Customers & Research

What questions should I actually ask in a customer interview?

A starting point

Ask about the past and the concrete, not the future and the hypothetical. 'Walk me through the last time you dealt with X', 'what's the hardest part?', 'what have you tried?', 'what did that cost you?'. If they've never paid, searched, or hacked a workaround for it, the problem isn't real enough.

Go deeper

Hand-picked from around the web, each with a note on why it earns your time.

3 resources 3 link-checked Watch Read

Watch

▶️ Video
✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it A YC partner turns 'talk to users' into a repeatable 5-question interview script you can use this afternoon. It's The Mom Test compressed into a lecture, perfect if you want the method fast before reading the book.

How to Talk to Users

On YC Startup Library by Eric Migicovsky (YC / founder of Pebble) ~25 min

  • Don't pitch your idea, you'll bias every answer.
  • Anchor on the last time they hit the problem, and what they did about it.
  • If they've done nothing to solve it, the problem may not be painful enough.
Open ycombinator.com →

Read

📖 Book
✓ Link checked Paid Beginner

Why we picked it The single best thing ever written on customer conversations. It teaches you to ask about the customer's life and past behaviour, not your idea, so you can't be lied to. If a founder reads one thing before talking to a single customer, it's this.

The Mom Test

From momtestbook.com by Rob Fitzpatrick ~130 pages

  • Talk about their life, not your idea.
  • Ask about specifics in the past, not opinions about the future.
  • 'That's so cool, I'd totally buy it' is a compliment, not data, dig for commitment and evidence.
Open momtestbook.com →
📄 Article
✓ Link checked Free Intermediate

Why we picked it A UX-research leader (ex-Uber Eats, BetterUp) gives founders a concrete three-step discovery process, including how to recruit and take notes. First Round Review is a top-tier operator source.

A founder-friendly playbook for early customer discovery

From First Round Review by First Round Review (Jeanette Mellinger) ~20 min read

  • Start with a research plan that narrows who you talk to and what you want to learn
  • Record every interview and use a note-taker to stay present
  • You understand the problem when you can predict ~75% of what a customer will say
  • Keep iterating on both the customer profile and the problem you're solving
Open review.firstround.com →

People also ask

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