Lean Customer DevelopmentCindy Alvarez
YESNO
Let’s start
with a
hypothesis
(guess)…
I believe
[type of person]
needs to solve
[problem]
which happens when
[performing task].
time to pivot
What are your assumptions?
• Motivations
• Current behaviors
• Ability to change
• Decision-making criteria
• Problem frequency
• Problem severity
So, where am I
going to find
customers…?
And why would
random people
be willing to
talk to me?
Social psychology is on
our side
• Most customers are
“unrecognized experts”
• We love to sound smart
• We love to be helpful
• We love to feel in control of
our destiny (make things
better in our lives)
People do not care about
• Your credentials
• Your personal history
• Your product (don’t sell me
#@*%!)
My name is
[name]
and I’m trying to solve
[problem]
and I’d love to learn
from you because
[reason].
Could you talk with me
for 20 minutes?
Getting people to talk (a
lot):
• Thank you!
• I’m going to talk as little as
possible
• Nothing you say will be boring
Getting people to talk (a
lot):
• Tell me about the last time…
• 60 seconds of silence
• No “yes/no” questions
• Who / What / When / How / Why
But what if I
ask the wrong
questions?
Tell me about how you do
_________ today…
Do you use any
[tools/products/apps/tricks] to
help you get ________ done?
Last time you did ___________,
what were you doing right before
you got started?
Once you finished, what did you
do after?
If you could wave a magic wand
and be able to do anything that
you can’t do today, what would
it be?
(Don’t worry about if it’s
possible)
Is there anything else about
_________ that I should have
asked about?
Who do you know that I should
also be talking with? Who else
cares a lot/is affected by
______?
And then can I
show them my
product?
NO
I’ve learned so much from you!
I think we’ll have some
ideas/prototype/demo ready in a
week or two.
Can I get back in touch then and
show you something?
OK, great. But
what do I do
with all these
notes?
Making sense of what you
hear:
• Validates
• Invalidates
• Emotion
• Surprises
Live
Customer
Development
Advice
Time!
Customer Development
‘Ask’ Templates:
http://bit.ly/16K4mhM