471: How product managers best interview users – with Steve Portigal
Jan 8, 2024
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Steve Portigal, the go-to person on customer interviews, discusses the need for a second edition of his book 'Interviewing Users' due to changes in the field over the past 10 years. He emphasizes the importance of asking the right questions during customer interviews and shares insights on analyzing and synthesizing the data. The chapter also provides information about his work and resources to connect with him.
Asking the right questions during customer interviews is crucial to understanding customer needs and preferences.
Preparation and intentional selection of interviewees are key for conducting effective customer interviews and uncovering valuable insights.
Deep dives
Importance of Effective Customer Interviews
Effective customer interviews are crucial for product development. The podcast emphasizes the significance of talking to customers in order to understand their needs and preferences. It acknowledges that simply asking customers what they want is not effective and can be challenging. Instead, the key is to ask the right questions during customer interviews. The podcast highlights the expertise of Steve Portigold, who is known for his extensive experience in conducting effective customer interviews. It discusses the importance of conducting interviews that align with the organization's business challenges and research questions to uncover valuable insights that can inform decision-making.
Preparing for Customer Interviews
The podcast explores the preparation process for customer interviews. It stresses the importance of aligning internal stakeholders and creating a discussion guide that outlines the flow and topics to be covered during the interviews. The podcast emphasizes the need to be intentional about selecting the right sample of interviewees to ensure valuable insights are gained. It also discusses the role of the second interviewer in the process, highlighting their ability to observe body language and ask additional probing questions. The importance of maintaining a beginner's mind and being genuinely curious during interviews is also emphasized.
Conducting Effective Interviews
The podcast delves into the techniques and strategies for conducting effective customer interviews. It highlights the value of asking open-ended questions and encouraging interviewees to share stories and specific examples from their experiences. The podcast stresses the importance of active listening and being present in the conversation, as well as recognizing cues for follow-up questions. It also emphasizes the need to create a comfortable and engaging environment that fosters rapport and encourages interviewees to share their thoughts honestly.
Analyzing and Synthesizing Interview Data
The podcast briefly touches upon the process of analyzing and synthesizing interview data. It acknowledges the tendency to overlook the depth of analysis and highlights the significance of spending adequate time analyzing and synthesizing the data collected from interviews. The podcast emphasizes the importance of breaking down interviews into smaller pieces during the analysis phase and designing frameworks, such as affinity maps, to organize and make sense of the data. It emphasizes the need for a thoughtful synthesis process to generate new insights and narratives that can inform decision-making.
Mastering the art of customer conversations – for product managers As a product person, you know or at least have heard how important it is to talk with customers. Also, if you are not a complete newb, you also know you can’t simply ask the customer what they want. Instead, what do you ask them—how […]
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