User interview do’s and don’ts: Customer discovery edition.

DO

Ask for specific examples

What’s the last thing you Google’d that relates to your children? [Waits while parent searches their real Google history and provides an actual example]
So you and your partner share memes on Instagram. Tell me about the last one you sent to her.

Ask for clarification about what you don’t understand (jargon, body language):

Subject: “And then, of course, our boss comes in [rolls eyes].” Interviewer: “I saw that eye roll. Tell me about that. Why the eye roll?”
Subject: “After charting, I went to the break room to get coffee.” Interviewer: “Ok, and just so I’m clear, what’s ‘charting’?”

Enter their worldview/lexicon:

Subject: “It was just another one of those initiatives that the higher-ups are always pushing for.” Interviewer: “I see. Tell me more; what are some of the other initiatives that the higher-ups tend to push for?”

Soften awkward questions

“We’ve talked to a lot of people about the various drugs they were using at that time. Which, if any, were the drugs for you?”

Try to get them to explain to a 5-yr old or alien

“You just mentioned ’quantum entanglement,’ which I must say sounds pretty complex. Could you explain it to me like I’m a five-year-old?”

Embrace silence

Subject: “…and then I decided to look for a new job.” Interviewer: [Just sits there, nodding] Subject: [says other exciting, useful stuff you probably would have cut off if you’d just moved to the next question].

Use prototypes/images/prompts

We’re thinking of pitching Parentswarm to HR leaders like you as an employee benefit. Here’s a mockup “For Employers” brochure. What’s your first impression when I hand you something like this…?

Ask about hacks and work-arounds they’ve created.

Tell me how you typically collect payment from your clients when they don’t have Venmo?

Get to the money bit.

Especially in customer discovery research, you want to find how (if at all) users are spending their dollars to solve the problem(s) you’re discussing. Find out how much. Find out how often. Find out how they feel about that.

Always ask: what did I miss? Anything you’d like to add? Any final thoughts to share with me before we conclude?

Schedule back-to-back interviews or focus groups

You need time to process. You need to be able to go over if the subject is willing. Buffers help you make notes, distill overarching themes, plan pivots for the next conversation, and—when colleagues are nearby—ping-pong reactions to what you’ve just heard.

Get too personal about yourself (“Oh yeah, me too!”)

This must be the hardest thing to learn, because the people I’ve mentored do it all the time, despite my warnings. Why? Because they’re trying to connect. We know that as interviewers, honesty and genuine answers are what we’re seeking, and as social beings, the way we typically get honesty and authenticity is through connection. So we rely on habit and express shared affinities with our subjects. But it’s a bad idea.

Wear company logo

Or anything extreme, really. As an interviewer, you want to be a blank vessel. It can be harder for a subject to think outside of the box when you make a distinct impression or code into any sort of “type.”

Proceed directly through your questions

Get comfortable with going off-script. You may not ask every subject the exact same questions.

Ask hypothetical questions

(Relatedly) Asking for validation or approval of an idea you’re toying with or a product you’re preparing to bring to market.

It’s perhaps the most cringeworthy question I ever hear from would-be customer discovery researchers: “We’re building a product that does xyz. Is that something you’d be interested in using?”

Ask superlative questions

I’ve written an entire post about this. Avoid “the one thing you’d…” or “your favorite” or “the hardest…” etc. They put the subject on the spot and shut down the delightful secondary shades and choices your respondent may otherwise have shared.