problem-interview

What this skill does

# Problem Interview

> Validate that the problem you want to solve is real, painful, and worth solving before building anything. Master Cindy Alvarez's structured approach to problem discovery interviews.

## When to Use This Skill

- **Before solution interviews** to confirm the problem exists
- **Early customer discovery** to understand the problem space
- **Pivoting** to find new problems worth solving
- **Market expansion** to understand problems in new segments
- **Feature prioritization** to validate which problems matter most
- **Hypothesis testing** to validate or invalidate problem assumptions

## Methodology Foundation

| Aspect | Details |
|--------|---------|
| **Source** | Cindy Alvarez - "Lean Customer Development" (2014) |
| **Core Principle** | "Problem interviews help you understand the problem space before committing to a solution. You're not pitching—you're learning." |
| **Why This Matters** | Most startups fail because they solve problems people don't care enough about. Problem interviews prevent building solutions to non-problems. |


## What Claude Does vs What You Decide

| Claude Does | You Decide |
|-------------|------------|
| Structures production workflow | Final creative direction |
| Suggests technical approaches | Equipment and tool choices |
| Creates templates and checklists | Quality standards |
| Identifies best practices | Brand/voice decisions |
| Generates script outlines | Final script approval |

## What This Skill Does

1. **Structures problem exploration** - Systematic approach to understanding pain points
2. **Identifies problem severity** - Distinguishes "nice to have" from "must solve"
3. **Discovers existing solutions** - Understands what people do today
4. **Validates problem frequency** - How often does this problem occur?
5. **Finds problem context** - When and where does the problem happen?
6. **Generates solution hints** - What would ideal look like?

## How to Use

### Prepare Problem Interview Script
```
I want to validate this problem hypothesis: [problem statement]
Target customer: [who]
Create a problem interview script with open-ended questions.
```

### Analyze Problem Interview Results
```
I conducted [X] problem interviews. Here's what I learned: [summary]
Analyze whether the problem is validated.
What should I do next?
```

### Design Problem Interview Experiment
```
Help me design a problem interview experiment to test:
Hypothesis: [problem hypothesis]
Target: [customer segment]
Sample size and success criteria needed.
```

## Instructions

### Step 1: Define Your Problem Hypothesis

```
## Problem Hypothesis Template

### The Problem Statement
"I believe [customer segment] has a problem with [problem area]
because [reason/observation]."

### Assumptions to Validate
| # | Assumption | Confidence | Evidence |
|---|------------|------------|----------|
| 1 | The problem exists | Low/Med/High | None yet |
| 2 | The problem is frequent (happens often) | Low/Med/High | None yet |
| 3 | The problem is severe (causes real pain) | Low/Med/High | None yet |
| 4 | People are actively seeking solutions | Low/Med/High | None yet |
| 5 | Current solutions are inadequate | Low/Med/High | None yet |

### What Would Invalidate This?
- If fewer than [X%] mention this problem unprompted
- If the problem happens less than [frequency]
- If severity rating is below [threshold]
- If people aren't spending time/money to solve it
```

---

### Step 2: Structure the Problem Interview

```
## Problem Interview Framework

### Interview Goals
1. Understand the CONTEXT where the problem occurs
2. Measure the SEVERITY of the problem
3. Discover EXISTING SOLUTIONS they use
4. Identify FREQUENCY of the problem
5. Find the COST (time, money, emotion) of the problem

### Interview Structure (30 minutes)

**Part 1: Context Setting (5 min)**
- "Tell me about your role and what you're responsible for..."
- "Walk me through a typical day/week..."
- Goal: Understand their world before diving into problems

**Part 2: Problem Exploration (15 min)**
- "What are the biggest challenges you face with [area]?"
- "Tell me about the last time [problem] happened..."
- "What was the hardest part about that?"
- "How often does this happen?"
- Goal: Deep dive into problem, frequency, severity

**Part 3: Current Solutions (7 min)**
- "How do you handle this today?"
- "What have you tried in the past?"
- "What works? What doesn't?"
- "What do you wish existed?"
- Goal: Understand competitive landscape from customer view

**Part 4: Impact & Close (3 min)**
- "How much time/money does this cost you?"
- "If this problem disappeared, what would change?"
- "Who else deals with this that I should talk to?"
- Goal: Quantify impact, get referrals
```

---

### Step 3: Ask Non-Leading Questions

```
## Problem Interview Questions

### Opening Questions (Broad to Specific)
"I'm researching how [people like you] handle [problem area].
I'm not selling anything—just trying to understand the reality."

### Problem Discovery Questions

**Existence:**
- "What's the most frustrating part of [area]?"
- "Walk me through the last time you dealt with [problem]..."
- "What keeps you up at night about [area]?"

**Frequency:**
- "How often does [problem] happen?"
- "When was the last time? The time before that?"
- "Is this daily? Weekly? Monthly?"

**Severity:**
- "On a scale of 1-10, how painful is this?"
- "What happens if you don't solve this?"
- "How does this affect your [work/life/business]?"

**Emotional Impact:**
- "How does it feel when this happens?"
- "What emotions come up when you deal with this?"
- "What would it mean to you to solve this?"

### Existing Solution Questions

**Current Behavior:**
- "How do you handle this today?"
- "What tools/processes do you use?"
- "Walk me through your current workflow..."

**Past Attempts:**
- "What have you tried before?"
- "What worked? What didn't?"
- "Why did you stop using [previous solution]?"

**Ideal State:**
- "If you had a magic wand, what would you change?"
- "What would the perfect solution look like?"
- "What would need to be true for this to be solved?"

### Impact Questions

**Quantification:**
- "How much time do you spend on this per week?"
- "How much does this cost you?" (direct and indirect)
- "What's the opportunity cost of not solving this?"

**Urgency:**
- "Is solving this a priority? Why/why not?"
- "What would make it urgent?"
- "Have you looked for solutions recently?"

### DON'T Ask These

❌ "Would you use a product that...?" (leading)
❌ "Don't you think [solution] would help?" (leading)
❌ "Is [feature] important to you?" (leading)
❌ "Would you pay for...?" (hypothetical, save for later)
```

---

### Step 4: Measure Problem Severity

```
## Problem Severity Assessment

### During Interview - Probe for:

**Time Cost:**
- "How much time do you spend on this?"
- Convert to $ (hourly rate × time)

**Money Cost:**
- Direct costs (tools, services, fixes)
- Indirect costs (opportunity cost, delays)

**Emotional Cost:**
- Frustration level
- Impact on job satisfaction
- Stress and worry

### Severity Scoring Framework

| Signal | Low (1-3) | Medium (4-6) | High (7-10) |
|--------|-----------|--------------|-------------|
| Frequency | Rarely | Monthly/weekly | Daily |
| Time spent | Minutes | Hours | Days |
| Money impact | <$100/mo | $100-1000/mo | >$1000/mo |
| Emotional | Annoyed | Frustrated | Distressed |
| Action taken | None | Some searching | Actively seeking |
| Budget allocated | None | Considering | Has budget |

### Severity Evidence

**Strong validation signals:**
- They brought up the problem before you asked
- They got emotional when describing it
- They've already spent money trying to solve it
- They can quantify the impact precisely
- They asked if you have a solution

**Weak validation signals:**
- Only mentioned when directly asked
- Vague about impact ("it's kind of annoying")
- Never tried to solve it
- Can't quantify the cost
- No urgency in their voice
```

---

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