How to capture feedback from user interviews for product managers

A plain guide for product managers to capture feedback from user interviews, with steps, tools to try and mistakes to avoid.

By XP Daily · 2026-10-21

XP Daily is published by the makers of DaysAid, QuickDictate and YTSort, which are compared here alongside other tools.

Keep a short list of questions, write down the user's exact words, tag each note, and compare the tags across interviews. A dictation tool can help you get spoken notes down faster, if you want one.

Option	What it does for this job
Paper notebook	You write notes by hand during the call and tag them once you type them up.
Shared document	Everyone on the team can read the same notes, which helps when you compare interviews.
QuickDictate	Types what you say into whichever window you are using, so spoken notes can go into a document or note window. ^[1]

What you need before you start

Capturing feedback well takes a few things ready before the first call.

A short interview guide. Write a small set of questions about the problem you are trying to understand, not about a feature you plan to build. Keep them open so the person explains in their own words.
One place for notes. A document, a notes app or a paper pad will do. What matters is that every interview ends up in the same place, so you can compare them later.
A tag list. Pick a few labels, such as the problem, the workaround or the part of the product, so notes can be grouped afterwards.
Permission to record, if you plan to record. Ask before you start and say what the recording is for. Check your company's rules on recording calls before you begin.
A way to capture speech, if you want one. Typing during a call is slow. A dictation tool can turn your spoken notes into text, and the next section covers the options.

Set aside a short block after each interview to write up your notes while they are fresh. Notes written days later tend to lose the exact words the user chose.

Step by step

These steps work with any tool, including a pen and a sheet of paper.

Write the problem you want to learn about. Keep it in view during the call so the conversation stays on it.
Test your capture before the call. Open your note place and check that any recording or dictation tool works before the person joins.
Ask your questions, then follow the answers. Let the person talk. Ask what they did last time rather than what they would do.
Write down the exact words. The phrases a user picks for a problem often say more than your summary does.
Note every workaround. When someone describes a way around the problem, write down the steps they took.
Label what they did and what they said. Past behaviour is usually more reliable than predictions about the future. Keep the two kinds of note apart.
Tag each note. Apply the labels from your list so the notes can be grouped later.
Write a short summary within a day. Keep it to a few lines covering the problem, the workaround and any open questions.
Compare across interviews. Group the tagged notes by label and look for problems that come up more than once.
Review the findings with your team. Share the grouped notes and agree what to check next.

Keep the steps the same from one interview to the next. Changing the method partway through makes the notes harder to compare.

Tools that can do it

You do not need special software for this. Pick the option you will keep using after the interview.

Paper notebook. You write notes by hand during the call and tag them once you type them up.

A shared document. Everyone on the team can read the same notes, which helps when you compare interviews. Check the sharing and editing rules in the app you choose, since its own pages cover limits and cost.

QuickDictate. QuickDictate is made by the team that publishes this site. It is a Windows program that types what you say into whichever window you are using. ^[1] What you say is typed into whichever window has focus, such as a document, a chat box or a web form. ^[1] You hold a key while you talk, or press it once to start and once to stop, and you can change both keys. ^[1] Saying "scratch that" discards the text you just dictated instead of inserting it, and it is the only voice command the program ships. ^[1] You can list words and phrases that are sent to the speech provider, the company that turns your voice into text, to help it recognise them, and a replacement table fixes spellings such as "Chat GPT" to "ChatGPT". ^[1] A cloud service is an outside company that turns your voice into text over the internet. You can use ElevenLabs, Deepgram, OpenAI, AssemblyAI, DashScope or Google, and that provider bills you directly. ^[1] With five of the cloud services, words appear while you are still talking. ^[1] If you prefer not to use the internet, you can install a speech model on your own computer, such as Whisper Large v3 Turbo, and then dictation needs no internet connection or API key. ^[1] Audio from other apps is muted or turned down while you dictate, and it goes back to its old level when you stop. ^[1] You can browse and filter your last 50 dictations, and the history survives a restart or self-update. ^[1] If you sign in, QuickDictate can sync preferences such as hotkeys and language between PCs. ^[1] API keys, audio and transcripts are never synced. ^[1] QuickDictate is free for personal and other noncommercial use, with no subscription or account. ^[1] Cloud providers bill you separately for their service. ^[1] From v0.9.0 on, commercial use needs a separate licence, and the program is source-available under PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0. ^[1] Releases up to v0.8.0 were MIT. ^[1] It runs only on 64-bit Windows 10 and 11. ^[1] There is no Mac or Linux version. ^[1] It is delivered as an .exe file on GitHub, with a built-in updater that works silently, and it can also be built from source. ^[1]

Things to check before you choose. Confirm that your computer runs 64-bit Windows 10 or 11. Decide whether you want a cloud service or a model on your own computer. Check whether your team's use is personal or commercial, since the free terms cover noncommercial use. ^[1]

Common mistakes to avoid

Capturing only the summary. A paraphrase loses the exact words the user chose, and those words often matter most. Write key phrases down as they are said.

Asking questions that lead the answer. A question such as whether they would use a new feature invites a polite yes. Ask about what the person actually did.

Leaving notes until later. Memory fades quickly. Write up your notes within a day, while the wording is still clear.

Mixing up opinions and behaviour. What someone says they would do and what they did are different kinds of evidence. Label them apart.

Treating one interview as the whole picture. A single call can be unusual. Look for patterns across several interviews before you decide.

Recording without asking. Get permission before you record and say what the recording is for.

Frequently asked questions

How do product managers capture feedback from user interviews?

A common approach is to write a short interview guide, take notes in one shared place, and write down the user's exact words wherever they matter. After each call, write a short summary within a day, tag the notes with a few labels, and group the tags across interviews. The grouping is where patterns show up. Start with a small set of open questions so the person explains the problem in their own words, and ask what they did rather than what they would do.

Can QuickDictate capture interview notes for product managers?

QuickDictate types what you say into whichever window you are using, so spoken notes can go straight into a document or note window. ^[1] You hold a key while you talk, or press it once to start and once to stop. ^[1] It runs only on 64-bit Windows 10 and 11. ^[1] Check that your computer matches before you rely on it for interview notes.

Is QuickDictate free for product teams?

QuickDictate is free for personal and other noncommercial use, with no subscription or account. ^[1] From v0.9.0 on, commercial use needs a separate licence, and the program is source-available under PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0. ^[1] Cloud providers bill you separately for their service. ^[1] Read the licence terms before deciding how your team will use it.

Can QuickDictate sync interview notes between PCs? [[c:quickdictate-settings-sync]]

If you sign in, QuickDictate can sync preferences such as hotkeys and language between PCs. ^[1] API keys, audio and transcripts are never synced. ^[1] Because transcripts are never synced, notes dictated on one PC are not carried over to another through sync. ^[1] Plan how you will move or store your notes before you start.

Should product managers record user interviews?

Ask for permission before you record, and say what the recording will be used for. Check your company's rules on recording calls before the first interview. A written summary often covers what the team needs, so recording is not always necessary. If you do record, keep the audio only as long as your team's policy allows, and make sure the notes you keep are the ones you will actually use.

QuickDictate is free for personal and other noncommercial use, with no subscription or account. Cloud providers bill you separately for their service. ^[1]

Try QuickDictate

Sources

QuickDictate's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher)