5 common pitfalls when doing customer research (and how to avoid them!)
To launch a successful new product or service, the first step is to find a real customer need to solve. This is easier said than done — sometimes it’s obvious what the problem is, but often the main issue or point of focus is unclear.
If we’ve learned something from our hundreds of projects with clients across industries in Finland and globally, it’s that customer research is a harder task than it may seem. I know what you’re thinking though: How difficult can it be to ask people about their needs or for feedback on an idea?
The key to a successful customer research project is in the details — if you don’t ask the right questions and steer the conversation, people may lie to you or give fake compliments to avoid hurting your feelings.
As interviewers, our biases also play a big role. It’s easy to misunderstand what people say so that it matches what you want to hear, especially if you already have an idea that you are excited about. This list of cognitive biases is a great reminder of how we behave in slightly irrational ways without even realising it.
Good research can massively de-risk a new project, save you money and increase your chances of success. There are a few common pitfalls but luckily you can learn to avoid them through awareness and practice.
Mistake 1 — Talking to the wrong people
It can be tempting to talk about your idea with those that are most easily available; colleagues, managers or family and friends. But unless they are also your target customers, then they are unlikely to give you meaningful input about the potential of your idea. At best, they won’t give much interesting feedback and at worst, the feedback will lead you in the wrong direction.
You can’t serve everyone — if you talk to a segment of people that’s too broad, you’ll hear about different needs and problems in each interview. This will leave you feeling overwhelmed and confused about what to do next. The well-known startup accelerator Y Combinator in Silicon Valley even advises its companies: “Recruiting 10 customers who have a burning problem is much better than 1000 customers who have a passing annoyance”.
Instead, try this:
Narrow down your target customer segment. Think about what characteristics they have in common. By being specific, you will avoid noise and only talk to the people who would actually use the product or service you are creating.
Find people who fit this profile. Figure out where they hang out, either in real life or online. For example, you can recruit people through targeted online ads or from your existing customer base using screener surveys that filter out people who are not relevant to your research.
Mistake 2 — Focusing too much on your idea
It’s easy to fall in love with an idea. This can lead to a “pitching” mode where we seek approval from others. It’s natural to do this, but when it comes to customer research, fishing for compliments is counterproductive.
If you really want feedback on a certain idea, it’s better to present something concrete and interactive, such as a prototype. This step (known as user testing or validation) typically happens later in the product development process when you have a clear idea of what problem to focus on. Developing something too soon based on your assumptions might be a waste of time and resources, and lead you back to doing more research.
Instead, try this:
Define your key research questions. Think about the main insight that you want from every person you talk to, and make sure you get it from each interview. Conversations often get derailed, and having a clear goal helps you get back on track.
Focus on the person and their life. Aim to understand them as well as possible by being empathetic and curious. Never judge what they say.
Don’t talk when the other person is speaking. When they finish speaking, wait for an additional moment to let them think. You can wait for a time that almost feels awkward, as this will give the person more time to really open up. This might seem forced at first, but it is surprisingly effective!
Mistake 3 — Asking leading questions
The way you phrase questions have a big impact on how people will respond. A leading question contains the answer or direction we want to hear, for example “Was that experience difficult?” as opposed to “How was that experience?”. Even experienced researchers can slip up sometimes, so don’t worry if you catch yourself doing this.
Sometimes you intentionally want to ask about a certain aspect of a problem, but asking too many leading questions can easily lead to collecting false positive signals about an assumption you already have or the idea that you are trying to validate. It limits the range of answers a person can give you and we might lose out on some unexpected piece of information.
Instead, try this:
Check that most questions are open-ended. As a rule of thumb, these typically start with How, Why or What. Close-ended questions with Was, Can or Did often just give you a “yes” or “no” and then end the conversation.
Don’t suggest answers in the questions by removing any hints or assumptions about how the person might feel. Try to be open to new information with questions like “What was easy or difficult about that?”.
Mistake 4 — Mixing opinions and facts
A common pitfall is to only ask generic questions about what a person thinks about a topic or problem. Just opinions or predictions about behaviour in the future can be inaccurate and don’t prove any real commitment from the person. “I would definitely buy that in the future” is a positive signal but could also be an empty promise.
Also, keep in mind that people also don’t behave the same way they think that they do. They might want to please you, be embarrassed about something or simply forget what they did.
Instead, try this:
Steer away from generic compliments. If someone makes a vague comment or gives a compliment, dig deeper on why it’s interesting for them and what the actual need and problem is.
Ask about concrete situations in the past. Use questions such as “Tell me about the last time that happened” or “How did you solve this?” and avoid anything hypothetical like “Would you ever do that?”.
Ask if they have already tried to solve the problem. If they are just complaining about something but haven’t done anything about the problem, it may not actually be a big deal worth solving for them.
Mistake 5 — Making biased conclusions
After collecting valid and accurate information with the tips outlined above, the last step is to interpret what you heard. Here our personal biases can strike again and lead to different conclusions based on our experiences, values and other beliefs. Especially if you’ve been working in a company or industry for a long time, it can be difficult to analyse what you are hearing in an objective way.
When analysing information, confirmation bias is common and might lead you to find patterns in the information that confirm your existing beliefs. That’s why it’s important to have an open-minded and critical attitude when looking at your data, even if it’s not saying what you hoped for.
Instead, try this:
Always question what you are hearing. Ask yourself what kind of conclusions could be made from your interviews — it’s often more than one! Then think critically about what is really the most likely one.
Don’t take things personally. Bad news early in product development is actually great and lets you adapt and correct your direction before investing resources in detailed design and development.
Interview together with someone else. At Nordkapp, we normally conduct and analyse interviews in pairs to ensure that we actually hear the correct thing and minimise personal bias. This also helps with note taking as one person can focus on leading the conversation while the other is more passive and taking notes. Almost every time, the note taker will notice something that the interviewer didn’t, and they can ask follow up questions about it at the end of the interview.
Putting it into practice
Remember that interviews are just one way to learn about your customers and there are other powerful research methods like observing people which can reveal even more insights. After a while you’ll also stop learning new things from participants, typically after around 5–10 interviews.
At this point, you could talk to a different group of people or dive deeper into something interesting you discovered. You could also use the insights to guide the design of a prototype, allowing you to make your idea more concrete and start validating the solution itself. In the end, this is the only way to actually know if your new product or service could succeed in the market. Check out our case study at ING to learn more.
Want to learn more about how to effectively understand your customers? You might enjoy the book “The Mom Test” or these research methods articles. Happy interviewing!
About us
Nordkapp is a strategic design firm based in Helsinki with worldwide clients including Nokia, ING Group and Oura Health. If you would like to improve your products and services or even discover new business opportunities with insights research, then don’t hesitate to reach out to us and have a chat to see if we can help.
Kenneth Lindroos
Helsinki
Kenneth is a designer who aims to hit the sweet spot of combining technology, business and design.
With his background in startups, he is a proponent of rapid experimentation and customer validation of new products and services.
