Hey, what should I build to solve your problem? Do you think you’re going to use it? How much would you pay if I build this? How would you improve it? What else is missing?

If only they’d give you the answers you’re after. I know this is what you plan to ask. It’s the easy way out. I heard it before. But you won’t!

Interviews

Why?

We can deploy alternative means of research, mind-bending intuition, read comments and posts and fantasize about how the best solution would look and sell.

But the truth is we use interviews because the things above are not enough. And we can’t read minds.

In order to put out something valuable, we need to provide a decent solution. Human beings make decisions based on emotions rather than reason.

So knowing the pains that we can alleviate, needs that need to be met, motivations that drive users to kill those pains and fears that could drive them away from your solution we step deeper into the product design game. The main purpose of interviews is to find and prioritize the problems that the users face.

How?

Questions to discover pain points:

• What is your biggest problem regarding the given topic?
• What are your top 3 challenges you face in this matter?
• What gives you the biggest headache about this?
• What keeps you awake at night in connection with X?

Then we prioritize the problems:

• What do you spend the most time on? What do you spend the most money on?
• What is important to you regarding the topic?
• What are you the proudest of in connection to the topic?
• What is the most exciting, interesting thing regarding the topic?
• Is there anything you are afraid of regarding the topic?

Questions to help us find a solution:

• When exactly did the given problem appear for the last time? Where were you? With whom?
• Please tell us in detail about the last actual example when the problem appeared. How did it happen?
• How do you deal with the problem now? How much money/time/resources does the current solution take?

Forbidden! What not to ask:

• What should I build to solve this?
• Would you use it?
• Do you like it?
• Do you need it?
• Would you pay for it? How much?
• How would you improve it?

People are not aware enough of their needs to provide valuable answers to these questions. You are the one that knows enough to provide a solution that meets their needs. Also, in order to fill in, it’s easy to claim that they will buy and use it in an interview or questionnaire environment.

Meet human beings: we aim to please and keep the peace so we’ll tell you what we think you want to hear to make you happy and create the means for a positive encounter.

Who?

Those that you deem to be most motivated to use your solution. Start with a proto-persona. You can adjust the details that you considered relevant for the next series of user interviews.

5-6 interviews would offer enough insights to get you started. 8 to 10 should cover about 80% of what you are after. If your product services several segments of users, consider talking to 5 people per segment.

You might need to follow up to clarify details and get more input. Make sure you ask for permission to get back in touch.

Bonus: you can consider using at least a part of them to test the product. It depends on how biased they may have become after the original interview.

Interviewing might seem like an easy thing to do: you just ask the questions, note down the answers and move on. But it’s hard to convince people to talk to you in the first place, let alone offer you details about what makes them angry, ashamed or plain frustrated. Would you share your vulnerabilities with a total stranger?

Many are unaware that have problems, others pretend they don’t have problems at all. I usually start with a personal conversation where I introduce myself and the goal of the project but withholding details that could lead to a biased interviewee. Based on the proto-persona I build a virtual use case to help them relate to the matter and connect with me. If they understand what we’re trying to build, they might be open to help. People skills are paramount to pulling this off, and going in head first to ask the sensitive questions will fail to open the door to valuable insights.

Listen carefully to what they share with you. Connect with their problems. Validate the impact and mirror what you understand. Try to identify when they tell you what they think you want to hear or bring up the socially acceptable answers.  The more relaxed they will be, the closer you will get to the core issues.

 

What’s next?

You gather the data from the interviews and look for patterns and opportunities. Outliers – there’s a statistical chance that at least one of the people you spoke with doesn’t properly fit the proto-persona you had in mind. Adjust, iterate and do it again. Yes, this was just one turn and there is no rule regarding how many should be in order to have solid data to get you going.

If you consider the data reliable and sufficient, you use it to draw conclusions: map their current journey prior to choosing a solution, build an empathy map and list the jobs to be done that you plan to tackle.

 

To help you through the process I prepared a short interview guide that you can review.

Sample plan sheet:

• Greet the user
• Introduce yourself and the purpose of the interview
• Ask questions to qualify the user
• questions
• thank for the help
• ask for permission to contact further
• bye

[Download PDF]

 

Takeaways

1. You are after your user’s goals, motivations and concerns.
2. Don’t ask them if they fancy what you’re trying to build
3. You need at least 5 people to talk to in order to start validating your assumptions

 

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Related topics:

Cognitive Biases | Mental models | How to conduct a live interview