Tell Me a Story
“Tell me a story…”
Storytelling is one of the best ways to approach product discovery interviews, especially when the conversation has stalled or some friction is encountered. By approaching a discovery interview as more of a storytelling experience, the chance to uncover treasure troves of information increases dramatically. When we limit ourselves in product discovery interviews to only look at specific flows or problems the user is experiencing, we lose out on the bigger picture that may present deeper insight into the best path forward.
One way to illustrate this concept more fully is to tell a story of my own that I encountered during a product discovery interview. At the time, I was working on a video anti-piracy application and we had just developed a new high fidelity prototype intended to make the application much more intuitive with the intent for it to become available to a wider audience. My team and I were conducting a discovery interview with a new user to the platform while using the prototype as the backdrop for the discussion. While the user was walking through the flow and providing feedback, all of a sudden there was some tension in the air as the user froze on the film information entry screen and didn’t say anything for what felt like an eternity. Finally, to break the silence, I asked the user to elaborate on what they were thinking. It was at this point that the user broke their silence and said that when they’re working on a film it is given a code name prior to release (a special name for the film that is different from the film’s title). The user then told a story about how they typically go about their day readying a film to be released and the journey the film takes as it transitions from a code name to the actual title of the film. We then journeyed back to what caused them to freeze on the screen. At this point, you might be curious what the hold up was. Well, the friction occurred when the user was presented with a “Title” text field on the screen and they were so cautious about code names and real titles of films that they experienced an internal conflict about what to put in that field. Taking the time to hear the story during this discovery interview was huge as it unlocked a new way of thinking for our team. It also allowed us to take time to deeply think about addressing these pre-production workflows in order to ensure that our users felt secure and confident through the process of protecting their films.
Please keep in mind that the exact phrase, “tell me story” doesn’t necessarily have to be used in a discovery interview (in fact, that phrase can put some users at unease because they feel like they’re on stage at that point). Rather, the key takeaway here is that you should encourage your users to explain their thinking and talk about their experiences as you sit with them to help solve their problems and strive for the best possible outcome. Often, you’ll find that you walk away with a vast amount of new information to consider as you go forward.