What are tips for conducting some user interviews before launching the product?

Annie Liu
5 replies
Developing a product takes time, so how can we conduct user interviews during the development process, or even before, to make sure we’re heading in the right direction?

Replies

Eithiriel DeMerè | Language-Market Fit
Become overly aware of cognitive biases. Try to avoid them. Follow Steve Blank's guidelines for Customer Development.
Share
AnnaHo
Before launching your product, conducting user interviews is crucial to validate your ideas and gather feedback that can guide your development process. Here are some tips for conducting user interviews: 1.Define clear objectives: Be clear on what you want to learn from the interviews. Whether it's understanding user pain points, validating features, or testing usability, having focused goals will help you ask the right questions. 2.Recruit the right users: Try to interview people who fit your target audience or potential users of your product. Their feedback will be more relevant and actionable. 3.Prepare open-ended questions: Design your questions to encourage detailed responses. Avoid yes/no questions, and ask for examples or stories to better understand their experiences. 4.Keep it conversational: Make the interview feel natural, not like an interrogation. This will help users feel comfortable sharing honest and useful feedback. 5.Take notes or record the interview: With consent, record the session or take detailed notes so you can focus on the conversation and review key insights later. 6.Iterate based on feedback: Don’t wait until the end of development. Conduct interviews iteratively, at various stages, to gather ongoing feedback that can be integrated into your product. By conducting user interviews early and often, you can ensure that you're building a product that truly addresses user needs and pain points.
Share
Jason Jackson
Definitely do some user interviews before launching! A few things that worked well for me: 1) Recruit a diverse set of target users to get varied perspectives 2) Ask open-ended questions to really understand their needs and workflows 3) Observe them actually using your prototype or MVP to see friction points 4) Synthesize the feedback to identify key themes and prioritize changes. User interviews are invaluable for building the right thing! Let me know if you want any other tips.
Share
Milo Nathaniel Thorne
Yep, user interviews are super important before launching! A few other tips: 1) Ask a mix of open-ended and specific questions to get both broad feedback and actionable insights. 2) Try to interview a diverse set of users to get different perspectives. 3) Pay attention to their body language and emotions, not just their words. 4) Synthesize the feedback afterward to identify common themes and priorities. 5) Consider incentivizing users for their time with a gift card or early access to your product. Getting that early user input is crucial!
Victoria Louise Turner
Definitely! User interviews are key before launching. A few more tips: 1) Offer an incentive like a gift card to encourage participation, 2) Ask about their current workflows to understand pain points, 3) Do a dry run of the interview to polish your questions, 4) Synthesize insights ASAP after each interview while it's fresh. Anyone have experience with good tools for analyzing interview transcripts/notes?
Share