Market research interview questions that ask about behavior, not opinions
Ask people whether they would use a product and most will say yes. Ask what they did the last time the problem came up, what they use today and what it costs them, and the answers start to predict what they will actually do. A research interview is built from the second kind of question.
What should teams researching a new product ask first?
| Ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| When did this problem last come up for you, and what did you do? | A recent, specific story is evidence. A general opinion is not. |
| What do you use for this today? | The current answer, even a spreadsheet or nothing, is what a new product has to beat. |
| What does the current way cost you, in time or money? | A problem with no cost is a problem nobody pays to solve. |
| What would have to be true for you to switch? | It names the bar, and often a reason to stay that you had not thought of. |
| If you don’t use anything for this, what has stopped you? | Non-users explain the market you have not reached yet. |
| Who else is involved when you decide on a tool like this? | The person with the problem and the person who pays are often not the same. |
If an answer would not change what you do next, leave the question out. Each extra question is one more reason for someone to stop before they finish.
The template starts with an age-range question. Keep it only if your research is about age groups; otherwise remove it, so nobody is asked for something the research does not use.
Which answers come back too vague to use, and what do you ask next?
The answers that cause a phone call are rarely missing. They are present and too loose to act on. A narrower follow-up, asked straight away while the person is still there, usually settles them. Offering likely answers shows the person the level of detail you need.
| What comes back | The follow-up that settles it |
|---|---|
| “I’d probably use something like that.” | What do you do about it today, and when did you last have to? |
| “It’s a real pain.” | What did it cost you the last time: an afternoon, a missed deadline, a customer? |
| “We just use spreadsheets.” | Can you describe what the spreadsheet does, and where it breaks? |
Follow up once per gap, then move on. If an answer is still unclear after one follow-up, flag it for whoever picks the request up rather than pressing.
When is a call or a visit still the right move?
Early research is still worth doing in conversation: the first handful of interviews, where you do not yet know which questions matter. A written interview is for what comes after, when the questions are known and you want answers from many more people than you could call.
How do you set this up from the Market research interview template?
Acquainto has a Market research interview template to start from. After you sign up, open Browse templates, pick Market research interview, and it lands in the editor as a draft you can change before anything is published.
The template asks an age range, how often the person uses products like this, where they discover new products, how much price matters and their biggest challenge, and branches on usage: a current user is asked what they use and what would make them switch, a non-user how they handle it today and what has stopped them. Replace the discovery and price questions with the last-time and cost questions above.
Acquainto runs it as a short written conversation instead of a form. It:
- asks a follow-up when an answer is incomplete, and asks for clarification when one is vague;
- uses a structured choice where precision matters and open conversation where detail matters;
- shows the person every answer before it is sent, so they correct their own mistakes;
- hands back one clean value per question, delivered to your own systems by webhook.
The person answering needs no account, and nothing has to be scheduled. Start free trial, see how it works, or compare plans.