Stop Asking 'What Do You Want?': How to Conduct User Interviews That Uncover Pain Points

Henry Ford famously said, 'If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.' This is the golden rule of UX Research.

If you get on a Zoom call with a customer and ask, 'What features should we build next?', they will give you a list of minor tweaks. They will ask for a darker dark mode or a new export button. They will never tell you about the massive, structural problems with your workflow because they are too used to the pain.

The 'Mom Test' Approach

To get real insights, you have to stop asking about the future and start asking about the past. People lie about what they will do, but they rarely lie about what they have already done.

Bad Question vs. Good Question

Bad: 'Would you use a feature that automatically schedules your emails?' (They will always say yes to be polite).

Good: 'Walk me through exactly how you scheduled your emails last Tuesday. Can you share your screen?'

Looking for the 'Hacks'

While they share their screen, watch for 'hacks.' Are they exporting your data into Excel just to sort it, and then bringing it back? That is a massive red flag. That friction point is your next multi-million dollar product feature.

Next Step: Interviews are just one part of the puzzle. Combine them with a 5-Step UX Audit for maximum impact.