Content Ideas
Part of Finding content ideas from audience questions
Using audience interviews to uncover topic gaps
Use focused audience interviews to find missing decisions in your content, then decide whether to update a piece or make a new one.
Interview people to learn what they were trying to do before seeking an answer, where they got stuck, and what your existing content left unresolved. Ask about a real, recent situation. Cover a gap when you can name the missing decision and produce a credible answer, not merely because someone suggests a title.
Choose the gap you are investigating
Begin with a narrow editorial question. For example: “What do beginners still need to decide after watching my first home-recording guide?” That gives you a reason to interview and a set of relevant pieces to review. “What content should I make?” invites guesses about future preferences and may miss the actual obstacle.
Invite people with different relationships to the subject where you can: someone who used the guide, someone who stopped using it and someone who faced the task without seeing it. These perspectives are useful, not a representative sample. Avoid recruiting only your most enthusiastic commenters and then calling their views those of the whole audience.
Explain the purpose of the conversation, whether you will record it, how notes may be used and whether any words might be published. Let people decline recording or stop the conversation. Keep identifying details out of your editorial notes unless needed, and agree on their use with the participant.
Ask for a recent account
Use a short discussion guide so each conversation covers the central questions while leaving room for surprises. Set a research objective and key questions before the session. For the home-recording example, you might ask:
- “Tell me about the last time you tried to record an explanation at home.”
- “What were you trying to achieve, and what did you try first?”
- “Where did you pause or look for help?”
- “What answer did you find, and what was still unclear?”
- “What did you decide to do next?”
Follow the person’s account rather than reading every question like a survey. Ask “What made that difficult?” or “Can you show me what you mean?” when detail matters. A polite yes to “Would you watch a video about better microphones?” tells you little about the problem or what explanation would help.
Conducting Effective Audience Interviews to Uncover Topic Gaps
- Set a clear research objectiveDefine a narrow editorial question, e.g., 'What do beginners still need to decide after watching my first home-recording guide?'
- Invite diverse participantsInclude someone who used the guide, someone who stopped using it, and someone who attempted the task without seeing it.
- Use a structured discussion guideAsk about a real, recent situation: 'Tell me about the last time you tried to record an explanation at home.'
- Follow the participant’s storyProbe deeper with questions like 'What made that difficult?' or 'Can you show me what you mean?'
- Record observations separately from interpretationsNote what was said or done, then group into themes by task stage (preparing, attempting, checking, deciding).
Compare the interviews with the content
After each conversation, separate what the person said or did from your interpretation. Then compare accounts by task stage: preparing, attempting, checking a result and deciding what to change. Digital NSW’s analysis guidance recommends recording observations separately from what they might mean, then grouping related observations into themes.
A topic-gap note might read: “Two people described checking equipment before listening for room echo; our current guide begins after that decision.” This is a hypothetical example. In an actual project, record the accounts and content you reviewed. The note suggests a missing first step; it does not establish how common the issue is.
Look for disagreement as well as recurrence. One person may need a beginner demonstration while another needs an exception for a different setup. A single broad tutorial may not serve both. If an interview reveals an incorrect or unclear claim in an existing piece, correct that piece before using the gap to justify another one.
Interview Insights vs. Content Coverage: Identifying Missing Decisions
- Participant AccountTwo people described checking equipment before listening for room echo.
- Current Content FocusGuide begins after equipment setup and echo testing.
- Gap IdentifiedMissing first step: guidance on how to check equipment and test for echo before recording.
Decide whether to publish
Write the proposed answer and ask: Does it resolve a decision described in the interviews? Is that decision missing or hard to find in your existing work? Can you demonstrate or verify the answer within your expertise? Depending on those answers, update a piece, investigate further, make a new one or leave the idea aside.
Interviews reveal situations and language that dashboards cannot explain. They cannot count demand across your entire audience. Carry that limit into the editorial decision, and treat later responses to a published piece as new evidence rather than confirmation that the interviewees represented everyone.
