Pawel Huryn
106 lines
4.7 KiB
Markdown
106 lines
4.7 KiB
Markdown
---
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name: interview-script
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description: "Create a structured customer interview script with JTBD probing questions, warm-up, core exploration, and wrap-up sections. Follows The Mom Test principles — no leading questions, no pitching, focus on past behavior. Use when preparing for user interviews, creating interview guides, or planning discovery research."
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---
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## Customer Interview Script
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Create a structured interview script that surfaces real insights, not just opinions. Follows "The Mom Test" principles — ask about their life, not your idea.
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### Domain Context
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Customer interviews are one source in **Stage 1 (Explore)** of continuous discovery. Other sources: stakeholder interviews, usage analytics, data analytics, surveys, market trends, SEO/SEM analysis. The PM needs direct access to users, stakeholders, engineers, and designers — "without proxies." The **Product Trio** (PM + Designer + Engineer — Teresa Torres) should work together on discovery, not just the PM alone.
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### Context
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You are preparing a customer interview script for research on **$ARGUMENTS**.
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If the user provides files (personas, hypothesis lists, product briefs, or previous interview notes), read them first.
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### Instructions
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1. **Clarify research objectives**:
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- What specific questions does the team need answered?
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- What decisions will this research inform?
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- What assumptions need validation?
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2. **Create the interview script** with these sections:
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### Opening (2-3 min)
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- Introduce yourself and the purpose (learning, not selling)
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- Set expectations: "There are no right or wrong answers. We're here to learn from your experience."
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- Ask permission to record (if applicable)
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- Confirm time available
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### Warm-Up: Context & Background (5 min)
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- "Tell me about your role and what a typical day/week looks like."
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- "How long have you been doing [activity related to the product area]?"
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- Goal: Build rapport and understand their context
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### Core Exploration: Jobs to Be Done (15-20 min)
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**Current situation and behavior** (past tense, specific instances):
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- "Walk me through the last time you [did the thing we're exploring]. What happened?"
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- "What tools or methods did you use?"
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- "How long did it take? Who else was involved?"
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**Pain points and frustrations** (observe, don't lead):
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- "What was the hardest part about that?"
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- "If you could wave a magic wand, what would change?"
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- "What have you tried to solve this? What happened?"
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**Desired outcomes** (their words, not yours):
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- "What does 'good' look like for you in this area?"
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- "How would you know if this was working well?"
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**Willingness to pay / priority** (skin in the game):
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- "How much time/money do you currently spend on this?"
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- "Have you looked for a better solution? What did you find?"
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- "What would you give up to have this solved?"
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### Probing Techniques
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Use these when you hit an interesting thread:
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- **"Tell me more about that"** — opens up any topic
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- **"Why?"** (asked gently, 2-3 times) — gets to root causes
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- **"Can you give me a specific example?"** — moves from opinions to facts
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- **"What happened next?"** — follows the story
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- **"How did that make you feel?"** — captures emotional intensity
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### The Mom Test Rules
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- Ask about **their life**, not your idea
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- Ask about **the past**, not the future ("Would you use X?" is useless)
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- **Talk less, listen more** — aim for 80/20 split
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- **Never pitch** during the interview
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- Look for **strong emotions** — they signal real pain or delight
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- **Compliments are noise** — "That sounds cool!" tells you nothing
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### Wrap-Up (3-5 min)
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- "Is there anything I didn't ask that you think is important?"
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- "Who else should I talk to about this?"
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- Thank them for their time
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- Share next steps (if any)
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3. **Customize the script**: Adapt questions to the specific product area, persona, and research objectives. Add or remove sections based on the interview length available.
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4. **Include a note-taking template**:
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```
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Participant: [Name / ID]
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Date: [Date]
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Key Jobs: [What they're trying to accomplish]
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Current Solution: [What they use today]
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Biggest Pain: [Their #1 frustration]
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Desired Outcome: [What success looks like]
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Willingness to Pay: [How much they invest / would invest]
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Surprise Finding: [Something unexpected]
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Follow-up: [Next steps]
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```
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Save as markdown. Include both the script and the note-taking template.
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---
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### Further Reading
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- [User Interviews: The Ultimate Guide to Research Interviews](https://www.productcompass.pm/p/interviewing-customers-the-ultimate)
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- [Continuous Product Discovery Masterclass (CPDM)](https://www.productcompass.pm/p/cpdm) (video course)
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