Here are 15 techniques I extracted from the Jobs-To-Be-Done interview Bob Moesta’s team did with a camera customer (link at bottom):
Set expectations
Give an introduction to how long the interview’s going to take and what sorts of things you’re interested in. For example, “even minor details may be important”.
Ask specific details to jot the customer’s memory
Don’t just ask what the customer bought but why that model, which store, what day, what time of day, where they in a rush…
Use humor to put the customer at ease
Intentionally or not, early in the interview the whole team had a good laugh about something the customer said. I think it did a lot to dull the edge of formality.
Discuss pre-purchase experiences
Ask what the customer used before they bought the product and what they would use without it. Dig into any “I wish I had it now” moments prior to the purchase.
Go back to the trigger
Walked back to what triggered the customer to even start thinking about buying the product and to a time before they ever considered it.
Get detailed about use
Interviewers and the customer talked about how she held the camera, which hand, in which situations she used it, which settings she used, and advantages/disadvantages of the alternatives. You want the customer to remember and imagine the product in their hands. Things like the weight or texture of the product could impact the user experience. Dismiss nothing.
Talk about lifestyle impact
Dig into ways in which the product impacted the customer lifestyle, things they were/are able or unable to do. For example, they talked about how taking pictures without the camera affected the way she presented her trip photos to her sister. Focus on the “use” rather than the specific “thing”. For example, you can ask “do you like this feature”, but then you want to move to “what does this feature mean to you in terms of what you’re able to do, how it affects your lifestyle, your future decisions”.
Explore product constraints
Talked about how other decisions and products impacted the decision. For example, the size of the bag that has to fit the camera and avoiding the slippery slope of requiring additional accessories.
Ask about alternatives
Products don’t exist in isolation. The customer had several other solutions, which serve different, specific purposes. Figure out whether the new product will replace or complement other products.
Point out inconsistencies, such as delays
Interviewers pointed out that the customer waited a long time to buy the product from the initial trigger to making the call after a trip. They asked “Why did you wait so long?”
Talk about the influence of other people
Ask about advice other people gave the customer or how other people may be affected by the decision.
Don’t put words in their mouth
In digesting and summarizing back to the customer, it’s easy to inject your own conclusions and words. Try to elicit attitudes and conclusions from the customer. Lead them to it but don’t do it for them (a related technique is to start talking and then leave a pregnant pause, so the customer can complete the thought). In one clear case in the camera interview, the interviewers asked a leading question but then prompty noticed this and corrected themselves, saying “Don’t use his words”.
Talk about the outcome
Asked open ended questions about whether the customer was happy with their purchase and in what ways. Ask about specific post-purchase moments when the customer felt “I am glad I have it right now”, but focus on how the situation is affected not the product itself.
Here are some additional I considered after listening to the interview:
Avoid fallacy of the single cause
Don’t push the conversation towards a single cause (see Fallacy of the single cause). Rather than engage in cause reductionism, accept there may be multiple, complex causes.
Let’s say you pose the question: “Joe said that, and so you decided to buy X?” The simple narrative may be intuitive, causing the subject to be persuaded that “Yes, I guess that is why I decided to buy X”. In reality, the events may be true (Joe did say that), but in reality may be unconnected. In these cases, it’s important to point out inconsistencies rather than seek confirmation. For example, in the camera interview the interviewer rightly pointed out an inconsistency: “Why did you wait so long to buy X after he said that?” They also often asked “What didn’t you…” Work together to uncover the truth.
Beware planting false memories
Do not reflect back your own sentiments or ideas to the interviewee when clarifying. For example, asking people to confirm something they did not literally say may cause them to confirm a causal relationship that did not happen (other cognitive biases may aid this: pleasing the interviewer, tendency to fall for reductionism). It may plant a subtle attitude that might then be amplified through the course of the interview. Also be careful with “because” statements, as there is some evidence that we are biased to accept such explanations even when they are irrational (see The Power Of The Word Because).
More on possibility of implanting false memories Video 1 and Video 2.
Listen to the interview for yourself.