This article describes an experiment in user query elicitation for the design of a multimodal meeting processing and retrieval system (MPR). In the experiment, participants are asked to choose between several scenarios of use of an MPR system, then formulate (on paper) queries to the system within the context of their chosen scenario. The analysis of the queries provides us with an initial set of requirements for the design of an MPR system, which will be used to confirm a priori design considerations, and suggest improvements to existing interfaces. This elicitation-design-evaluation process will be iterated, where the next phase will involve experiments using the Wizard-of-Oz methodology.