# Customer Interview Best Practices Guide

This reference provides interviewing methodology guidance for the customer interview question generation phase of the researching-market skill.

---

## Open-Ended Question Techniques

Open-ended questions encourage detailed, narrative responses rather than yes/no answers. They reveal motivations, pain points, and behaviors that closed-ended questions miss.

### Approved Question Starters

Use these starters to ensure questions are open-ended:

- **How** - Explores process, methodology, or approach
  - "How do you currently handle [problem]?"
  - "How did you decide to use [solution]?"
- **What** - Explores facts, experiences, or opinions
  - "What is the biggest challenge you face with [area]?"
  - "What would an ideal solution look like for you?"
- **Tell me about** - Invites narrative responses
  - "Tell me about the last time you encountered [problem]."
  - "Tell me about your decision-making process for [topic]."
- **Describe** - Requests detailed explanation
  - "Describe your typical workflow for [task]."
  - "Describe what happens when [scenario] occurs."
- **Walk me through** - Requests step-by-step narrative
  - "Walk me through how you [process]."
  - "Walk me through a recent experience with [topic]."

### Question Depth Progression

Start broad, then narrow:
1. **Context questions** - Understand the person's role and environment
2. **Problem questions** - Explore the pain points
3. **Impact questions** - Understand consequences of the problem
4. **Solution questions** - Explore what they've tried
5. **Aspiration questions** - Understand ideal outcomes

---

## Bias Avoidance

Biased questions contaminate interview data by leading respondents toward predetermined answers. Avoid these patterns at all costs.

### Leading Question Anti-Patterns

These phrasings suggest a "correct" answer and must be avoided:

- "Do you agree that [statement]?" - Pressures agreement
- "Don't you think [opinion]?" - Implies expected answer
- "Wouldn't you agree that [claim]?" - Leading phrasing
- "Isn't it true that [assertion]?" - Assumes truth
- "Do you like [product]?" - Binary, suggests positive answer
- "Is it fair to say [conclusion]?" - Leads toward conclusion
- "Are you satisfied with [thing]?" - Suggests satisfaction is expected
- "Would you say [statement]?" - Leading

### Closed-Ended Question Anti-Patterns

Questions starting with these words typically produce yes/no answers:

- "Do you..." / "Did you..."
- "Is it..." / "Are you..." / "Was it..."
- "Will you..." / "Would you..."
- "Can you..." / "Could you..."
- "Should you..." / "Has it..."
- "Were you..."

### Neutrality Techniques

- Use neutral phrasing: "What are your thoughts on..." instead of "Don't you love..."
- Avoid superlatives: "biggest", "worst", "best" in questions
- Present both sides: "What do you like and dislike about..."
- Avoid assumptive language: "obviously", "clearly", "of course"
- Ask about behavior, not opinion: "What did you do?" instead of "What do you think?"

---

## Follow-Up Patterns

Follow-up questions deepen understanding and uncover insights that initial responses miss.

### The 5 Follow-Up Types

1. **Clarification follow-up** - "What do you mean by [term]?"
2. **Example follow-up** - "Tell me about a specific time when that happened."
3. **Consequence follow-up** - "What happened as a result of that?"
4. **Emotion follow-up** - "How did that make you feel?"
5. **Contrast follow-up** - "How does that compare to [alternative]?"

### Probing Techniques

- **Silence** - Pause after an answer; interviewees often elaborate
- **Echo** - Repeat the last few words as a question: "...too expensive?"
- **Ladder up** - "Why is that important to you?" (repeated 2-3 times)
- **Ladder down** - "Tell me more about that specific aspect."

### When to Use Follow-Ups

- When the answer is vague or general
- When the respondent mentions something unexpected
- When emotions surface (probe gently)
- When a hypothesis could be validated or invalidated by deeper questioning

---

## Interview Structure

### Recommended Flow (30-45 minutes)

1. **Warm-up** (3-5 min) - Build rapport, explain purpose
2. **Context** (5-7 min) - Understand role, environment, background
3. **Core questions** (15-20 min) - Hypothesis-driven questions
4. **Deep dives** (5-10 min) - Follow-ups on key insights
5. **Wrap-up** (3-5 min) - Anything else, next steps, thank you

### Per-Hypothesis Guideline

For each business hypothesis:
- Ask 2-5 questions that directly test the hypothesis
- Start with broad context, narrow to specific validation
- Include at least one behavioral question ("What did you do...")
- Include at least one aspirational question ("What would ideal look like...")

---

## Common Pitfalls

| Pitfall | Why It's Bad | Fix |
|---------|-------------|-----|
| Asking "Would you buy X?" | Hypothetical intent != actual behavior | Ask about past behavior instead |
| Showing your product first | Anchors all subsequent answers | Ask about problems before showing solutions |
| Asking multiple questions at once | Respondent only answers one | One question at a time |
| Interrupting | Cuts off valuable insights | Let them finish, then probe |
| Confirming your bias | Only hearing what you want | Record and review objectively |
