Book

Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights

Steve Portigal · portigal.com Paid Intermediate

Portigal has run professional research interviews for over 25 years, and this book is the deeper craft manual once you have the basics down. It covers the awkward moments, like what to do with silence or a rambling answer, that a shorter guide will not prepare you for. Read it after Mom Test or Deploy Empathy when you want to get genuinely good at the skill rather than just competent at it.

  • Silence and pauses are tools, not failures, in an interview
  • Plan for the messy middle: rambling answers, tangents, and defensiveness
  • Good synthesis after the call matters as much as the call itself

The question it answers

  1. As a solo technical founder who hates sales calls, how do I do user research without it draining me every week?

Read with it

  1. The single best thing ever written on customer conversations. It teaches you to ask about the customer's life and past... momtestbook.com Book · ~130 pages The Mom Test Rob Fitzpatrick
  2. A YC partner turns 'talk to users' into a repeatable 5-question interview script you can use this afternoon. It's The Mom Test... YC Startup Library Video · ~25 min How to Talk to Users Eric Migicovsky (YC / founder of Pebble)
  3. A short, practical field guide to customer discovery: who to talk to, how to find them, and how many. Pairs perfectly with The... talkingtohumans.com Book · ~80 pages (free PDF available) Talking to Humans Giff Constable
  4. The permission slip to recruit users by hand, do things manually, and deliver 'insanely great' experiences to your first few... paulgraham.com Essay · ~15 min read Do Things That Don't Scale Paul Graham
  5. If live calls drain you, Clarity lets you watch how real people actually use your product without ever getting on a call. You... Microsoft Tool Microsoft Clarity Microsoft
  6. Rob Fitzpatrick is a self-described techie who taught himself to talk to customers, and his whole point is that good research... Indie Hackers Podcast · About 1 hour The Right Way to Talk to People About Your Business with Rob Fitzpatrick (Indie Hackers Podcast #154) Rob Fitzpatrick (host Courtland Allen)
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