Discovery Interview Guide Skill

Design interviews that surface genuine insight — not validation of what you already believe. Every guide follows a story-based, past-behaviour-focused structure.

Core Principles

1. Never ask about the future. "Would you use X?" tells you nothing. "Tell me about the last time you did X" tells you everything.
2. Interview for behaviour, not opinion. Opinions are cheap. Behaviour is evidence.
3. The 5 Whys. Every surface answer is a door. Keep opening doors.
4. Confirm the problem before exploring the solution. Never show a prototype until you've confirmed the pain exists unprompted.

Interview Structure (60 minutes standard)

1. Warm-Up (5 min)

Build rapport. Get them talking. Don't discuss the topic yet.

• "Tell me a bit about your role and what a typical week looks like for you."
• "What tools do you rely on most day-to-day?"