Interview prompts for finance audiences that never invite an advice request

These seven prompts investigate how an adult handles a money-information task. They avoid asking for balances, account identifiers or a personal product recommendation. The answers can improve an article, but a small interview round cannot measure England-wide demand.

What to take away

Selection method

The prompts were selected on 5 September 2026 from the GOV.UK Service Manual's guidance on planning a research round, recording sessions and protecting participant privacy. Questions had to reveal a trigger, observed process or editorial decision without requiring confidential financial facts.

The order below follows a session, not a quality ranking. Sales questions, testimonial requests and individual advice were excluded.

Before using the script, give the participant a plain information sheet and explain recording, withdrawal and deletion arrangements. The researcher should have a plan for distress or an unexpected disclosure, including a neutral way to pause the session. Do not improvise debt, investment or benefits guidance. Record only enough context to interpret the task.

1. What happened just before you needed help?

Ask for the event and document, not the amount involved. A new statement, rate change or unfamiliar message identifies a usable editorial moment.

2. What did you try first?

Let the participant describe searches, calls and checks in sequence. Do not suggest the creator's channel. The aim is to learn the current route and where it breaks.

3. Which word or step stopped you?

Use a redacted or fictional document if the task needs an example. Capture the exact term and what the person thought it meant. This can reveal a definition problem without recording their account.

4. How did you decide whether the source was genuine?

Observe the check where possible. The FCA's firm-checking guidance distinguishes Firm Checker from the full Financial Services Register. The interview tests whether the proposed explanation helps someone use that public record; it does not assess the firm.

5. What would make this explanation feel promotional?

Ask after showing a draft with fictional branding. The FCA's social-media promotion guidance shows why format, audience and the whole communication matter. Participant impressions cannot replace compliance review.

6. Where would you expect to find the full source?

Let the person point to the place they would look for evidence or a correction. This helps decide whether a short post needs an immediate link, visible date or longer companion page.

7. When should the creator stop and refer you elsewhere?

Ask what wording would make the limit clear. Do not invite the participant to disclose a crisis. Prepare an approved route to regulated or public support before the session.

Use follow-up questions carefully

Prompts such as "What happened next?" and "How did you check that?" can uncover behaviour without steering the answer, so avoid praise that signals a preferred response. Do not ask why someone made a supposedly poor financial choice.

If a participant gives account numbers or names, stop them and return to the redacted task. At the end, explain how notes will be used and repeat the contact route for withdrawal.

Analyse without turning stories into claims

Use participant codes and record observations separately from interpretations. The Service Manual says research analysis should distinguish what was seen or heard from what the team thinks it means.

Report recruitment route, location, date, exclusions and missing groups. A repeated barrier can justify another research round or a prototype change. It does not become a percentage unless the sample and quantitative method support that calculation.

The write-up should also distinguish prompted from spontaneous findings. If everyone recognised a source only after the moderator named it, report that sequence. Do not compress it into a claim that participants knew the source.

Before you act

Common questions

What should a researcher do before using the interview script?

Give the participant a plain information sheet and explain recording, withdrawal and deletion arrangements. The researcher should also have a plan for distress or an unexpected disclosure, including a neutral way to pause the session. Do not improvise debt, investment or benefits guidance, and record only enough context to interpret the task.

How should the interview handle a question about whether a source is genuine?

Observe the check where possible. The FCA firm-checking guidance distinguishes Firm Checker from the full Financial Services Register. The interview tests whether the proposed explanation helps someone use that public record, and it does not assess the firm itself. Participant impressions cannot replace compliance review.

How should findings be reported after the sessions?

Use participant codes and record observations separately from interpretations. Report recruitment route, location, date, exclusions and missing groups. A repeated barrier can justify another research round or a prototype change, but it does not become a percentage unless the sample and quantitative method support that calculation.