#1 User interview - Path to product
Transcript: User interview - Path to product
It’s hard for entrepreneurs to accept that it’s not enough to build a great product.
For many entrepreneurs, building the perfect product with the best user experience and most amazing features is the starting point, cause everyone knows that with such a product all you have to do is do some marketing and boom, you are an instant success.
After all, once your customers know about this amazing product that magically solves all their problems they will certainly subscribe.
The real question is, are you ready with enough bags to collect all that cash!
These entrepreneurs have obviously never spoken with a customer.
If they did, they would’ve known that the path the customer takes to find and use a product is not as simple or easy as it seems in the entrepreneur’s already outdated business plan!
To help the customer find a path to your product, you must find better problems worth solving.
When you created your first Lean Canvas you started out with your problem hypothesis.
Now that you have created your predictive persona which serves as your detailed hypothesis of who‘s likely to be your customer, it’s time to validate your customer and problem hypotheses.
You do this by conducting a problem interview.
It’s worth mentioning that at the earliest stages of an idea you don’t know what you don’t know, so you need to employ a discovery versus validation mindset.
As you progress through your entrepreneurial journey you increase your focus on validating what you discovered.
But simply talking to customers and conducting open-ended problem discovery can easily lead to aimless wandering and meandering conversations.
In the problem interview you are discovering the specific elements of the journey a customer takes from the current situation, what triggered the desire for better and the outcome they were after.
You then map insights from customer interviews using the customer forces canvas, to help you understand the forces that drive customer behavior.
You start the interview with a welcome and setting the stage.
Ask simple casual questions to make everyone (including you) more comfortable.
Say a little about what you’re working on, the benefits for the customer, and the possible outcome your product aims to create for the customer.
Identify Triggers and Desired Outcomes and find out what pushed the customer to seek change?
Explore Existing Alternatives, What solution pulled the customer and why?
The last step is assessing how well the job was done with their chosen alternative.
Were they better off when they started? And what’s next for them? This helps to visualize how they perceive their progress roadmap.
Identify Inertia and Friction: Potential problems worth solving
Inertia represents obstacles and roadblocks that hold the customer back at the time of choosing a new solution. These can be caused by existing habits or anxieties that surface when considering a new direction.
Friction happening further down the road. Friction represents obstacles and roadblocks that get in the way during use. These frustrations are the result of an attempt to make the new solution a reality
What’s Next: Bigger context and progress roadmap
Wrap up and ask permission to follow up and Referrals
Document Results: Recommend that you record the conversation
Make sure you listen for
The words they use to describe the problem.
If they try to deflect or avoid the question keep exploring it with them, rephrasing if necessary.
Opportunities to clarify - this is your chance to ask “dumb” questions.
Phrases and jargon you can turn into marketing copy.
Emotions you can evoke in your marketing copy.
The channels you can use to find other customers like this one.
How to differentiate your solution from the competition.
Dig for more - Use the 5 whys to dig deeper into the conversation and find out The real problem they’re trying to solve.
Empathize
“I’ve experienced exactly the same problems myself”
“You’re not alone there. I’ve talk to several other people who have said the same thing.”
“That makes sense”
“I can see why that’d be hard”
Avoid
Asking leading questions Asking closed questions Put words in their mouth Step on their thoughts Finish their sentences Rush the process Fill short silences
Thank them
“This has been incredibly helpful. I’m really excited to incorporate what we talked about into our plans.”
“I’m really excited to share what we talked about with my team.”
“You’ve really made a difference in how we’ll tackle this problem.”
Suggested Prompts
How can entrepreneurs effectively balance discovery and validation mindset throughout different stages of their product development?
In what ways can understanding customer inertia and friction inform the design of solutions that better facilitate user adoption?
What strategies can be employed to ensure authentic and meaningful empathy during customer interviews to uncover deeper insights?
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Introduction and Onboarding
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Welcome to Startup 101 - Ideation module!
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What is Launch?
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Meet the Launch team
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Get connected to our network
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What to Expect
CHAPTER 1 : CUSTOMER DISCOVERY AND LEAN CANVAS
Released on February 18, 2024
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Chapter 1: Customer Discovery and Lean Canvas
Defining Your Startup Idea
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Articulate your startup idea
Forming Your Core Team
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Team and background
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Do you need a cofounder?
Market and Competition
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Market analysis
Competitors analysis
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Competitor analysis
Build Your Lean Canvas
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The Lean Canvas
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The Lean Canvas - Capture Your Business Model in 20 Minutes - Lean Canvas
Find Your Early Adopters
Released on February 18, 2024
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Talk To Your Customers
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Find Your Early Adopters
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Build your Predictive Persona
User Interviews
Released on February 18, 2024
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#1 User interview - Path to product
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#2 User interview
Defining Your Value Proposition
Released on February 18, 2024
Build your pitch deck
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Build your website
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CHAPTER 2: PRODUCT MARKET FIT & MARKET RESEARCH
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Finding Your Product Market Fit
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Market Research and Creating a Go-to-Market Strategy
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CHAPTER 3 : BUILD YOUR PRODUCT
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Building Your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and Prototyping
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User Testing & Gathering Feedback
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Product Demo
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Revenue model
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Get your first customers & generate revenue
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CHAPTER 4: MARKETING, PR & BRAND IDENTITY
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Start building your brand
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Marketing & PR
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Social media footprint
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CHAPTER 5: FUNDRAISING & FINANCES
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Elevator pitch
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Develop your network
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Fundraising
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Accounting and Finances
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WRAP UP
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