Main Takeaways: 1. Before the interview, set clear goals and align with your team: -What do we want to learn at a high level? -What questions do we want to ask? -What types of interviews do we want to conduct? 2. During the interview, focus on the customer ("the customer is king/queen"): -Use the 80/20 rule and listen 80% of the time and talk 20% -Make the customer feel at ease by treating the meeting as a conversation, not an interview -Ask open-ended questions and... listen 3. After the interview, debrief with your team: -What went well and what can be improved? -What were the big takeaways? -Share big takeaways with the whole team and start prioritizing!

1. www.productschool.com
Customer Interviews:
Lessons After 300 Interviews
by Zillow Sr PM

2. CERTIFICATES
Your Product Management Certificate Path
Product Leadership
Certificate™
Full Stack Product
Management Certificate™
Product Management
Certificate™

3. Corporate
Training
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Management skills

4. Free Product Management Resources
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EVENTS
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bit.ly/product_resources
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5. David Cho
Key Lessons After
300 Customer
Interviews

6. Disclaimer
This presentation does not represent the views of my past, current, or future employers.
All content here are merely my opinions and lessons I learned after making many mistakes.

7. WHY is it important to
interview our
customers?

8. The Segway
(poor product that didn’t
address customer’s needs)
Customer’s needs:
● Go from point A to point B
(but… couldn’t climb stairs as
it was ~50 lbs)
● Drive my kids
(but… for one person)
● Fair pricing
(but… cost $5,000)
🐴🚙Inventor: “Segway will be the car what the car was to the horse”

9. ✅ Customer’s need → Technology
☔
❌ Technology → Customer’s need
Customer understanding
(who they are and what they need)
Technology

10. Before
Interview
During
Interview
After
Interview

11. Before
Interview

12. Create an interview research plan
Goal
Customers
Interview type
Interview
questions
Interview roles
Notes tool
Stakeholders
Deliverables
schedule
💡Tip: Interview at least 5-10 participants to see some patterns

13. Create an interview notes plan
Recording link
Date
Participant
name
Company
name
Question 1
Question 2 Notable quote
💡Tip: Ask same questions to all participants to see patterns

14. User interview tools
💡Tip: Become a participant yourself! Make extra cash and learn how other companies interview

15. During
Interview

16. 80/20
Listen/Talk
🙉

17. Hello!
This is a conversation, not an
interview (no “right” or “wrong” answer)
Warm up with easy Qs
Ask main Qs
Intro script

18. 👸🤴 Remember this meeting is not
about you evangelizing your product
(the customer is queen/king - they’re your focus)
Some basics
💡Tip: If you forget to ask an open-ended question, just add “why or why not?”
🦠 Nod and acknowledge
(body language makes up ~60% of communication)
🎙 Ask open-ended questions using:
what, where, when, how, why
📝 Take notes

19. ❌ “How did you make that decision? Was it because you did this before or
you saw someone do this, or…”
🤐
✅ “How did you make that decision?”
Try to avoid asking trailing questions...
💡Tip: write a “Q” next to the participant’s statement and ask as a follow up

20. Team roles during an interview
1 interviewer
1 note taker
2-3 listeners (designer, developer,
stakeholder)
💡Tip: Have the team slack the interviewer questions during the interview

21. After
Interview

22. 👍 What went well
🛠 What can be improved
📝 Big takeaways
Debrief with team
💡Tip: iron sharpens iron; be honest about your feedback but be cognizant of your team culture

23. Share research findings and recommendations
Summary
Methodology
(interview type,
length)
Participant criteria
and details
Findings #1, 2, 3
Customer quotes
Customer videos
Recommendations

24. Find people’s needs (rather than asking them for a solution)
The need=Go from point A to B fast
(not a faster 🐴)
“Show me, don’t tell me”

25. What does success look like to me?
📝 Research plan 🙉 80/20 rule (listen/talk)
💃🕺💦 I’m relaxed & they’re relaxed
⏳ Time wisely spent
🔎 Finding customer’s needs
📱 Turning needs to product
Before
Interview
During
Interview
After
Interview

26. Interview tips from Google Ventures
Prototype interview tips by Google Ventures
Question scripts by Aha!
How to turn interview notes into products by Google
Additional resources

27. So go out there and shoot some
hoops (talk to your customers)
Experience
Trumps
Knowledge

28. www.productschool.com
Part-time Product Management Training Courses
and
Corporate Training