User Interview Playbook

Battle-tested framework for user interviews — from HeyGen's 937 interviews to PMF

English | 中文

💡 Why Star This?

• Battle-Tested: HeyGen did 937 interviews in 6 months to find PMF — this is the same methodology
• Complete Framework: End-to-end templates from user screening to post-interview analysis
• Ready to Use: Question banks, debrief templates, user grading standards

💡 Need 1-on-1 Consulting? 30 min / $100 — Contact @Iris_carrot on Telegram

If this playbook helps you, a GitHub Star ⭐ helps others discover it!

"Product founders spend the first 6 months doing intensive user interviews. HeyGen's founder did 937 interviews in 6 months. Wisperflow and Higgsfield both did 500+. It's constant interviewing and iterating."

— Iris (生姜iris)

• What is the core question for this interview?
• What hypothesis are you validating?
• Which user segment are you targeting?

Invitation Template:

Hi [Name],

I'm [Your Name] from [Company]. We noticed you've been using [Product] 
and would love to invite you to a 30-minute interview to understand 
your experience and feedback.

The session will be recorded for internal review only, never shared publicly.

Would you have time this week?

Best,
[Your Name]

Follow-up Cadence:

• Day 1: Initial invite
• Day 3: First follow-up
• Day 7: Second follow-up
• Day 10: Final follow-up
• Multi-channel: LinkedIn, email, Telegram, Discord — everywhere you can reach them

1. Warm-up + Introduction
   "Hi, thanks for taking the time to chat. I'm [Name], working on 
   product at [Company]."

2. Set Expectations
   "Today I'd love to learn about your experience with our product 
   and hear your feedback to help us improve."

3. Get Recording Consent
   "We'll record this session for internal learning — it won't be 
   shared publicly. You can keep your camera off if you prefer. 
   Is that okay?"

4. Background
   "Before we dive in, could you briefly introduce yourself?"

Current Workflow:

1. What problem are you solving with our product?
2. What do you do most frequently in our product?
3. How did you solve this problem before us?
4. What's changed since you started using us?

Competitor Comparison:

1. What other similar products are you using?
2. What do you use each product for?
3. How do we compare to competitors?
4. What do competitors do better than us?

Pain Point Discovery:

1. What frustrates you about using our product?
2. Have you encountered any bugs or issues?
3. Is there a feature that's particularly hard to use?
4. If you had a magic wand, what would you change?

Willingness to Pay:

1. What tools have you paid for before?
2. What made you decide to pay?
3. How much would you pay for our product?
4. What would make you upgrade to paid?

"Have users share their screen during interviews. Watch how they use it. See where they get stuck." — Iris

What to Observe:

• How does the user navigate?
• Where do they get stuck?
• Which features are used vs. ignored?
• Emotional reactions during usage?

Prompt:

"Could you show me how you typically use our product? 
Just do what you'd normally do — no need to prepare anything special."

1. Ambassador Invite
   "We have a user ambassador program — you'd get early access to 
   new features and direct input on product direction. Interested?"

2. Referrals
   "Do you know anyone else who might benefit from our product?"

3. Thank You
   "Thanks so much for your time — your feedback is incredibly valuable!"

See Templates

• Interview Debrief Template
• User Profile Sheet
• Feature Request Tracker

• Offer incentives ($50 gift card)
• Emphasize impact on product improvement
• Start with your most engaged users

• Start with casual topics
• Share some industry gossip
• Let them demo the product first — reduces pressure

• Ask: "If you could only have one, which would it be?"
• Check alignment with core use cases
• Compare against product roadmap

• Watch screen share behavior — real usage is revealing
• Probe for details: "Can you tell me more?"
• Willingness to pay is the most honest signal

详细中文内容请参考 references/zh/README.md

Want all playbooks in one comprehensive package? Get the Open-Source Project Integrated Marketing Action Manual:

Iris (生姜iris) — Former cofounder & COO of AFFiNE, led global go-to-market from 0 to millions of users.

• 💬 Telegram: @Iris_carrot
• 🐦 Twitter: @WeiYipei
• 📱 即刻: 生姜iris
• 📧 公众号: 云宝的桃花坞

• gingiris-launch — AI Product Global Launch Playbook
• gingiris-opensource — Open Source Launch Marketing
• gingiris-b2b-growth — B2B SaaS Growth Playbook
• gingiris-aso-growth — Mobile App ASO & Growth

MIT License - Feel free to use and adapt!