When Are We done Interviewing Customers?

November 27, 2023

Happy Monday everyone! Lots going on in the Cleveland Product scene, so let’s get to it!

Article of the Week

I think we can all agree that we need to talk to our customers to make sure we’re building the right thing and solving the right problem. To do that, we have to invest time, money, and resources into effectively interviewing the right customers. And we have to do it continuously. But how do we know when we’re done interviewing customers?

Short answer: you’re never done.

We need strong practices around identifying which customers we need to interview, how many, and when do we stop interviewing so that we can start building. I recently read an article by Kromatic that brought this into focus for me. They covered five main points that I really liked:

  1. How Many Customers Should We Interview? There is no exact number. Focus on quality over quantity.

  2. How Long Should My Interview Sprints Be? Interview 5-20 people in a week (depending on the customers, domain, and the problem), so that you can aggregate the data, extract the insights, and start building.

  3. How Many Rounds of Interviews Should We Do? You want lots of data so you should complement your interviews with surveys, observations, and quantitative data, which will help you refine the problem and solution, and identify when you are done with this round.

  4. How Do We Process The Information? Look for patterns and themes, and make sure you toss out any outliers. Stay focused on what is most valuable and don’t get distracted.

  5. When Does the Customer Discovery Process End? As I said above, it doesn’t. Customer behavior changes, market forces change, competition changes, so you have to continuously engage with your customers.

I encourage you to read the entire article so you can effectively interview customers and build the products that will best solve their problems!

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About the Author

My name is Shawn Leitner. I started the Cleveland Product networking group in 2017, which helps to connect Product professionals around Cleveland, providing them with a forum to network, learn, and share stories. For my day job, I'm a Product Consultant & Coach for Pathfinder Product and help clients implement strong Product practices so they can create products that their teams love building and their customers love using. Connect with me on LinkedIn or feel free to attend one of my events either virtually or in-person. Always up for meeting for a cup of coffee also!