You must dig

Get to the motivations behind a request. 'Something' happened for that 'something' to be acknowledged as a problem by your users. Customers will rarely be able to point to what true problem is, so thats your job to unearth.Often, users think they are doing a certain action, but really don't understand the 'Why' surrounding their actions.

• The Golden Question:"Can you tell me a story about a time that you wanted to do that and what you had to do instead?"
• "Uncover the **why** behind customer choices."

Dig down into their actual workflow. What were they doing at the precise moment they thought something need to change or had their epiphany?

[[Declared customer preference is not something you can trust]]. [[We are creatures of habit]]

We need to dig for the gems that caused their frustration in the first place. What were they doing at the very moment? What was their underlying motivation for making the request in the first place?

• "You must have an intense focus on solving your customers struggle and finding out what they are really hiring your product for. Find the [[causal mechanisms]] that caused them to pull the products into their lives."
  • "What state of mind were they in when they came across the issue they were having? Cluster these insights together to build out the full picture of the situation(s). Factor in their entire environment."
• "What was happening that showed you the way you were doing things wasn't working anymore? — via Keep digging - Signal v. Noise"

"What are customer doing in place of use your product? If their problem is real then they will take the time to hack together a solution that satiates their needs temporarily."

• "Keeps these insights on the individual level. Avoid grouping your different customers insights together even though it can be tempting to build 'profile' and demographic groups."

"Ask yourself: What obstacles can your product remove to help them succeed?"

• We want the edge cases.