‘Inviting Depth: How to Conduct Richer, More Revealing Research Interviews’ by Brandon Berry and Tom Williams arrived in paperback on February 6, 2026. The book focuses on improving interview quality in user research, ethnography, and related fields.
Berry and Williams draw from extensive fieldwork experience to outline a participant-centered approach that prioritizes empathy, emotional attunement, and genuine connection over standard question-asking routines.
It positions interviewing as a human skill that remains essential even as AI tools advance in research. The authors provide 28 field-tested techniques to help participants feel prepared, appreciated, engaged, and empowered throughout the research process.
No widespread reader reviews appear to be available yet, given the recent publication date. Early indicators show the book achieved #1 New Release status in the Sociology Research & Measurement category on major platforms.
What You Will Learn
You will learn to extend rapport-building far beyond the interview session itself. The book guides you to start connections early through thoughtful screeners and introductory emails that set a positive tone.
You will discover how to design pre-session activities that prepare participants to share meaningfully. Discussion guides shift from rigid scripts to flexible, glanceable formats that support natural flow while incorporating varied activities to maintain engagement.
Techniques address participants’ initial emotions so you can adapt in real time for better momentum. You will gain methods to encourage introspection via reflection, pacing, and deliberate pauses that give space for deeper responses.
The framework teaches warm ways to invite vulnerability without pressure, draw out layered story details sustainably, and prompt recall of hard-to-remember experiences.
Post-interview steps include a questionnaire to help refine future sessions and personal growth as a researcher. These tools apply directly to UX/design research, ethnography, product management, and any role requiring deep listening to people.
Our Key Takeaways:
Inviting Depth reframes qualitative interviewing as an experience that empowers participants to share authentically rather than a technique focused solely on extracting data. You read it to adopt practical, human-centered methods that produce richer insights in an era where AI handles routine tasks, but empathy defines superior research.
- The core message emphasizes creating participant experiences of preparation, appreciation, engagement, and empowerment across the full research journey.
- It targets UX researchers, ethnographers, quantitative researchers expanding qualitative skills, product teams, and anyone who listens deeply to understand people.
- The techniques offer field-tested ways to achieve emotional depth and detailed stories while respecting participants’ energy and authenticity.
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