methodatlas
Method guideProduct Discovery

Opportunity Interview

A practical method guide: clarify prerequisites and materials, understand the complete process, and look up outputs, pitfalls, and stop criteria.

ComplexityMedium
Time30-60 min je Interview
Participants5-12 Interviews
FormatWorkshop + async
MaturityEstablished
Plan
01

Prerequisite

What needs to be finished first

Complete firstExperience access

A relevant past situation and voluntary participation.

Without an experience, the conversation collects general opinions.
Complete firstLearning frame

Clarify product outcome and exploration area internally.

A solution idea must not prestructure the story.
02

Preparation

What needs to be ready before start

Materials

Open guide, notes, optional agreed recording.

People / roles

Participant, interviewer, quiet note-taker.

Pre-read

Recruit someone with a recent relevant experience.

Time needed

20–30 minutes conversation, 15 minutes synthesis; repeat according to learning needs.

Setup

Choose a quiet setting; prepare an open story invitation and an event timeline for notes. Keep note-taking separate from interviewing.

03

Core question

The one question this method answers

Which needs emerge from a specific lived situation?

04

Flow

Phases with goal, actions, output and pitfall

An Opportunity Interview collects specific past experiences to discover unmet needs, obstacles and desires in context. The story provides leads for further discovery.

Opportunity Interview· worksheet

Fictional example

An Opportunity Interview collects specific past experiences to discover unmet needs, obstacles and desires in context. The story provides leads for further discovery.

Context and story anchor

Which participant, relevant event and consent? Avoid unnecessary identifying data.

Fictional participant P03 searched for an evening course on Tuesday. Voluntary conversation; notes only agreed. Opening: invite the story of that last search.

Event sequence

Record trigger, actual steps, decisions and outcome.

After a shift-pattern change, P03 opened three course pages, copied times onto paper and called about an unclear end date. No enrolment followed yet.

Opportunities with evidence

Record need, scene and participant statement separately from interpretation.

Opportunity: compare every session with changing shifts. Evidence: times were copied and supplemented by phone. Team interpretation: individual pages hinder comparison; still untested.

Contrasts and follow-up

Which open questions, contrasting cases and further interviews would help?

Next contrast: someone with regular working hours. It remains unclear whether missing dates or shift changes were decisive. No frequency claim from P03.

All example details are fictional and illustrate the application.

Teresa Torres: Story-Based Customer Interviews

  1. 1

    Opening

    Opening

    Goal

    Story anchor

    Inputs for this step

    • Recruiting and learning frame

    Actions

    • Clarify purpose, voluntary participation and recording; select a recent relevant event.
    • Avoid offering hypothetical scenarios that steer the story.

    Output

    Story anchor

    Has a specific event been selected?

    Quality check

    Has a specific event been selected?

    Pitfall

    The team presents its new idea. Set aside the idea and ask about the last situation.

    Timing: 5 minutes

  2. 2

    Story

    Story

    Goal

    Event sequence

    Inputs for this step

    • Selected experience

    Actions

    • Let the person recount trigger, steps, decisions and outcome chronologically.
    • Return from generalisations to that moment; ask about people, tools and context.

    Output

    Event sequence

    Can actions and context be reconstructed?

    Quality check

    Can actions and context be reconstructed?

    Pitfall

    The guide interrupts every revealing detour. Follow the story and fill gaps afterwards.

    Timing: 10–15 minutes

  3. 3

    Probing

    Probing

    Goal

    Need evidence

    Inputs for this step

    • Turning points in the story

    Actions

    • At specific turning points, ask about goal, obstacle, response and significance.
    • Use open probes; document feelings as reported, without inventing them.

    Output

    Need evidence

    Is each need tied to a scene?

    Quality check

    Is each need tied to a scene?

    Pitfall

    A feature request is accepted as a need. Ask about the occasion and desired progress.

    Timing: 5–10 minutes

  4. 4

    Snapshot

    Snapshot

    Goal

    Interview snapshot

    Inputs for this step

    • Notes and permissions

    Actions

    • Summarise facts, quotes, interpretations and open questions separately.
    • Record opportunities in customer language and link the scene; select further cases by knowledge gaps.

    Output

    Interview snapshot

    Is each opportunity traceable?

    Quality check

    Is each opportunity traceable?

    Pitfall

    One interview is treated as market-size evidence. Mark it as qualitative evidence and investigate other contexts.

    Timing: 15 minutes

05

Artifact

What comes out at the end

Sketch: what the artifact looks like

Opportunity Interview · Continuous DiscoveryKonkrete Kundensituationen, Auslöser, Workarounds und gewünschte Outcomes zu belastbaren Opportunity-Themes verdichten
Opportunity InterviewDas Visual zeigt Leitfrage, Kundengespräch, konkrete Situation, Workaround, Pain, Zitat und Opportunity Theme.Reale Kundensituationen in Opportunity-Themes übersetzenDas Interview sucht keine Lösungsidee, sondern wiederkehrende Auslöser, Friktionen und gewünschte Outcomes.nicht pitchenMuster extrahierenevidenzbasiertLeitfrageErzähl mir von der letztenSituationKundengesprächkonkret, vergangen,story-basiertIch mache das jede Woche manuell.Auslöserwann begann es?Workaroundwas wurde versucht?PainKosten, FriktionOpportunity Themeunerfülltes Bedürfnis mitEvidenzNächste Hypothesetesten oder weiter befragen
Form

Interview snapshot with event sequence, evidenced needs and open questions.

Versioning / ownership

Record date and scope; retain the previous version and reason when changing it.

Tool alternatives
  • Paper notes and event timeline
  • Shared interview snapshot
  • Recording only by agreement

opportunity-interview-working-template.md

Recruit someone with a recent relevant experience.

Opportunity Interview: Worksheet

Question

To be confirmed

Desired outcome

To be confirmed

Scope

Complete cycle Time: 20–30 minutes conversation, 15 minutes synthesis; repeat according to learning needs.

Complete this worksheet on paper or in your own document during the work.

Preparation for this scope

Method setup

  • Materials: Open guide, notes, optional agreed recording.
  • Roles: Participant, interviewer, quiet note-taker.
  • Advance information: Recruit someone with a recent relevant experience.
  • Overall time needed: 20–30 minutes conversation, 15 minutes synthesis; repeat according to learning needs.
  • Setup: Choose a quiet setting; prepare an open story invitation and an event timeline for notes. Keep note-taking separate from interviewing.

Prepare for the work steps

Opening: Opening

  • Recruiting and learning frame

Story: Story

  • Selected experience

Probing: Probing

  • Turning points in the story

Snapshot: Snapshot

  • Notes and permissions

Opportunity Interview· worksheet

Context and story anchor

Which participant, relevant event and consent? Avoid unnecessary identifying data.

...

Event sequence

Record trigger, actual steps, decisions and outcome.

...

Opportunities with evidence

Record need, scene and participant statement separately from interpretation.

...

Contrasts and follow-up

Which open questions, contrasting cases and further interviews would help?

...

Answer the prompts with your own information. Explicitly mark unknowns and assumptions.

Teresa Torres: Story-Based Customer Interviews

Opening: Opening

Expected artifact: Story anchor

Has a specific event been selected?

Entry:

...

  • Has a specific event been selected?

Story: Story

Expected artifact: Event sequence

Can actions and context be reconstructed?

Entry:

...

  • Can actions and context be reconstructed?

Probing: Probing

Expected artifact: Need evidence

Is each need tied to a scene?

Entry:

...

  • Is each need tied to a scene?

Snapshot: Snapshot

Expected artifact: Interview snapshot

Is each opportunity traceable?

Entry:

...

  • Is each opportunity traceable?

Open questions and next steps

...

Method guide: https://methodatlas.meierhoff-systems.de/en/methods/opportunity-interview/run-sheet

06

Example output

Concrete filled scenario, fictional example

Fictional example for orientation. Counts and timings describe this case and are not universal requirements.

opportunity-interview-beispiel.md

Concrete filled scenario, fictional example

Fictional example

Context and story anchor: Fictional participant P03 searched for an evening course on Tuesday. Voluntary conversation; notes only agreed. Opening: invite the story of that last search.

Event sequence: After a shift-pattern change, P03 opened three course pages, copied times onto paper and called about an unclear end date. No enrolment followed yet.

Opportunities with evidence: Opportunity: compare every session with changing shifts. Evidence: times were copied and supplemented by phone. Team interpretation: individual pages hinder comparison; still untested.

Contrasts and follow-up: Next contrast: someone with regular working hours. It remains unclear whether missing dates or shift changes were decisive. No frequency claim from P03.

07

Pitfalls

Recognize symptoms and steer against them

Quick overview, the full text is in the matching phase in the flow

  1. OpeningThe team presents its new idea.View in phase
  2. StoryThe guide interrupts every revealing detour.View in phase
  3. ProbingA feature request is accepted as a need.View in phase
  4. SnapshotOne interview is treated as market-size evidence.View in phase
08

Stop criteria

When to pause, resolve prerequisites, or choose another approach

If general wishes dominate, gently return to a specific recent experience.

Method after Praxisgemeinschaft. The method emerged as a widespread practice and is not clearly attributed to a single originator or organization. Curated with 1 sources.

Sources: Teresa Torres: Story-Based Customer Interviews

Flow, timeboxes, and pitfalls are editorially curated practice recommendations based on the listed sources.

Where to go next?

Paper illustration of a branching tree with an outcome at its root, customer opportunities, solution options and small experiment cards.
Product Discovery
Opportunity Solution Tree

Places the captured opportunities into a structured solution space.

Paper illustration of a JTBD interview notebook with a decision timeline, forces of change and a concise job hypothesis.
Product Discovery
Jobs to Be Done

Deepens the experienced situation into a job to be done with progress criteria.

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