Kapi Pe Charcha #003 – Venture Highway
“Would I need to speak to people/ users/ customers?”
In our last two posts, we have discussed ways of coming up with new ideas and then creating a shortlist out of them:
1. https://lnkd.in/gXHstMvM
2. https://lnkd.in/gngtAunA
A skill that will help you throughout your entrepreneurial journey is user research. It’s a specialized field, with a bunch of qualitative and quantitative methods attached to it. It can feel intimidating – but it is the fastest way to validate your ideas with real users and customers. ne of the best methods of conducting user research is interviews.
And yes – it involves speaking to people.
An interview is an in-depth, one-on-one conversation/ discussion between a researcher (you) and a participant (existing user/ potential user) on a fixed topic(s).
Each part of the definition above is critical.
A few things to keep in mind:
- Interviews work with both potential users and existing users
- You have to try and collect facts not opinions; so while the conversation can start from broad generalities, you have to get to the specifics. Example: Opinion of a parent: kids should love maths and science; Fact: I will pay money to make sure my kid scores higher in her math test
- Have an agenda/ list of questions at hand – but let the conversation be free-wheeling
- Ask users to describe critical incidents. Example: you are interested in finding out if a car owner has ever had to change their car’s battery. Instead, ask them for details of the incident when their car didn’t start. Were they at home or outside? Who did they call for help? How long did it take to get a new battery? How did they figure out the problem?
You get better at conducting interviews over time. It requires deliberate practice. But as a user research method – it is unbeatable in its ability to validate ideas and come up with insights.
Share your experience of conducting a user interview with us in the comments.
Original LinkedIn post.