The top 4 questions to ask prospective users
After seeing a post yesterday about how The Mom Test doesn't work, I thought this would be worth clarifying (problem validation is so important).
The point of the test is to ask questions even your Mom couldn't lie to you about. It's to validate the problem and learn how the interviewee has tried to solve that problem. If you're asking "Would you buy x" you're doing it wrong.
Top 4 questions to ask prospective users:
- What's the hardest thing about [doing this thing]?
- Tell me about the last time you encountered that problem. Why was that hard?
- What, if anything, have you done to try to solve the problem?
- What don't you love about the solutions you've tried
If you like this type of post, follow me on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/3Dperils where I'll be sharing more of what I've learned as a founder 👍
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They are great questions William, because they are about "value".. another good one (favorite one of mine) to ask your prospective customer(s) is "What happens if you don't solve the problem?" ... because everyone is likely to try and please you, but asking this question allows you to understand if it's a problem worth paying for to get solved (you're looking to establish how much pain will be if the problem isn't solved in terms of cost, effort, risk or reputation etc.).
Yes - do they even care enough to pay for a solution - great question.
Love this -- short and sweet.
Cheers Alejandro!
Hi William, I'm finally seeing lots of people like yourself understanding the power of getting to the big headache problem to be solved rather than jumping into creating a product they think solves a problem. Good questions BTW👍
It's definitely far too easy to start with a product and work backward! Good to hear you're seeing more people understanding the better approach
Beautiful. Most people miss these points and loose prospective customers.