3. Open-ended customer interviews
When to use this:
• No product yet - still in concept stage
• Have a product, but need non-incremental improvement
• Inherited a product, need to understand your market
4. You want to learn...
• What’s the current alternative?
• How effective is their current behavior?
• What are their frustrations?
• Who are the stakeholders?
• What do they really wish they could do?
More questions at: http://bit.ly/9D5h83
5. Do’s and Don’ts
Do
• Be personal
• Ask specific questions
• Give explicit permission to talk
• Follow the emotion!
Don’t
• Talk about your product
• Ask yes/no questions
6. Customer prototype preview
When to use this:
• Built a prototype based on learnings from open-ended
interviews
• Have existing customers, trying to cross-sell/up-sell
7. You want to learn...
• Does the narrative of your product make sense to the
customer?
• How customers see themselves using your product
• Now that customers can see what they’d be getting,
what are the specific constraints?
8. Do’s and Don’ts
Do
• Tell a story
• Be opinionated / take a stand
• Follow the emotion!
Don’t
• Start with the prototype
• Promise features and timelines
9. On-site feedback
When to use this:
• Have a prototype, looking for beta customers
• Have a product, need to hear from “silent majority”
• Workflows can’t be realistically simulated (money, health,
data)
Tools:
• KISSinsights, Wufoo, 4Q, Kampyle, UserVoice/
GetSatisfaction
10.
11. You want to learn...
• What’s making potential customers hesitate?
• What’s slowing down customer usage?
• Demographic information
• Real-time customer satisfaction
• “Little niggling things” that customers wouldn’t file a bug
for
12. Do’s and Dont’s
Do
• Ask specific questions that align with what customer is
doing
• Focus on the single most important thing you need to
know
Don’t
• Make customers do work
• Let customers vote without guidance
13. Heatmap Tracking
When to use this:
• Product and significant customer traffic
• Inherited product, no idea what’s wrong / where to start
Tools:
• Crazy Egg, ClickTale
14.
15. You want to learn...
• Are customers noticing calls to action, next steps, critical
content?
• Where are customers abandoning forms and actions?
• What is attracting the most customer attention?
16. Do’s and Don’ts
Do
• Form hypotheses about how you can adjust user
behavior
• Set up split tests to confirm and improve
17. Analytics
When to use this:
• Have a product, significant customer traffic
• Need to balance out VOC, HiPPO requests
Tools:
• KISSmetrics, Google Analytics, CoreMetrics, Performable,
Omniture
18.
19.
20. You want to learn...
• Which channels are bringing you visitors who successfully
convert into customers?
• Where are customers dropping out of signup /
purchase / learning curve processes?
• Which core features are customers able to use?
• Which customers are most likely to succeed with your
product?
More questions at: http://bit.ly/fqXj5z
21. Do’s and Dont’s
Do
• Identify the most profitable / desirable actions that you
need your customers to do
• Start with questions you need answered
Don’t
• Stress about benchmark data / how do I compare to...?
• Measure things where you can’t take action against
them