The moderator acts as the quarterback in the interview process. It is their responsibility to execute the interview by introducing the topics of discussion, asking most or all the questions, and guiding the interview from one topic to the next with smooth transitions. The absolute last thing a customer wants during an interview is to have three or four members of the visiting organization each pursuing their own agenda, bombarding them with rapid-fire questions that have no semblance of order or consistency. You will find that customers will be more at ease and will be able to provide better insight when they understand that one individual is in charge, most of the questioning comes from that one individual, and the interview is structured and has clear transitions. It is best practice for the moderator to set the stage from the very beginning of the interview by explaining that they will be leading the interview so the customer has a clear expectation who is in charge. So the customer further understands the mechanics of the interview, the moderator should also explain the functions of each of the other team members. This also helps to solidify the fact that the moderator is the leader of the interview.

If you are the moderator, the key thing to keep in mind is to get the customer talking and express their needs using their own language. Your role as the moderator is not to be their best friend, it is not to have a conversation with them, nor is it to start a dialog. The role of the moderator is to "facilitate" an interview.

The moderator will use the discussion guide as a road map for the interview, but must also be keenly aware of the necessity of not getting trapped by the interview guide and losing track of the time and/or not be willing to stray from the interview discussion guide. The moderator must decide how much time to spend on each topic, whether there are further useful nuggets of information to be had by probing a little deeper, or whether to cut a topic short if it is not applicable to the interviewee or not yielding the necessary information. The moderator must also be tuned in to the customer as much as possible. Often, it is better to let the customer "lead" the interview and discuss the things they want to discuss when they want to discuss them, instead of when they appear on your interview guide. As long as you get all the questions answered, it usually does not matter in which order the questions are asked.

As the quarterback of the interview, it is also the moderator's duty to bring in other members of the team at key points if their contribution is required or warranted. But it is necessary for all the members of the interview team to recognize the responsibility of the moderator and allow them to play the leadership role, even if their role in the organization is less than other members of the team.

The moderator typically comes from the marketing or product management part of the organization. These members often have less of a technical nature than the engineering side of the organization and also tend to have more of a business view. While technical acumen can be helpful for being a moderator, the more critical skills of a moderator are good communication and the ability to build a rapport with customers. Often, the marketing and product managers have more experience and training in this regard than other more technical parts of the organization, which is why the product management or marketing groups lead the interviews. As a side note, while it is acceptable to have multiple moderators on a team and to share the responsibility, there is more consistency from interview to interview in keeping the same moderator.