Top questions to ask customers during their interviews

Hello,

I am a Product Manager by profession and I have been talking to customers for the last few years, at different stages for product development.

Based on my experience of interviewing hundreds of customers, I have identified top questions that give the best bang for the buck.

For the IndieHackers community, who are excited with their ideas, it is best to ask users early in development if the problem is worth solving.

These questions are most effective to understand the problem space, so you start creating the product with minimal features, often called a Minimum Viable Product. At this stage, you are testing whether your idea/product will solve the customers' problem.

Top questions to ask customers when validating your idea

1. Tell me about you, your typical day and the process of doing x? Or tell me about the last time you have experienced this problem?
2. What is the hardest part of doing x?
3. Why it is hard? (5 Whys)
4. What do you do then? how are you currently solving the problem?
5. What you don’t like about alternatives?
6. How much are you willing to pay for a solution? or How much does this problem cost you?

Once you understand the problem space and have built your product to solve it, still customers might not use it. To find why they are not returning, you need to understand product's value from their perception.

Top questions to know why customers don't like your product

1. What do you think about the recent updates and product evolution?
2. How important is the product compared to other products that you use?
3. What were you expecting when you brought the product? What made you purchase/switch the product in the first place?
4. If you could no longer use the product, how would you feel?
5. How will you describe the product to your colleagues?
6. What do you think of ‘Return on Investment’ from the product?

These questions are most effective to understand the problem space, so you start creating the product with minimal features, often called a Minimum Viable Product. At this stage, you are testing whether your idea/product will solve the customers' problem.

Note that these are not my questions or standard questions - different versions of them are widely used in product management and there can be more to understand customers' problems in detail.

I have written about other questions that product managers ask customers here. I Hope, after your MVP gets some traction, you will use the other set of questions.