Jason Oakley
Here's one big problem that ruins a lot of customer interviews, and it's explained perfectly in a book called The Mom Test.
We ask questions that lead people to give us the answers we want to hear.
For example, if you're about to launch a new feature and you ask a customer "what do you think of it?" they're more likely to give you a positive answer. More positive than they actually feel because they're trying to avoid hurting your feelings. The same way your mom would respond.
So how do you ask questions that even your mom would give an honest answer to?
You ask about specific things they've done in the past, or in some cases, ask them to take a specific action now.
So instead of asking what they think of your feature, instead ask:
"Will you join our paid beta program?"
Here's another example. Instead of asking someone to tell you about the problem they have with a task, ask them:
"Tell me about the last time you did [task] and ran into an issue."
What you'll get is an honest story of a time they ran into a problem, not some hypothetical or average of every problem they've ever had.
Your job then, is to get them to elaborate. To peel back the onion and get more detail until you have a complete picture of their answer.
Instead of an interview guide with a dozen or more questions, (we both know you're not getting through that) what you want is a short list of questions and room for a ton of follow up.
In fact, if you want to get better and interviewing, get better at follow up questions. Be curious!
- Can you tell me more about that?
- Can you give me a specific example?
- Why was that so hard?
- What happened then?
We're in a place now where AI can summarize large transcripts and find themes for you in seconds, so your job is to keep digging.
Ask specific questions about their past, free your customer from having to spare your feelings, prioritize a few key questions, and focus your effort on getting your customer to elaborate.
That's the formula for great interviews.