Talking to users sounds simple until you realize how easy it is to ask the wrong questions. Too many product teams walk away from user interviews with vague answers, false validation, or polite encouragement that doesn’t actually help them build better products. Because the quality of insights you get is only as good as the questions you ask.
When done right, user interviews help SaaS products and growth teams:
- Uncover unmet needs that your metrics can’t surface
- Validate or kill assumptions before they become costly features
- Prioritize improvements based on what users value
But here’s the catch: Asking “Would you use this feature?” or “Do you like the product?” It isn’t just ineffective; it’s misleading.
Instead, the best questions must:
- Dig into specific behaviors, not opinions
- Focus on real past experiences, not hypothetical futures
- Encourage storytelling, not just yes/no answers
What Makes a Great User Interview Question?
Most product teams think they’re asking good questions during user interviews until the answers start sounding like polite fluff or vague opinions. You nod along, scribble notes, maybe even quote the user in a doc, but deep down, you know the insight is too shallow to guide a roadmap decision. So, what separates a great user interview question from a throwaway one?
The Problem with “Would You Use This?”
First, let’s talk about one of the most common traps: hypotheticals. Focus on what people have done, not what they say they might do. Good questions uncover past behavior, real problems, and workarounds, not speculative praise.
What to Aim For: Behavior Over Opinions
Here’s the key: the more specific and real, the better the answer. Compare these two:
- “Do you find our dashboard helpful?” You’ll get a vague “Yeah, it’s good.”
- “Can you walk me through the last time you used the dashboard? What were you trying to accomplish?” Now you’re hearing about their goals, friction points, and outcomes.
Open-ended, behavior-driven questions are your secret weapon. As noted in ModernLaunch’s research guide, asking about recent experiences reveals more valuable insights than asking how someone feels in general about a product.
And if you’re trying to spot friction or unmet needs, this format is gold: “Tell me about the last time you tried to [solve the X problem]. What happened next?” That one line often opens the floodgates.
Vague vs. Valuable: A Quick Snapshot
Vague Question Better Version
- “Would you use X feature if we built it?”
- “When was the last time you tried to do [job] without this feature?”
- “Do you like our onboarding?”
- “What was confusing or frustrating when you signed up?”
- “What do you think about our product?”
- “Tell me about a time the product helped you or failed you.”
Cover the Full Spectrum: Goals, Pain, Workarounds, Outcomes
To get a holistic view, ensure your interview hits on four key areas:
- Goals – What are users trying to achieve?
- Frustrations – Where do things break, lag, or confuse?
- Workarounds – How are they solving the problem now?
- Outcomes – What does success look like to them?
10 Essential Questions for User Interviews
These ten questions will help your product or growth team uncover insights that go beyond surface-level feedback and drive decisions.
What are your primary goals when using this product?
This question reveals what users are really trying to accomplish in their jobs-to-be-done, desired outcomes, or day-to-day motivations. When you understand these goals, you can align your roadmap around what delivers the most value.
- Follow-up to ask: “Can you walk me through a recent time you tried to achieve that goal?”
Can you describe a recent experience when you faced difficulties using the product?
People often forget details when you ask in general. Asking about a specific event helps surface actionable insights. You’ll uncover usability friction, unclear workflows, or emotional triggers that analytics might never show.
- Follow-up to ask: “What did you try to do next when that happened?”
What features or functionality do you feel are currently missing?
This question helps you spot unmet needs and opportunity gaps. Be careful not to let users “design” your product; instead, listen for patterns in what they struggle to do rather than what they say they want.
- Follow-up to ask: “Can you tell me about the last time you needed to do that and how you managed?”
If this feature/product were available today, would you buy or use it?
This question moves from interest to commitment. It tests whether users see enough value to take action, something far more reliable than hypothetical enthusiasm. Avoid framing this as a pitch. Keep it conversational so users don’t feel pressured to please you.
- Follow-up to ask: “Why or why not?”
How do you currently solve the problem our product addresses?
Before improving your solution, you need to understand how users are navigating the problem. Their current workflows often reveal which competitors, hacks, or tools they rely on and where your product can fit better.
- Follow-up to ask: “What’s frustrating or time-consuming about that current approach?”
What would success look like for you in using this product?
Whether it’s time saved, fewer clicks, or better collaboration, their definition of success gives you clarity on the KPIs that matter most to them.
- Follow-up to ask: “How do you know when things are working well?”
Can you give an example of when this product helped or failed you?
Story-driven questions like this uncover emotional context and how users felt when something worked or not. These insights can inform UX design, onboarding, and messaging that resonate more authentically.
- Follow-up to ask: “What made that experience stand out to you?”
Have you experienced any recurring issues or frustrations?
This question gets straight to retention blockers. Ask users to describe frequency and impact rather than emotions. You’ll start spotting recurring pain points.
- Follow-up to ask: “When did you first notice this issue, and how often does it happen?”
How likely are you to recommend this product, and why?
The “why” uncovers emotional and functional drivers behind satisfaction (or dissatisfaction).
- Follow-up to ask: “What would make you more likely to recommend it?”
What changes or upgrades would encourage you to continue or expand your usage?
The goal isn’t to collect feature requests; it’s to understand what drives long-term loyalty. Listen for clues about value perception and barriers to adoption.
- Follow-up to ask: “What would make this product essential to your daily workflow?”
Conclusion
If there’s one thing that separates high-performing product teams from the rest, it’s this: they know how to ask better questions, and they actually listen to the answers. User interviews aren’t a checkbox in your product discovery process. They’re a lens into your users’ world: the shortcuts they take, the workarounds they invent, the moments of frustration they’ve silently accepted. These are the kinds of insights you can’t find in dashboards or heatmaps.
The best teams don’t settle for opinions or hypotheticals. They ask for stories. They dig into specific experiences, past behavior, and emotional moments. They resist the urge to pitch or please and instead aim to understand. Whether you’re exploring product-market fit, validating a feature, or prioritizing your roadmap, the right interview questions will get you closer to what users actually need.
So next time you sit down with a user, skip the vague “Would you use this?” and go deeper. Ask:
- “What did you do the last time you tried to solve this?”
- “Can you walk me through what happened?”
- “What made that frustrating or worth it?”