Practical guide / Free to read
Have a useful first customer conversation.
Ask about an experience someone has actually had, then leave yourself a better question to investigate.
A short conversation outline and a way to separate what you heard from what you assumed.
Start with something you want to understand
Choose one situation your idea is meant to help with. Instead of trying to explain your whole business, write the question that made you curious: what happens, who is involved, and where does it become difficult?
Digital.gov’s interview model uses open questions and asks about a recent experience. For this exercise, ask about a real occasion before asking someone to react to your proposed solution.
Background: Digital.gov: How to conduct an interview
Let the person walk you through it
Introduce yourself, explain what you are trying to learn, and ask whether the person is comfortable talking. Agree before recording. A few notes may be enough.
- What happened the last time you dealt with this?
- What did you do first? What happened after that?
- What was difficult, inconvenient, or uncertain?
- What did you use or do instead?
- Is there anything I have misunderstood?
Keep the conversation and your interpretation separate
Afterward, make two short notes: what the person described, and what you think it might mean. A friendly reaction to an idea is not the same as someone choosing to use or buy it.
Notice disagreements and surprises as well as repeated themes. A small set of conversations gives you leads to investigate; it does not tell you how common an experience is across an entire market.
Try it in your own situation
Prepare your next conversation
- Write the one situation you want to hear about.
- Choose three neutral questions from above and adapt them.
- Ask someone with relevant experience whether they would be willing to talk.
- After the conversation, record one observation, one interpretation, and one unanswered question.
Sources and further reading
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
- Digital.gov: How to conduct an interview
An interview model from US federal digital-service research.
Outside learning & help.
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