How to Conduct Product/Customer Interviews [Full Guide]

Product/customer interviews are an essential tool for gathering insights directly from your target users. The goal is to understand how people currently solve problems, what frustrates them, and where there are opportunities to improve. This helps guide product development and marketing strategies.

Unlike surveys or focus groups, interviews allow for an in-depth, two-way conversation. You can ask follow-up questions and probe deeper into certain topics. Interviews reveal both explicit facts as well as implicit emotions and attitudes. They provide qualitative data to complement quantitative usage metrics.

The value of product/customer interviews includes:

• Discovering user needs, pain points, and desires
• Validating product assumptions and ideas
• Identifying new opportunities and use cases
• Building empathy for your target customers
• Getting feedback on prototypes and product directions
• Understanding perceptions, decision making, and jobs-to-be-done

Overall, interviews lead to building better products that truly solve customer problems. They are an indispensable method within user research and the product development process.

Preparation

Before conducting any customer interviews, you need to make sure you've done the necessary preparation. This involves several key steps:

Determine Goals and Target Audience

First, clearly define your goals for the interviews and identify your target audience. What do you hope to learn? This will shape who you need to speak with and what questions to ask. For example, if your goal is to understand problems users have with your onboarding process, you'll want to interview customers who recently signed up for your product.

Develop Interview Guide and Questions

With your goals in mind, develop an interview guide that outlines the flow of the conversation. Include both open-ended questions to elicit insights as well as more specific questions to probe on key topics. You'll want to ask probing "why" and "how" questions to uncover deeper perspectives. Test your questions on colleagues first to refine them.

Recruit Participants

Next, determine your sample size and recruit the appropriate number of customers from your target audience to interview. Consider offering incentives for participation. Leverage your sales and marketing teams to find willing customers. Be thoughtful about participant diversity.

Prepare Scripts, Consent Forms, etc.

Finally, develop any introductory scripts to explain the purpose of the interview and obtain consent. Have participants sign consent forms if needed. Prepare templates for note-taking during the interviews. Test your audio/video setup if interviewing remotely.

Conducting Interviews

Conducting effective customer interviews requires certain skills and techniques to gather useful insights. Here are some best practices:

Build Rapport

• Start by introducing yourself and explaining the purpose of the interview. Make some small talk to make the participant feel comfortable.
• Show genuine interest in their opinions and experiences. Nod, smile, and use encouraging verbal cues.
• Avoid judging their responses. Remain neutral even if you disagree with something they say.
• Let them do most of the talking. Interject occasionally to guide the conversation.

Follow the Interview Guide

• Have a prepared guide to cover the key topics, but don't stick to it rigidly. Allow for organic flow.
• Ask open-ended questions from the guide first to initiate discussion.
• Follow up with probing questions to get more details and examples.
• Customize questions based on their specific responses and experiences.

Probe for Details

• Ask "what, where, when, how" questions to get more specifics.
• Follow up vague answers with "Could you tell me more about that?"
• If they give short responses, use prompts like "I see, could you expand on that?"
• Draw out stories, anecdotes, and emotions. Quantify feelings with rating scales if needed.

Avoid Leading Questions

• Don't phrase questions in a way that influences the response.
• Avoid yes/no questions that elicit simple responses.
• Don't suggest desired answers with the wording. Remain neutral.
• If they seem to guess what you want to hear, rephrase the question.

Remote vs. In-Person Interviews

Conducting interviews remotely via video call has become very common, especially after the rise of remote work. Remote interviews provide several advantages but also have some downsides compared to in-person interviews.

Pros of Remote Interviews

• More convenient and efficient - No need to travel, can schedule interviews back-to-back. Saves time and money.
• Wider candidate reach - You can interview people anywhere without geographic restrictions.
• More comfortable setting - Interviewees may feel more relaxed in a familiar environment.
• Easier to record and take notes - With screen recording and digital note-taking.

Cons of Remote Interviews

• Technical issues - Connectivity problems, glitches, sound/video quality problems. Need contingency plans.
• Harder to build rapport - In-person allows more organic interaction and body language cues.
• Distractions - Interviewee may become distracted by notifications or people at home.
• Less focused - Being on camera for an extended time can be tiring. Shorter sessions may be needed.

Tips for Successful Remote Interviews

• Test technology beforehand - Do trial runs to check video, audio, screen sharing, recording capabilities.
• Choose an appropriate location - Pick a quiet, tidy spot with a neutral background to avoid distractions.
• Maintain eye contact - Look directly into the camera when speaking to mimic in-person eye contact.
• Allow some small talk - Spend a few minutes chatting to establish rapport before diving into questions.
• Send questions ahead of time - This allows interviewees to prepare and refer to notes during the call.
• Take breaks - For long interviews, schedule short breaks to stretch and refresh.
• Be understanding of tech issues - Have a back-up plan if you temporarily lose connectivity. Be patient and flexible.

Data Capture

Taking thorough notes is critical during product/customer interviews. Here are some best practices for capturing data:

• Take notes by hand or on a laptop. Capture as much verbatim information as possible.
• Request permission to record audio or video. This allows you to replay and transcribe the interview later.
• Note body language and emotional reactions. This adds helpful context when analyzing data.
• Capture direct quotes word-for-word. Enclose them in quotation marks in your notes.
• Ask clarifying questions if you don't understand something. Don't make assumptions.
• Leave space in your notes to expand on ideas later. Star key points to revisit.
• Bring a partner to assist with note-taking. They can catch things you miss.
• Take a photograph of any sketches or diagrams drawn during the interview.
• Type up your notes immediately after while your memory is fresh.

Thorough note-taking is vital for accurately capturing customer data and insights from interviews. Recording the interview provides an additional reference but diligent notes are essential.

Data Analysis

Analyzing the data from customer interviews involves several steps:

Transcribe Recordings

If you recorded audio or video of the interviews, the first step is to transcribe the content. This can be done manually or using automated transcription services. The goal is to have a text document of everything discussed in each interview.

Identify Themes and Patterns

Once you have interview transcripts, read through them closely to identify themes and patterns in the customer feedback. Are there common pain points or desires that come up repeatedly? What language do customers use to describe their needs? Look for trends and insights that emerge across multiple interviews.

Highlight Compelling Quotes

As you analyze the transcripts, highlight any quotes or anecdotes that resonate as particularly insightful or that encapsulate key findings. Verbatim customer quotes can be very powerful when presenting research insights, so flag any that seem worth spotlighting.

Connect Insights to Business Goals

A key part of the analysis process is connecting customer insights back to your core business goals and priorities. How does the interview data inform product roadmaps, marketing campaigns, or customer support? Identify actionable opportunities to integrate what you've learned to improve products, messaging, and overall customer experience.

Reporting

After conducting all your interviews, it's time to analyze the findings and report back to your team. Here are some best practices for reporting on product/customer interviews:

Summarize Key Findings

• Provide an overview of your main takeaways from the interviews. Were there any surprising or unexpected insights? What were the key pain points or desires customers expressed? Summarize the big picture themes.

Present Themes and Patterns

• Dig into the major themes and patterns that emerged across multiple interviews. For example, 7 out of 10 customers said they wanted easier navigation. Presenting aggregate data helps identify broader trends.

Include Illustrative Quotes

• Use relevant quotes from customers to illustrate key points and bring the findings to life. For example:
• "I kept getting lost and frustrated trying to find the checkout page."

Quotes add color and demonstrate first-hand feedback.

Make Actionable Recommendations

• Provide clear, actionable recommendations on how to address the key findings. For example, you may recommend:
  • Redesigning the navigation menu for easier checkout
  • Adding educational content to address customer confusion
  • Developing a loyalty program based on feedback

The goal is to turn insights into concrete next steps to improve the product and customer experience.

Follow-up

After conducting customer interviews and analyzing the results, it's important to close the loop by following up with participants and taking action on the insights gathered.

Share Results with Participants

As a courtesy, provide a summary of key findings with interview participants. This shows them that their time and input was valued and impactful. It also gives them a chance to offer any additional context or feedback. Send a thank you note recapping the top themes and conclusions.

Implement Recommendations

Don't let all that great qualitative data go to waste. Review the recommendations and identify opportunities to improve your product, marketing, positioning, etc based on what you learned. Look for quick wins that can be implemented right away as well as bigger initiatives that may require more time or resources. Share the recommendations with stakeholders and execute on a plan.

Iterate on Product/Service

Use the customer feedback to directly inform your product roadmap and prioritization. Look for ways to incorporate insights through ongoing iteration and refinement. Set up processes to continually gather customer input through interviews and other channels. Voice of customer should directly tie to product decisions.

Following up with participants and taking action shows the value of customer interviews. The most important outcome is implementing changes that improve the customer experience.

Challenges

Conducting effective product/customer interviews comes with some common challenges that interviewers should be prepared for:

Scheduling No-Shows

It's not uncommon for scheduled interview participants to not show up for their allotted time slot. This can disrupt the flow of your research plan. Some ways to minimize no-shows include:

• Send calendar invites and reminders to participants. Follow up the day before as well.
• Offer incentives like gift cards for participation.
• Over-recruit participants in case some drop out.
• Have back-up time slots available in your schedule.

Reticent Participants

Some interviewees may be shy or hesitant to share feedback. As the interviewer, it's important to make them feel comfortable. Try these tips:

• Break the ice with casual conversation before diving into questions.
• Reassure them there are no right/wrong answers and you want honest opinions.
• Ask open-ended questions that encourage sharing over yes/no questions.
• Probe deeper into initial responses if they seem guarded.

Confirmation Bias

Interviewers may unconsciously guide participants towards confirming pre-existing beliefs. Avoid this by:

• Carefully wording neutral questions that don't reveal your own stance.
• Asking follow-up questions if you get vague or ambiguous responses.
• Recording interviews so you can review objectively later.
• Having a colleague audit questions to check for neutrality.

With some planning and awareness, you can overcome these common interview challenges. The key is being flexible and prepared to pivot as needed.

Analyzing Your Customer Interview  With Glyph AI

To transcribe and analyze an interviews quickly and accurately, consider using an AI tool like Glyph. Glyph saves time by automating these tasks for you.

Here’s how to use it for transcribing and analyzing customer interviews:

Navigate to your Glyph AI dashboard and choose "Upload a file" to begin uploading your interviews or conversations.

Then click the "Transcribe" button.

After the transcription is done, you can save the project and start analyzing the interview using ready-made prompts.

Wait for a few seconds, and voilà, you'll have the full report of your customer interview with important key points, strength, weakness, opportunities, action list and highlights.

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Conclusion

Customer interviews are an invaluable process for gaining insights into your customers' needs, pain points, and desires. By taking the time to properly prepare, conduct thoughtful interviews, analyze the findings, and report back actionable recommendations, product teams can validate assumptions, identify opportunities, and ultimately build products that customers love.

In this guide, we covered the key steps for conducting effective customer interviews, including crafting the right questions, choosing the interview format, taking detailed notes, synthesizing patterns in the data, and presenting recommendations.

The customer's voice is the most important one to listen to during product development. Customer interviews put the customer front and center, enabling teams to build empathy and truly understand how their product fits into the customer's life. The insights uncovered can be eye-opening and lead to creative solutions that may not have emerged otherwise.

Product teams should make customer interviews a regular habit, not just a one-time event. By continually engaging with customers throughout the product lifecycle, you can ensure you stay aligned with their evolving needs. Customer interviews provide the qualitative data that complements quantitative analytics for making smart product decisions.

In closing, if you're not already speaking directly with customers, make that your top priority. Schedule your first interviews today. The insights will be invaluable and you may be surprised at what you'll discover. Just be sure to approach each interview with an open mind, actively listen without judgement, and let the customer's voice guide you. Your product's success depends on it.

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