Product & Service Feedback
Feature Discovery Interview
A feature discovery interview is a conversation held before building something new. Instead of asking customers what they want, it explores the problem they are trying to solve, how they handle it today and what it costs them. Here are the questions to ask, designed to understand the need before any solution is discussed.
17 questions
When to use this template
- Before adding a feature to the roadmap, to check that the problem is real and shared by several customers.
- When a feature request comes up repeatedly and you want to understand what sits behind it.
- When you are choosing between several possible improvements and need evidence about which problem matters most.
Questions to ask
The situation
- 01Tell me about the last time you had to deal with this in your work.
- 02What were you trying to achieve at that moment?
- 03Who else was involved, and what did each of you do?
- 04How often does this situation come up?
Current way of working
- 05How do you handle this today, step by step?
- 06Which tools, files or workarounds do you use?
- 07Where does the process slow down or go wrong?
- 08What have you already tried to improve it?
Impact
- 09What does this problem cost you, in time, money or stress?
- 10What happens when it is not solved well?
- 11How important is it compared with your other priorities right now?
The ideal outcome
- 12If this worked perfectly, what would be different for you?
- 13How would you know that the problem is solved?
- 14Who in your company would need to be involved to make a change like this?
Closing
- 15What have I not asked about that matters for this problem?
- 16Who else should we talk to about it?
- 17Is there anything you would like to add?
Tips for a useful conversation
- Ask about past behaviour, such as the last time it happened, rather than hypothetical wishes, because people predict their own future needs poorly.
- Do not describe your feature idea until the end, if at all, as it shapes everything the customer says afterwards.
- When the customer proposes a solution, ask what problem it would solve for them.
- Look for effort and workarounds: a spreadsheet built to compensate for a missing capability is strong evidence.
- Interview several customers before drawing conclusions: one story is an anecdote, a repeated one is a pattern.
Mistakes to avoid
- Asking “Would you use this?” which almost always gets a polite yes.
- Presenting the solution first and collecting reactions rather than exploring the problem.
- Interviewing only the customer who asked, who may not represent the others.
- Skipping the cost of the problem, which makes it impossible to compare priorities.
Let Passisto Clients hold these conversations
The AI agent calls your clients, asks the right follow-up questions and gives your team a clear report with the actions to take.