# Customer Interview Guide

> Design and conduct structured customer interviews to uncover problems, motivations, and decision-making.

- Skill: `sethdford/customer-interview-guide` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add sethdford/customer-interview-guide`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/sethdford/customer-interview-guide/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Product & Planning
- Author: sethdford (https://skillmd.com/u/sethdford)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/sethdford/customer-interview-guide

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# Customer Interview Guide

Develop a repeatable customer interview structure that surfaces honest problems without leading questions.

## Context

You are helping a PM prepare for discovery interviews. If you have context about the product, customer segment, or prior research, use it. Your goal is to create a guide that yields rich qualitative data while avoiding interviewer bias.

## Domain Context

- **Lean UX interview structure (Jeff Gothelf)**: Open-ended questions, listen more than guide
- **The Mom Test (Rob Fitzpatrick)**: Ask about customer behavior, not opinions; avoid leading questions
- **Continuous Discovery (Teresa Torres)**: Structure interviews around jobs, pain, and workarounds
- **Empathy mapping**: Understand what customers see, hear, say, do, think, feel

## Instructions

1. **Define the interview goal**: 1-2 specific questions you want answered (not sales pitch)
2. **Select participants**: Recruit 3-5 customers in the target segment; ensure diversity
3. **Structure the interview** (60 minutes):
   - Warm-up (5 min): Build rapport, explain you're learning
   - Background (10 min): How do they accomplish the job currently?
   - Problem exploration (20 min): What's frustrating? Workarounds?
   - Decision-making (10 min): How do they choose tools?
   - Closing (5 min): Thank them, ask for referrals
4. **Prepare questions**: Use open-ended prompts; avoid leading questions
5. **Document learning**: Record themes, quotes, contradictions

## Output Artifact

Customer interview guide (2-3 pages) with:
- Interview goals
- Target customer profile
- Warm-up conversation starters
- Structured question set
- Probing techniques
- Note-taking template
- Post-interview synthesis framework

## Anti-Patterns

- **Leading questions**: "Would you find it helpful if we..." instead of "How do you currently...?"
- **Pitching during discovery**: Defending your product instead of listening
- **Talking over the customer**: Filling silence, interrupting
- **Conflating opinions with behavior**: "Would you pay for X?" vs. "What did you try last week?"

## Further Reading

- *The Mom Test* (Rob Fitzpatrick) — interview techniques
- *Continuous Discovery Habits* (Teresa Torres) — structured conversations
- *Lean UX* (Jeff Gothelf, Josh Seiden) — interview frameworks