Customer Interview Guide

Cover Image for Customer Interview Guide
Solopreneur
Solopreneur

Why Customer Interviews

Biggest cause of product failure: Making something customers don't want

Solution: Ask before building

Finding Interview Targets

Channels

  • Twitter/X - People mentioning related problems
  • Reddit - Posts confessing problems
  • LinkedIn - Target job roles
  • Competitor reviews - Dissatisfied users

Number of People

  • Minimum 10 people
  • Ideally 20 people
  • Until patterns emerge

Question Design

What Not to Ask

Bad questions:

  • "Would you use this product?"
  • "Do you like this feature?"
  • "How much would you pay?"

Why bad: Can't predict future behavior, positive answers out of politeness

Good Questions

Based on past behavior:

  • "When was the last time you faced this problem?"
  • "How did you solve it then?"
  • "What was inconvenient about that solution?"

Interview Structure

Opening (5 minutes)

  • Explain interview purpose
  • Don't describe the product
  • Create comfortable atmosphere

Main Part (20 minutes)

  1. Background questions
  2. Problem exploration
  3. Current solutions
  4. Value/willingness to pay

Closing (5 minutes)

  • Thank you
  • Request referrals
  • Check beta tester interest

After Interview

Immediate Summary

  • 3 key insights
  • Surprising answers
  • Additional questions

After 10 Interviews

  • Analyze common patterns
  • Biggest pain point
  • Identify opportunity areas

Common Mistakes

  1. Describing the product - Interview turns into sales
  2. Leading questions - Guide to desired answers
  3. Not recording - Memory becomes distorted
  4. Too few interviews - Can't find patterns

References