How do you research your users to better understand them and find their problems?

Alexey Shashkov
26 replies
Hey, product makers! πŸ‘‹πŸ˜Š How do you research your users and customers to deeply understand them and identify their pain points? 🧐

Replies

Hollie Youlden
Interviews using the Jobs to Be Done framework. This is a great resource for helping with that: https://valchanova.me/customer-d...
Hollie Youlden
@shashcoffe I ask many of the same questions suggested in that URL I shared, though tailor them somewhat to what it is I need to know. I record the Zoom interviews so that during the interview I can give the customer my full attention. Afterwards, I save the audio from the interview, listen to that again with plenty of time to pause and replay, and write my notes.
Alexey Shashkov
@hollie_youlden Hey, Hollie! Thanks for sharing that! That’s really helpful! What’s the hardest part about doing these customer interviews for you?
Hollie Youlden
@shashcoffe Getting over the initial feeling of intimidation was the hardest part – I wasn't sure if customers would want to talk to me and I was nervous about actually speaking to users. But the interviews were surprisingly enjoyable so I quickly got over that!
Alexey Shashkov
@hollie_youlden Hollie, I really appreciate your answer! I have the same problem =) I get nervous before, but enjoy during! Can we have a Zoom call to chat about that topic? I'd like to know more about how you conduct these interviews, what questions you're asking and how you extract information afterward.
Alexey Shashkov
@hollie_youlden Hollie, how many interviews did you conduct that way in Dec?
Andrii Kpyto
Deep interview πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ
Alexey Shashkov
@kpyto Hi, Andrew! Thanks for replying. How do you do deep interviews? Can you tell me?
Vera Mirzoyan
I always offer to rely on every possible way to generate feedback: interviews, questionnaires, reviews, analytical reports, and anything else posible.
Alexey Shashkov
@vera_mirzoyan Hello, Vera! You are very very helpful to me! Thanks for your replying. What type of user research works best for you? What’s the most difficult type?
Vera Mirzoyan
@shashcoffe Thanks Alexey! The the most productive and still the most difficult type is the direct interviews with the active and potential customers. It is difficult as they are not always able to explain the points clearly but they are still productive as during such interviews the customer problems become as obvious as possible. While for instance in the case of a review it is not always possible to clearly get the point.
Alexey Shashkov
@vera_mirzoyan Vera, can we have a Zoom call to chat about direct customer interviews? I’m curious to know how you conduct them, what questions you ask, and how you extract insights afterward.
Vera Mirzoyan
@shashcoffe Thanks for the offer Alexey, I have your calendar, and will book a meeting when I find time. You know, it is the end of the year and busy times.
Alexey Shashkov
@vera_mirzoyan Yes, I understand. Thanks again, Vera.
Lior Galante Cohen (Vaza)
Conducting user interviews and extensive market research, and later on, when you already have active users using your product - looking at real data and analyzing it.
Alexey Shashkov
@lior_galante_cohen Lior, thanks for your answers, as always! You are very, very helpful to me! πŸ˜ŠπŸ™πŸ™Œ You already answered me about customer interviews in a previous discussion. Now I'm curious how do you do extensive market research? Can you tell me?
Rucha Joshi
In depth user interviews and of course sharing the insights with our team mates as accurately as possible. Since the entire team ought be able to understand the end user even if they may not be able to be on the interviews themselves.
Alexey Shashkov
@rucha_joshi8 Hello, Rucha. Thanks for sharing your best practices! Much appreciated. Can you tell me more about how do you conduct user interviews?
Rucha Joshi
@shashcoffe So since the pandemic I have only been conducting video call interviews over Zoom. - I prepare an outline of all the things I am most curious to uncover and create a rough interview script. Mom test is a good book on crafting good interview questions - make sure you make the interviewee feel at at ease and ask 'Why questions' follow them up the interesting answers. - I always record my calls and use our own tool - Listener to create short video snippets right then and there and share the highlights with my team almost immediately.
Alexey Shashkov
@rucha_joshi8 Rucha, thank you so much for answering. Is Listener your internal tool or can I use it too? How does it work? Can we have a Zoom call to chat about customer interviews? I’m curious to know more about how you conduct them, what questions you ask and how you extract insights afterward.
Rucha Joshi
@shashcoffe Sure, I have sent you a twitter dm.
Rucha Joshi
I also use Listener to conduct deep interviews. When I am on a Zoom call with a user I keep bookmarking the insightful moments and later resist just those short video clips that Listener created. It saves a lot of time and I don't need to have a team mate to take notes with me. We launched it today, in case you wish to check it: https://www.producthunt.com/disc...