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Laddering

Define​

A one-to-one interview technique to uncover the underlying reason behind a user's behaviour or decision

Laddering is a technique that helps interviewers gain deeper insight into the behaviour and rationale behind the participant's decisions. It can also be used to extract more detailed responses from conservative participants.

Interviewers often start with a simple, broad question. Listening closely to the participant's response, they would follow-up with another question to probe further. An example of this format would be:

Question: Why did you choose that pattern?

Answer: It was really simple.

Question: Why is a simple pattern important to you?

There are issues associated with this technique. As interviewers probe deeper, their questions can become more personal for the participant. If they are uncomfortable, participants could answer untruthfully to divert the focus elsewhere, or avoid the question completely. Alternatively, participants may genuinely not know the answer to a question.

Resources​