conducting-user-interviews

$2a

Only interview people who've taken action

Bob Moesta: "I only talk to people who've already tried to make progress. What made them try? Ignore 'bitching' (complaining)—look for 'switching' (actual behavior change)."

Watch, don't just ask

Gustaf Alstromer: "The best way to understand problem intensity isn't asking—it's watching. Have them screen share and walk through their daily workflow. Look for pain they've normalized."

Avoid pitching

Jeff Weinstein: "Don't start with 'Hi, I'm the CEO of X, we do Y, let me show you a demo.' What a wasted opportunity. Listen first. Use silence to let them open up."

Falsify, don't validate

Judd Antin: "We don't validate, we falsify. We look to be wrong. Many PMs want to be right—they do user-centered performance, not real research."

Never ask what they want built

Judd Antin: "A researcher who asks customers what they want is a bad researcher. Focus on understanding behaviors and problems—not having users design your solution."

Probe for the emotion

Nan Yu: "My goal is to feel bad the same way customers feel bad. Dig past the feature request to find the underlying negative emotion motivating it."

Drop the discussion guide

Bob Moesta: "Not having a script drives people crazy, but rigid guides prevent you from following meaningful threads. Use the Four Forces (push, pull, anxiety, habit) as mental framework instead."

Right-size your sample

Shaun Clowes: "Between 7-14 interviews, you stop learning new things. Less than 7, not enough data. More than 14, diminishing returns."

Expect 90% rejection

Gustaf Alstromer: "90% of people aren't early adopters. You need to reach 10 to find 1. Rejection isn't failure—it's filtering for the right users."

Get direct exposure

Marty Cagan: "I wasn't allowed to make product decisions until I'd visited 30 customers. Those visits changed my life—I thought I knew our customers and I really didn't."

Respond with extreme speed

Jeff Weinstein: "When a customer goes out of their way to share a problem, that's a gift. I'll leave a meeting to reply. Be 'text message friendly' with 5-10 power users."

Interview the non-users

Mihika Kapoor: "The most insightful conversations are with non-users. Ask why they're not using your product—you'll find perception gaps users can't see."

Test willingness to pay

Jeff Weinstein: "Have them send you a $1 invoice right now. The gap between 'willingness to pay' and actually paying is massive. This tests real commitment."

Co-create with lighthouse users

Tanguy Crusson: "Work with 10 'lighthouse' users over months. Put them in Slack with your team. Involve engineers directly so they build empathy."

Questions to Help Users

• "What are you trying to learn from these interviews?"

• "Are you interviewing people who've already tried to solve this problem?"

• "How are you recruiting participants?"

• "What's your opening question? (Make sure it asks for a story, not an opinion)"

• "How will you avoid leading questions?"

• "What will you do with the findings?"

Common Mistakes to Flag

• Leading questions - "Don't you think X would be better?" just gets agreement

• Asking about hypotheticals - "Would you use this?" is meaningless; behavior matters

• Pitching during research - You're there to learn, not sell

• Too few interviews - 2 isn't enough; aim for 7-14

• Delegating observation - PMs and designers must be in the room, not reading reports

Deep Dive

For all 64 insights from 43 guests, see references/guest-insights.md

Related Skills

• Analyzing User Feedback

• Defining Product Vision

• Measuring Product-Market Fit

• Designing Surveys