The Customer Question You Can Test

Would you buy this? can produce an agreeable conversation without helping you decide what to make. A person may like you, like the drawing, or like an idea that never becomes important enough to pay for.

Begin with the decision you face. Are you deciding whether to investigate a problem, change the offer, or spend time preparing a small demonstration? Those decisions need different evidence. One friendly conversation cannot carry all of them.

Write the assumption in a sentence that can be questioned: People who use a paper notepad at their desk struggle to replace it when it runs out. That is more useful than Everybody needs my product. It identifies a situation you can ask about without claiming the answer.

Then write what would make you reconsider. Perhaps people already have an easy replacement. Perhaps the interruption is rare. Perhaps the people with the problem do not want the kind of offer you imagined.

The U.S. Small Business Administration distinguishes existing-source research from research conducted directly with consumers. [1] This guide uses that distinction as context. Its worksheets and main example are original editorial constructions, not a validated business method or a promise of sales.

The public sources are SBA's market-research guidance and the GOV.UK Service Manual pages Using in-depth interviews and Getting informed consent for user research. Their full references and the research date are in Unit 10. They do not endorse this book.

The question has a job when an answer could change your next decision. If no answer could change anything, you may be preparing a sales pitch rather than a learning exercise.

Do not ask a participant to provide information you could reasonably find elsewhere. Begin with a small desk-research note.

Look at the actual alternatives available to the people you mean to serve. Note what is offered, where the information comes from and when you checked it. A public price is a price at that place and time, not proof of what all customers pay or what a new business can profitably charge.

Keep observations separate from guesses. A shop lists refill pads in two sizes is different from Customers are frustrated by the smaller size. The first may be visible on a current page. The second needs appropriate evidence.

Record a gap rather than filling it with a market-size number found without a clear definition. If you do not know whether a report covers your place, audience or product, do not use its headline as your own forecast.

For this exercise, prepare three lines: what is already documented, what I still need to understand from people, and what this round will not answer. This is an original planning tool, not a complete research design.

You may still need costing, local requirements, qualified advice or more substantial research before acting commercially. Finding an interesting problem does not establish that an offer is viable, lawful or suitable to deliver.

The purpose of looking first is not to avoid talking to people. It is to ask them something worth their time, instead of making them recite what an ordinary source already tells you.

A person who likes you is not automatically a likely customer. A person who fits one part of your description may still have no experience of the situation you want to understand.

Write whom the question concerns in ordinary terms. People who use a desk notepad regularly is narrower than everyone with a desk. It still needs care: how do you know they use one, and what variety of circumstances are you missing?

Choose a feasible exploratory group without pretending it represents a whole market. If you speak only to acquaintances, say so in your notes. If participation depends on being online or available at a certain time, note that limit too.

There is no magic number of conversations in this book. Four invented people later illustrate a way to think, not a rule for research sufficiency or statistical certainty.

Keep the invitation honest. Explain that you want to understand a recent experience, not test whether they are clever or persuade them to buy. A decline should remain a real option.

Do not collect sensitive details merely to make the profile look complete. Use the information necessary for the question and follow the rules applicable to your research. This guide does not provide a legal-compliance template.

After choosing, write one missing perspective. That small note can prevent a convenient group from quietly turning into the phrase our customers when you have not established who your customers are.

A useful question leaves room for an answer you did not plan. Tell me about the last time your notepad ran out invites a different account from Wouldn't a convenient refill service save you trouble?

The GOV.UK interview guide recommends open, neutral questions and attention to actual examples. [2] The following question-writing exercise is this book's own adaptation for a low-stakes business conversation.

Write a starting question about a recent occasion. Then write two follow-ups that seek detail without supplying the conclusion. What did you do next? What made that option work or not work for you?

Avoid putting the benefit inside the question. How much time did you waste? assumes time was wasted. What happened between noticing and replacing it? allows an interruption, an easy replacement, or no replacement at all.

You can ask someone to clarify a word. When you say inconvenient, what was inconvenient on that occasion? Do not translate the adjective into a purchase commitment.

Do not require personal documents or private account access to make an ordinary story credible. If an activity would involve viewing material, plan its permissions and privacy properly. A conversation is not an excuse to inspect someone's messages or payment history.

Try the wording aloud before using it. If it sounds like a question with the answer already highlighted, remove your answer. The aim is to learn what the person can actually tell you, not to help them praise the offer fluently.

Before a conversation, decide what you genuinely need to collect. Notes may be enough; a recording is not automatically more useful just because it is available.

The GOV.UK consent guide stresses understandable information and voluntary agreement. [3] It concerns user research in its own context, not a universal legal clearance for every business. Check the requirements that apply to your actual work and seek appropriate advice when needed.

For the ordinary adult, low-stakes example here, the practical principle is simple: the participant should understand the activity and be able to choose. Explain the purpose in plain language. Say whether you are taking notes or recording and what you intend to do with the material. Do not silently add a marketing purpose later.

If someone does not want a recording, do not begin one while calling it a note. If the activity changes, check whether the person still agrees before proceeding. You cannot make a refusal disappear by using a different word for the same collection.

Arrange an appropriate way to manage the information and any limits before collecting it. Do not promise privacy, withdrawal or deletion arrangements you have not established. A short script in this book is not a complete consent system.

You can stop when a question becomes unnecessary or uncomfortable. Learning about a notepad does not require exploring a person's health, finances or family difficulties.

No real participants were contacted for this book. These are planning exercises and invented examples, not evidence that the author conducted interviews or obtained real consent.