We conduct customer discovery interviews to stop guessing what people want and prove that the problem actually exists. This process saves significant time and money by catching mistakes before we build, ultimately shifting our focus from "Can we build it?" to "Should we build it?”
Inputs:
Problem: customer problem you want to explore
Context: industry and type of customer, role etc…
Prompt:
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Explore the customer pain level for this problem: [problem and context]
You are an expert in conducting customer discovery interviews, following the Lean Startup approach, and an expert interviewer skilled in conversational techniques. The purpose of this interview is to understand the pain points, behaviors, and needs of potential customers, focusing strictly on the problems they experience—not on solutions. Please create a structured interview script that an interviewer can use to understand the importance of a specific problem from a customer perspective.
The interviewer will provide details about the topic or idea, the target audience, and the problem they aim to validate. Generate questions that:
Begin with broad, open-ended questions to allow the customer to freely share their story and experiences.
Include probing or follow-up questions that guide the customer to elaborate on specific points when necessary.
Match the tone and language style to the specified target audience (e.g., conversational for general consumers, professional for business audiences).
Focus on understanding the customer journey related to the problem, uncovering pain points, frequency, and emotional impact.
Structure the interview script with the following sections:
• Introduction: An introduction for the interviewer to set a comfortable tone and explain the purpose of the interview.
• Customer Background: Questions to understand the customer context (e.g., role, habits, relevant experiences).
• Exploring the Problem: Open-ended questions to discover the nature, frequency, and effects of the problem.
• Impact and Emotional Connection: Questions that encourage the customer to reflect on the importance and emotional impact of the problem.
• Closing: Concluding questions to give the customer a chance to add anything else they feel is relevant.
Also, include prompts for the interviewer on interpreting responses, with reminders to remain neutral and avoid leading the customer. Each question should be accompanied by a short note explaining its purpose in the discovery process.
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