What needs to be finished first
Critical assumptions about users and their problems are documented so the interview can target them directly.
What needs to be ready before start
Interview guide with 5-8 open questions; recording tool (with consent); notes template; shared recruiting profile; calendar slots for interviews and synthesis.
A discovery-experienced interviewer; one note-taker (or transcription tool); recruiter who fills calendar slots; synthesis team of 2-4 people for pattern detection after interviews.
Opportunity hypothesis as one sentence; target segment with persona (for example Sabine, solo tax advisor, 7 employees, urban area); exclusion criteria; incentive or honorarium; legal consent.
30-60 min per interview, plus 30 min synthesis per interview
Keep the guide open, avoid closed questions at the start. Present recording notice and consent at the beginning. Copy one notes template per interview in advance.
The one question this method answers
Which situations, blockers, and coping strategies indicate whether the opportunity hypothesis is real and relevant for the target group?
Marker: Phase
| Step | Duration | Action | Hint |
|---|---|---|---|
1Phase 1: Interview preparation | 10-15 min | Review the guide, make personal assumptions explicit (for example, "I expect Sabine to say X") to challenge them during the interview. Start recording, request consent. | Without assumptions in the interview, you only hear confirmation. If you write them down, you also hear the unexpected. |
2Phase 2: Warm-up and context | 5-10 min | Start with concrete situations from the person's daily work. Ask: "Tell me about your last workday where topic X mattered." Do not ask hypothesis-driven questions. | Concrete past situations are more reliable than hypothetical questions ("Would you use X?"). The latter is sales-oriented rather than discovery-oriented. |
3Phase 3: Explore pain points and jobs | 20-30 min | Ask deeper: what was frustrating, what worked, which workarounds were used, what did it cost (time, money, stress). Use standard follow-up prompts such as "Tell me more" and "What do you mean by that?" | Every "always," "never," and "everyone" invites more precise follow-up. What does "always" mean in numbers? When was the last time it happened? |
4Phase 4: Alternatives and significance | 10-15 min | Ask for existing alternatives: what does the person do today to solve the problem? How satisfied are they? What are the trade-offs? What if the problem were not solved? | Alternatives reveal true alternatives. If the person says "I do nothing," the problem is either minor or they have given up. |
5Phase 5: Closing and immediate notes | 5-10 min | Restate the top takeaways in the person's own words and validate. Thank them. Immediately after the interview, add notes and mark the three most important quotes with timestamps. | Notes not extended within 30 min lose half their substance. Group synthesis should start only after multiple interviews. |
What comes out at the end
One structured notes document per interview with persona context, situations, pain points, alternatives, and direct quotes, plus a cross-cutting synthesis document with opportunity themes, pattern frequency, and next steps for hypothesis testing.
One folder per discovery wave with date and hypothesis. Keep synthesis as a living document; update patterns with each new interview. Mark old hypotheses with status (confirmed, disproven, modified).
Compact working template for Opportunity Interview with context, input, output artifacts, and next step.
Explores situations, needs, and opportunities without selling a solution too early.
When and for what do we use this method?
Which data, observations, decisions, or materials are available?
Short notes along the runsheet.
Owner, date, and success signal.
Concrete filled scenario, fictional example
Concrete filled scenario, fictional example
Hypothesis: Solo tax advisors like Sabine spend disproportionate time in the first months because of repeated data migration from predecessor systems.
Interview 3 — Sabine, 47 years, Berlin, takeover of 7 clients from predecessor (45 min):
Synthesis (5 interviews):
Opportunity: Automated chart-of-accounts conversion with review UI. Hypothesis test: smoke test by 05.06., owner: @lisa.
Recognize symptoms and steer against them
Interview is mostly yes/no questions and answers stay superficial.
Check the guide for open questions. Use "How," "When did this last happen," "What did you do then" instead of "Do you like X?".
Interviewer describes the planned solution and asks whether it sounds good.
Do not mention the solution during the interview. If the person asks, respond briefly and clearly: "I'd like to explain later, but I'd like to understand more first."
Questions like "Would you use X?" instead of "Tell me about situation Y."
Standard reframe: turn hypothetical questions into past situations. "Would you use an e-invoicing tool?" becomes "How did you handle your last e-invoicing task?".
Notes only include quotes that support the hypothesis.
For each interview, find at least one quote that weakens the hypothesis. If none exists, the synthesis team should challenge the data more actively.
A pattern is already claimed after 2 interviews.
Run at least 5 interviews per segment before patterns are stable. Increase to 8-10 when answers diverge strongly.
Done signals checkable in under a minute
Go to the profile for purpose, similar methods, and sources or continue to the next method in the catalog.