đź‘‹ Reader,
Before we jump in today, I have a few time-sensitive updates to share.
đź“Ł FREE Webinar. Tomorrow, Wednesday, January 8, 2025, at 12 pm EST, Stravito is hosting a FREE webinar, Making UX Research Matter to the Business. Dr. Emily DiLeo and Nikki Anderson will join me as we talk through some of the challenges of research repositories. The event is free. You can sign up here.
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🧑‍🏫 Collaboration with NNg. I have been hard at work building a brand new course for the Nielsen Norman Group (a huge honor). The FIRST cohort of that course kicks off this month (January 23). You can check it out here.
Now, let's jump in...
As a detective, I learned that every case begins with understanding the victim’s story. Their context, their habits, their daily routines—these details weren’t just background noise; they were crucial pieces of evidence that helped solve cases.
As I transitioned into product research, I was struck by the parallels between criminal investigation and understanding customer needs.
The Birth of Customer Interest Stories
Traditional market research often misses the deeper narrative. We gather demographics, run surveys, and collect data points, but we’re missing the rich contextual elements that make a story compelling—and, more importantly, actionable. That’s where Customer Interest Stories come in.
Think of them as case files for product development. Just as a detective’s case file contains not just the facts of the crime but the full narrative context, a Customer Interest Story captures the complete picture of a customer’s interaction with a product or service.
The Anatomy of a Customer Interest Story
A well-crafted Customer Interest Story goes beyond simple user personas or journey maps. It delves into the psychological state of the customer, their environmental conditions, their social context, and their underlying motivations. Like a detective’s case file, it pieces together disparate elements to form a coherent narrative that reveals not just what happened, but why it happened.
The key elements include:
The Scene
Just as a crime scene provides crucial context for an investigation, the environment where a product is used offers vital insights. Is it a busy office? A quiet home? A noisy construction site? These details matter.
The Witnesses
In product development, these are the supporting characters in our customer’s story—family members, coworkers, or anyone else who influences how they interact with our product.
The Evidence
These are the observable behaviors, the physical interactions, the workarounds people develop, and the frustrations they express. Like crime scene evidence, these clues tell us what’s really happening, not just what people say is happening.
The Motive
Understanding why customers do what they do is as crucial as understanding what they do. What drives their decisions? What are their underlying needs and desires?
Why This Matters for Product Development
Traditional market research often feels sterile and disconnected from real human experience. Customer Interest Stories bring humanity back into the equation. They help product teams develop genuine empathy for their users, understanding not just their functional needs but their emotional and social needs as well.
By approaching product research with a detective’s mindset, we can:
- Uncover hidden patterns in customer behavior
- Identify unspoken needs and desires
- Understand the full context of product use
- Develop solutions that address root causes rather than symptoms
Implementing Customer Interest Stories
The process begins with careful observation and documentation. Like a detective, we need to:
- Conduct thorough interviews
- Observe customers in their natural environment
- Gather physical evidence (photos, videos, artifacts)
- Map relationships and influences
- Document environmental factors
The goal is to create a narrative that’s both compelling and actionable. These stories should paint such a vivid picture that product managers and designers can’t help but understand exactly what needs to be built and why.
When you do this right, you can solve real problems for customers.
And when you solve real problems for them, they solve the problem of business growth for you.
Stay frosty friends,
/ari
Real Quick...
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