Stakeholder Interview in App Development: Best Practices

A Stakeholder Interview is a one-on-one conversation with key people involved in the app — such as founders, investors, department heads, or customers — to understand goals, needs, concerns, and expectations before or during development.

Why It Matters

• Aligns everyone early on what success looks like
• Surfaces risks, hidden requirements, and conflicting priorities
• Saves time and rework by setting clear expectations from the start

Use This Term When...

• You’re kicking off a new app or major product update
• You’re gathering requirements and defining scope
• You’re identifying business goals, user needs, or technical constraints
• You’re mediating between teams or departments with different priorities
• You’re clarifying what outcomes matter most for each stakeholder

Real-World Example 

In one of our projects, we conducted stakeholder interviews to gather diverse business requirements and align on project goals. These conversations uncovered hidden constraints and opportunities, shaping a more focused and effective product roadmap.

Founder Insight 

Skipping stakeholder interviews often leads to mismatched expectations later. Listening well at the start saves months of revision and avoids “this isn’t what I wanted” moments.

Key Metrics / Concepts 

• Alignment Score – How closely stakeholder goals align with product plans
• Risk Flags – Issues or blockers raised during interviews
• Role Mapping – Who influences what, and how decisions are made
• Priority Themes – Common needs or concerns repeated across stakeholders

Tools & Technologies 

• Notion / Confluence – To document interview notes and insights
• Otter.ai / Fireflies – For recording and transcribing interviews
• Miro / FigJam – For mapping stakeholder influence, pain points, and goals
• Typeform / Google Forms – To collect follow-up feedback asynchronously

What’s Next / Future Trends

Stakeholder interviews are becoming more structured and data-driven, with AI tools helping extract themes, highlight conflicts, and summarise action items. Expect smarter alignment tracking across the product lifecycle.

Related Terms

SME Interview – More focused on domain knowledge than decision-making
Discovery Workshop – Stakeholder interviews often feed into these sessions
Functional Needs – Frequently revealed during stakeholder conversations
Strategy – Shaped heavily by stakeholder input
Team Review – Where stakeholder perspectives influence feedback cycles

Helpful Videos / Articles / Pages

Blog: The Ultimate Guide to Mobile App Development in Australia

Call to Action

Want to make sure everyone’s aligned before building your app? Book a discovery call and we’ll help you run effective stakeholder interviews from day one.