An old adage says, we have two ears and only one mouth for a reason — because we need to listen twice as much as we speak. During the process of Design Thinking the critical “empathy phase”, carefully formulated questions is a great way to approach a design problem. And listening too is vital. The listener should not be listening for specific information. This means that in order to communicate well, you need to “Ask the Right Questions”.

Avoid asking rhetorical questions
A rhetorical question is typically asked in order to make a point rather than elicit an answer. Such questions are not really questions but are designed to force someone into a specific response. This gets you nowhere.

Ask friendly, clarifying questions
A good question lets you better understand the situation, and this requires not putting people on the defensive. Demeaning a person rarely produces honest feedback.

Ask open-ended questions
A few questions can be correctly answered with yes / no, A / B. But binary answers are often not very helpful. It is better to ask an open-ended question — one without artificial bounds — and to give the respondent time to answer with the appropriate level of detail and nuance. Open-ended questions also allow the listener greater comfort with the communication, since they are not forced to make incomplete choices.