User Interviews for Indie Developers: 5 People Reveal the Real Problem

try { if(localStorage) { let currentUser = localStorage.getItem('current_user'); if (currentUser) { currentUser = JSON.parse(currentUser); if (currentUser.id === 801579) { document.getElementById('article-show-container').classList.add('current-user-is-article-author'); } } } } catch (e) { console.error(e); } kanta13jp1 Posted on Apr 28 User Interviews for Indie Developers: 5 People Reveal the Real Problem #ai #automation #indiedev #buildinpublic User Interviews for Indie Developers: 5 People Reveal the Real Problem The best way to avoid "built it, no one uses it" is user interviews. 5 people is enough to see patterns. Here's the method I use. Why Interviews, Not Surveys Surveys (wrong): "Is this useful? → Yes/No" teaches you nothing Interviews (right): observing behavior reveals the real problem Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode Users can't accurately say what they want. But they can describe when they struggle. Interviews are behavioral observation, not opinion collection. The Rule of 5 From Jakob Nielsen's research: 5 user interviews reveal 85% of problems. 1 person: unique problems (noise) 3 people: patterns start emerging 5 people: major problems are covered 10+ people: diminishing returns → low ROI Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode No large-scale research needed. Start by talking to 5 people. Question Design: Ask About Past Behavior ❌ Wrong: "Would you use this feature?" → Answer: "I think I would" (hypothetical, not real) ✅ Right: "When was the last time you struggled with [problem]? What did you do?" → Answer: actual behavior pattern Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode 5 core questions: "Tell me about [problem area]." (opening) "When was the last time this was a problem for you?" (make it concrete) "What did you do then?" (observe behavior) "What was the hardest part?" (find the pain) "How do you handle it now?" (find the workaround) How to Run the Interview Duration: 30-45 minutes Format: Zoom / in person (recording or notes required) Setup: 1-on-1 (group interviews skew responses) Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode Don't do this: ❌ Pitch your product (it becomes sales, not research) ❌ Over-agree "right, exactly!" (introduces bias) ❌ "But wouldn't feature X solve this?" (pushing your answer) Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode Do this: ✅ "Can you tell me more about that?" for depth ✅ Don't fear silence (let them think) ✅ Ask "why?" three times to reach root cause Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode Note-Taking Good notes: exact words used ("I always forget to...", "when X happens I tend to...") Bad notes: your interpretation ("bad UX", "missing features") Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode Organize notes within 24 hours while memory is fresh. Finding Patterns (Analysis Across 5 Interviews) Step 1: Write each "struggle" on a sticky note (one per note) Step 2: Group similar notes (affinity diagram) Step 3: Treat anything 3+ people mentioned as a "problem" Step 4: Hold 1-2 person mentions as tentative (not enough evidence) Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode 5 people × 3-5 struggles = up to 25 notes. Group them and you'll get 3-7 themes. Example from My Project After launching the AI University (280-company AI tool database), I interviewed 5 users: What they said: "I don't know which one to choose" "I want a comparison table" "I want to know what it's actually like to use" What I heard: Feature list → comparison axes → real experience Needed to shift from "database" to…

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