Product Customer Discovery
Purpose
- Reduce product/market risk by learning how target users behave today, what problems they truly have, and what they already do to solve them.
- Turn qualitative conversations into decisions: who to build for (ICP), what to solve (problem framing), and what to test next (experiments).
Quick triggers
Use this skill when the user asks for:
- “product customer discovery”, “user research”, “problem interviews”, “exploratory interviews”
- “write an interview script/guide”, “what questions should I ask users”
- “define ICP/personas/segments”, “JTBD”, “pain points”, “opportunity sizing (qual)”
- “synthesize interview notes”, “extract themes/insights”, “create a discovery report”
Inputs to ask for (minimum)
- Product/service and stage (idea, MVP, growth) + decision(s) discovery must unblock
- Target audience hypotheses (who) and problem hypotheses (what/why)
- Constraints: timeline, number of interviews, geography/language, incentives, recruiting channels
Outputs (suggested)
- Discovery plan: goals, hypotheses, target segments, recruiting criteria, timeline
- Interview guide: opening, context questions, story prompts, probing, wrap-up
- Synthesis: themes + evidence (quotes), JTBD/pains/gains, opportunity areas, risks/unknowns
- Next steps: prioritized experiments (e.g., landing page, concierge test, prototype test)
Core workflow (end-to-end)
- Align on outcomes: confirm what decision will be made from the research and what “good evidence” looks like.
- Define hypotheses: write 5–10 falsifiable statements (ICP, problem, willingness, constraints, alternatives).
- Select participants: define inclusion/exclusion criteria, quotas across segments, and screening questions.
- Design the interview:
- prefer “tell me about the last time…” over “would you use…” - focus on current behavior, existing alternatives, constraints, and consequences
- Run interviews:
- start with rapport + consent; keep it conversational - ask for specific incidents; probe for frequency, severity, triggers, and workarounds - capture verbatims and observable facts; separate facts from interpretations
- Synthesize:
- affinity-map notes into themes; label with evidence + confidence - map to JTBD (situation → motivation → desired outcome) and pains/gains - identify “strong signals” (repeated patterns, costly workarounds, high stakes)
- Decide & recommend:
- rank opportunities by severity, frequency, reachable audience, and differentiation - propose next experiments with clear success metrics and cheapest test first
- Share readout: present insights, what changed vs. assumptions, open questions, and the plan.
Interview guide template (outline)
- Intro: who you are, purpose, confidentiality, recording consent, timebox
- Background: role, context, responsibilities, tools/workflow
- Story prompts (core): “Walk me through the last time you…”
- Probing:
- triggers: “what started this?” - frequency: “how often?” - severity: “what happens if you don’t solve it?” - alternatives: “what did you try? why that? what did it cost?” - decision-making: “who’s involved? what’s the budget/approval path?”
- Wrap-up: biggest pain, ideal outcome, who else to talk to, follow-up permission
Quality checklist
- Goals and hypotheses are explicit and falsifiable
- Participant criteria and screening reduce bias (no “friends and fans” only)
- Questions avoid leading language and future hypotheticals
- Notes separate verbatims/facts from interpretations
- Insights are backed by evidence, not anecdotes
- Recommendations include next experiments and success metrics
Common mistakes (avoid)
- Asking for feature opinions instead of behavior (“Would you use X?”)
- Interviewing only easy-to-reach users and generalizing
- Treating one loud quote as a “theme” without triangulation
- Skipping the decision step (insights without a recommendation and next tests)