Customer Journey Interview Template
How do they solve this today?
A customer journey interview asks people to walk you through how they solve a problem today, step by step, so you can see where the pain sits and what your product has to fit into. Run these interviews early in product development, before you decide what to build.
Questions it can answer
- How are people solving this problem today?
- How might the product/service solve this problem?
- What pains are associated with the problem today?
What is a customer journey interview?
Customer journey interviews explore the subject of an existing problem that your product or service aims to resolve. They are especially useful at the beginning of product development to understand the context that your product will fit within. The questions focus on an existing journey the customer goes on to solve a problem. These interviews will uncover pain points of the existing journey and opportunities for your product to resolve.
Related guide: For turning the interviews into a map, see our guide to customer journey mapping.
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Example questions
There is no Great Question template for this method. These examples are guidance to adapt, not a template.
Can you tell me a little about yourself and your role?
Think about the last time you had to [task]. What set it off?
Walk me through what you did, step by step, from start to finish.
Which tools, people or services did you use at each step?
Which step took the longest, and why?
Where did you get stuck, or have to work around something?
How did you feel at that point?
Who else was involved, and what did they need from you?
How did you know you were done?
How often does this come up for you?
If you could change one step, which would it be and why?
Advantages
- Helps clearly define the problem
- Great for messaging clarity
- Identify additional opportunities
Limitations
- Could identify too many additional opportunities
- Can be difficult to stay focused in the interview
- Finding interviewees
Frequently asked questions
What questions should I ask in a customer journey interview?
Ask about one specific, recent time they solved the problem, then go step by step: what set it off, what they did, which tools and people were involved, where it was slow or frustrating, and how it ended. Questions about a real past event give more reliable answers than questions about what people usually do.
How many customer journey interviews do I need?
Keep going until new interviews stop adding new steps or pain points for the group you are studying. For one well-defined group, that often happens within a small number of conversations.
How do I turn journey interviews into a journey map?
List the steps each person described in order, and mark where they used a tool, involved another person or hit a problem. Then combine the interviews into one sequence and note where people's paths differ.