3 ms·
But the human brain is very good at talking about specifics. Questions like "can you walk me through what you do everyday" or "are there any repetitive tasks th
by edw519 14y ago
But the human brain is very good at talking about specifics. Questions like "can you walk me through what you do everyday" or "are there any repetitive tasks that you do day-to-day" will lead you down a much more interesting path. You’ll find problems that your software actually can solve.
Great advice. I like to take this even deeper:
- What is the next thing you do?
- Who do you call / talk to / pass this to?
- Show me that form with real data on it.
- What's the worst thing that happens?
- How often does that happen? (hourly, daily, etc.)
And my 3 favorite questions (which are often very revealing):
- What % of time does that happen?
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how good is that?
- What is the #1 thing needed to take that to a 10?
Also, I try to ask these questions to > 1 person. The discussion of 2 or more people coming up with the answer is often more educational than the answers themselves.
I have at least 10 years of real work in my pipeline thanks to these techniques. I never worry about "make something people want".
Great post, Dan and Jason. Thank you!
- isnotchicago 14y agoAs far as getting into specifics, how have questions like "How often does that happen?" worked compared to questions like "when is the last time that happened?" In other words, having the user speak about a particular instance versus generalizing about a "typical" day.
- jasonfried 14y ago"tell me about the last time that happened" is better than "how often does that happen?" How often doesn't tell you much. Plus it's unlikely to be accurate - people just don't keep track of things closely enough before you ask a question like this. But "tell me about the last time" is specific and someone can tell you a story. Then you can dig into it.