Campfire 26: How to uncover your customer’s needs, so you know what to design next?
Great designers use questions to identify opportunities, reveal underlying needs, and understand user context to help teams and stakeholders make better decisions.
Every day, designers face complex problems that necessitate developing design solutions that address business and technical constraints while also addressing user needs. At the same time, the desire to find quick solutions should not prevent designers from thoroughly understanding the core of the problem and the user context from the start.
The investigating phase should not be skipped because it's an essential part of the design-thinking process. It's where questions reveal themselves as an excellent way to approach a design problem before designers begin "designing."
Our genuine curiosity and interest in something are expressed through questions. They are ways to seek meaning in our surroundings and frequently trigger our curiosity.
I'll show you exactly what questions to ask to gain insights that will help you build products that customers love.
Unfortunately, when you ask a potential customer about your idea, they will usually lie to you.
All because…
You ask the wrong questions, and they don't want to hurt your feelings
So, here is how you can fix this.
Don't ask: What is your current problem?
Instead, ask:
How do you feel about completing a task?
How would you describe your typical workflow?
How would you make it more efficient?
What help do you need to accomplish the task?
Don't ask: Is this a good idea?
Instead, ask:
What else have you tried to solve this problem?
Are you actively looking for a better solution? If so, what prompted that? If not, why not?
Are you losing money by not solving this?
Do you have a budget for a better solution?
Don't ask: Would you buy this?
Instead, ask:
How are you currently solving this problem? How much does it cost you? How much time does it take?
Can you walk me through what happened the last time this problem came up?
If they haven't solved the problem, ask why not.
Have you tried asking other people how they solve this problem?
Have you tried Googling it in the past?
Keep in mind
Talk about their experience instead of your idea
Ask about specifics in the past instead of generics or opinions about the future
Talk less and listen more
Conclusion
There's a famous quote by Anthony Robbins that, when applied to design, describes the importance of questions:
"The quality of your products is a direct reflection of the quality of the questions you are asking your users."