviewer is to gather requirements from the client on this auto-fax package. Note that the client has business knowledge, but he or she is also somewhat savvy about technology.

Prepare for the interview and list the requirements that you gather.

Scenario #4: Building a Home

Interviewee: You and your spouse want to build a new home. You are meeting with the builder to provide requirements. Unfortunately, your spouse cannot be at this meeting with the builder. However, you assured your spouse you would take his or her opinions into account.

As the builder asks you questions about requirements, you should provide a mixture of information – some of it good and some vague. Sometimes you should also note that your spouse has a different opinion. The challenge to the interviewer is to recognize the good requirements and ask follow-up questions for the poor requirements.

Your Requirements / If you are asked for follow-up information
You want a one-story ranch structure
You want four bedrooms, two baths, plus other standard rooms
You would like a brick exterior but your spouse would prefer stucco. / Ask the builder to price both options
You want a large lot. / This is vague, but tell the builder that is all you know. Ask for some options on lot size and price.
You want to build the home in a “nice” neighborhood. / This is vague and the builder is going to have to leave this to you.
You want “nice” neighbors. / Out of the builder’s control
You want showers in all the bathrooms
You want all of the fixtures to be silver but your spouse prefers gold. / If the builder asks for one option or the other, tell him or her to start with silver and if your spouse doesn’t like it, you can switch to gold. The builder should find this unacceptable and ask you to pick. Tell the builder you will get back to him or her.
You love fireplaces and you wish you could have one in every room. / The builder should sense that this is not possible, so you can agree and say that one fireplace in the living room will be fine.
You want to choose the colors and wallpaper in every room. / This is fine and the builder should allow you to defer these decisions until later.
Add any other requirements based on questions from the builder.

Cut here------

Interviewer: You are a home builder and a couple has asked you to design and build a custom home for them. You are interviewing one of the spouses because the other one was not available. Try to gather as many requirements as you can about what the home should look like.

Prepare for the interview and list the requirements that you gather.

Scenario #5: Catering Service

Interviewee: You are throwing a big party and everything needs to be just right. You have decided to cater the food for the event.

You are very busy planning this important event. The caterer is here to ask you questions, but your tendency is to give quick, general and vague answers. The caterer may need to ask you follow-up questions to get you to be more precise. If the caterer asks you for more detail, provide it to him or her as noted below. First provide the still vague requirement, and then the more detailed requirement if you get a follow-up question.

If you are asked more precise information and the question sounds legitimate, either provide more details on your own, or tell the caterer to call you back tomorrow to get the further detail.

Keep checking your watch so that the caterer gets the sense that you are in a hurry.

Your initial requirements / More detailed requirements
You want some type of meat for sure / Chicken is okay (still somewhat vague).
Chicken finger platters (more detailed)
You want a second type of meat / Maybe meatballs or maybe ham slices
Meatballs for sure (more detailed)
You are not sure how many people will be there for sure. / Enough for a “small army: (still vague)
Enough for one hundred guests
Something to go with the meat / Cheese or veggie tray or fruit (still vague)
All three (cheese and veggie trays and fruit)
Munchies / Something salty (still vague)
Chips and pretzels
Drinks / Soft drinks and liquor (still vague)
Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite, water, beer and wine
Something to help celebrate the important event. / You want to be able to offer a toast (vague)
We need champagne for ½ glass per person
You don’t want to have to clean up the mess / The caterer should clean up the room (perhaps not practical)
You want the caterer to hire someone to clean up (perhaps more practical)

Cut here------

Interviewer: You are a caterer. You are talking to a person that is planning a large celebration and wants the event catered by your company. You need to determine the specific needs. The person you are talking to is very busy planning the event and can only give you a few minutes of his or her time.

Prepare for the interview and list the requirements that you gather.