Customer Research

customer-research

The Mom Test principle: don't ask people what they want, ask them what they do. Real insight lives in behavior and past decisions, not in hypothetical preferences. Surveys confirm what you already think; interviews reveal what you don't.

Qué hace esta skill

• Designs a complete interview guide with warm-up, dig, and probe questions
• Flags the questions that produce false data ("Would you use X?" "What features do you want?") and replaces them
• Provides a synthesis process (affinity mapping) to turn raw quotes into named insights
• Produces 2-3 personas in a format that captures worldview, not just demographics
• Outputs 5 opportunity areas in the Jobs-to-be-Done format: "Users need a way to [JOB] because [INSIGHT]"

Cuándo usarla

• You're validating a new product idea before building
• You're struggling to write copy because you don't know what the customer actually cares about
• You have users but high churn and no clear hypothesis why
• You want to create personas that go beyond "marketing manager, 35, uses LinkedIn"

Proceso

1. Define the research question — What decision does this research need to inform? (e.g., "Why do users drop off during onboarding?") Don't start recruiting until the question is specific.
2. Recruit 5-8 participants — Existing users, churned users, or target-profile strangers. 5 interviews reveal 85% of major themes. Record with permission. Use Calendly or a manual DM process.
3. Run the interview — Structure:
   • Warm-up (5 min): "Walk me through the last time you tried to [do the task]." Let them narrate.
   • Dig (30 min): "What were you trying to accomplish?" / "What was hard about that?" / "What did you try before?" / "What would the ideal outcome look like?" / "How did you feel when [problem happened]?"
   • Wrap (5 min): "Is there anything I didn't ask that you think I should know?"
   • Never ask: "Would you use X?" (people say yes to be nice) / "What features do you want?" (they'll describe what they've already seen) / "How much would you pay?" (hypothetical pricing is fiction)
4. Synthesize with affinity mapping:
   • Extract 3-5 direct quotes per interview on sticky notes (digital or physical)
   • Group by theme — don't label until groups form naturally
   • Name each cluster with an insight, not a behavior: not "users struggle with onboarding" but "users don't know what success looks like on Day 1"
5. Build personas — 2-3 max. Per persona:
   • Name + Role (archetypal, not fictional)
   • Primary goal (what they're hired to accomplish)
   • Top 3 frustrations (direct from interview language)
   • Current workaround (what they do today without your product)
   • Worldview quote (one sentence from interviews that captures how they think)
6. Write opportunity areas — 5 statements: "Users need a way to [JOB] because [INSIGHT]." These become feature briefs, copy angles, and positioning statements.
7. Deliver — Interview guide + synthesis framework + 2-3 personas + 5 opportunity areas.

Ejemplo de prompt

Estoy construyendo una herramienta de gestión de proyectos para agencias creativas. Antes de seguir construyendo, quiero entender mejor a los usuarios. ¿Cómo hago las entrevistas y qué pregunto?

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