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Customer interview script

Customer interview script builder

Pick what the interview is for and get a timed script of questions about what people actually did, not what they might do. Paste your own questions to find the ones that invite polite guesses.

  • Free
  • No signup
  • Runs in your browser
What is the interview for?

Your script

Opening 1 min

  • Thanks for making time. I'm trying to understand how people like you handle this, not to sell you anything.
  • There are no right answers. The most useful thing is the specifics of what actually happened.
  • Is it OK if I take notes (or record this) so I can listen properly?

Warm-up 4 min

  • Tell me a bit about your role and what a normal week looks like.
  • Where does this fit into that week?

Core questions 21 min

  • Tell me about the last time you dealt with this. What happened?
  • What was the hardest part of that?
  • How often does that come up?
  • What do you do about it today? Walk me through it.
  • Tell me about what you have tried to make it easier.
  • What does it cost you when it goes wrong: time, money, customers?
  • Show me how you do that, if you can.
  • What happened next?
  • Why was that a problem?
  • How did you decide that?

Wrap-up 4 min

  • Is there anything I should have asked but didn't?
  • Who else do you know who deals with this? Would you introduce me?
  • Can I follow up if I have another question?

Indented lines are follow-ups: use them when an answer is vague. Listen more than you talk, and write down their exact words.

Found the problem? Launch the fix

When the interviews point to something worth building, launch it on LarkLaunch for free and get a week of feedback from makers and early adopters.

Launch your product

How to use the interview script builder

  1. Pick what the interview is for: finding the problem, learning why people signed up, onboarding, why they cancelled, or pricing.
  2. Say who you are talking to and the job or problem you are exploring.
  3. Choose a length, then copy or download the script and bring it to the call.
  4. Writing your own questions? Paste them into “Check my questions” to find the ones that invite guesses.

Ask about the past, not the future

People are kind, and bad at predicting their own behaviour. “Would you use an app that…?” gets a polite yes that means little. “Tell me about the last time you…” gets what actually happened: what they tried, what it cost them, what they pay for today. Rob Fitzpatrick’s book The Mom Test is built on this idea, and every question in these scripts follows it.

The checker flags five patterns that get unreliable answers:

  • Hypotheticals (“would you…”, “imagine if…”)
  • Predictions (“will you…”, “how much would you pay”)
  • Leading questions (“don’t you think…”)
  • Asking for opinions of your idea
  • Yes-or-no questions, and two questions in one

It matches wording, not meaning, so treat a flag as a prompt to reread the question.

After the interviews

Write up each call the same day, with exact quotes. When patterns repeat across calls, test them at scale: the product-market fit survey once people use the product, or the price sensitivity meter for pricing. Our guide on validating a startup idea in a week puts interviews into a full plan.

Frequently asked questions

How many customer interviews do I need?

Keep going until you stop hearing new things. For a first round of problem interviews with one type of customer, that is often somewhere around 8 to 15 conversations. If every interview still surprises you, the group you are talking to is probably too broad.

Why not ask people if they would use my product?

Because the honest answer is a guess, and most people guess politely. What someone did last week, what they pay for today and what they tried and gave up on are facts. Questions about the past give you those facts.

Should I record customer interviews?

Ask first, every time. A recording lets you listen instead of typing and keeps exact quotes, which are worth more than your summary. If they say no, have a second person take notes.