# The User Interview Template

> 14 behavior-anchored questions for post-launch solo founders. A recruiting email that pulls 30–45% reply rates from active users. A scorecard so call three doesn't blur into call two. Five conversations, one product decision.

**By Oana Ruxandra** — CEO and co-founder of PopHatch. Former Chief Digital Officer at Warner Music Group.

---

## How to use this template in Notion

1. Duplicate this page to your workspace.
2. Create one sub-page per interview (the "New Interview" template at the bottom of this page is ready to duplicate).
3. Send the recruiting email below to three pools: most active users, recently churned, most recent signups.
4. Run the 14 questions on every call in the order listed.
5. Score within sixty minutes of finishing each call.
6. Decide at call five.

| Metric | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Questions | 14 |
| Phases | 4 |
| Call length | 25–30 minutes |
| Calls before decision | 5 |
| Time window | 2 weeks |

---

## The one rule

> **Past behavior predicts future behavior. Hypothetical answers do not.**
> If a question can be answered with "I would" or "I think," rewrite it before the call.

---

## 1. The recruiting email

Send from your founder address. Replace only `[first name]`, `[product]`, and `[link]`.

```
Subject: 20 minutes? Founder of [product] here.

Hey [first name],

I'm the founder. I'm trying to figure out what is and isn't working for the
people who signed up in the last month. You're one of them.

Could I take 20 to 25 minutes of your time on a video call this week? I am
not selling you anything, I am not running a survey, and I will keep your
name off any notes. I just want to hear about your day, your week, and where
this product fits or doesn't.

If yes, here's my calendar: [link].

If no, totally fine. A two-line reply telling me what made you stop logging
in would be the second-best thing.

Thanks for trying us out either way.
[Your first name]
```

| Pool | Reply rate |
| --- | --- |
| Active users | 30–45% |
| Churned users | 15–20% |
| New signups | 20–30% |

> **Fallback ask:** The two-line reply alternative pulls another 10–15% who refuse a call but will type one paragraph. Those replies are data. Save them in your scorecard under Bucket A — they are past-tense by construction.

---

## 2. The 14 questions

Run in this order on every call. Do not improvise the order on calls one through five.

### Phase 1 — Context (3 questions · ~5 min)

**Q1.** Walk me through what you were doing in the hour before you signed up. Where were you, what were you trying to get done?

**Q2.** What had you tried before us that wasn't working for you?

**Q3.** The moment you decided to give us a shot, what did you tell yourself you wanted out of it?

### Phase 2 — The last time they used it (5 questions · ~10 min)

**Q4.** When was the last time you opened the product? Walk me through that day, hour by hour if you can remember it.

**Q5.** What were you trying to get done in that specific session?

**Q6.** What did you do first inside the product? What happened next?

**Q7.** At what point did you stop using it? What was happening right before you stopped?

**Q8.** What did you do immediately after you closed the tab?

### Phase 3 — Pain mapping (4 questions · ~8 min)

**Q9.** If we shut down tomorrow and you got a refund, what would you do instead?

**Q10.** What is the closest thing to us you have used? How does ours compare in your week?

**Q11.** Tell me about the most frustrating moment you have had with the product. What was happening in your day right before that moment?

**Q12.** Imagine you had a magic wand. What is the one thing you would change about how you currently solve this problem?

### Phase 4 — Willingness to pay (2 questions · ~5 min)

**Q13.** Pretend you told a friend about us last week. What did you say to convince them to try it?

**Q14.** If we doubled our price tomorrow, what would you do?

---

## 3. The scorecard

Score every interview against three buckets within sixty minutes of finishing the call.

| Bucket | Captures | Weight | Action |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **A. Behavioral** | What they actually did. Tool names, times, sequence. | 100% | Mine for patterns across calls |
| **B. Reasoning** | Why they say they did it. | 50% | Treat as hypothesis, not fact |
| **C. Self-prediction** | What they claim they'll do. | 0% | Throw it out |

### Scoring checklist (per interview)

**Bucket A — Behavioral**
- [ ] Specific moment named (date, time, day of week)
- [ ] Tools, tabs, or app names mentioned
- [ ] Sequence of actions clear
- [ ] Workaround surfaced

**Bucket B — Reasoning**
- [ ] Reason for action named
- [ ] Emotion named
- [ ] Comparison to another tool made
- [ ] Goal for the session named

**Bucket C — Self-prediction (ignore for decision-making)**
- [ ] "I would..." statement made
- [ ] "I'd pay..." statement made
- [ ] "I'd recommend..." statement made
- [ ] Future intent claimed

> **Cross-call pattern rule:** Same Bucket A entry across three or more interviews is your signal. Same pre-signup moment = segment. Same friction = activation. Same workaround = feature.

---

## 4. The decision tree

After five interviews, pick one of the four below. Ship within the named window, then run the template again.

### IF · same pre-signup moment in 3+ calls

**Decision: segment fix.** Your customer is sharper than your homepage currently reflects.

- [ ] Rewrite the homepage hero around that exact moment within 7 days
- [ ] Update onboarding copy to match the moment
- [ ] Adjust acquisition channel to find more of that segment

### IF · same first-session friction in 3+ calls

**Decision: activation fix.** Your funnel has a single point of failure.

- [ ] Block one week, defer all other work, fix the friction
- [ ] Re-recruit 5 new users post-fix, run the template again
- [ ] Compare friction-point timing before / after

### IF · same workaround in 2+ calls

**Decision: feature with proven willingness.** Users are paying for the workaround in time and pain.

- [ ] Build the simplest version this month
- [ ] Ship first to users who described the workaround
- [ ] Measure usage in week 1 against their interview claims

### IF · no pattern in 5 calls

**Decision: segment problem, not a product problem.**

- [ ] Re-recruit from a different acquisition source
- [ ] Run the same 14 questions again
- [ ] Compare segment patterns side-by-side

---

## 5. Interview template (duplicate for each call)

> Duplicate this section once per interview. Notion auto-numbers if you keep them in a database.

### Interview metadata

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Interview # | |
| User name | |
| Email | |
| Pool | Active / Churned / New |
| Date | |
| Recorded? | Yes / No |
| Duration | |

### Phase 1 — Context

**Q1. Pre-signup moment.**

**Q2. What they tried before.**

**Q3. What they told themselves they wanted.**

### Phase 2 — Last time they used it

**Q4. Last session, hour by hour.**

**Q5. Goal for the session.**

**Q6. First action + next action.**

**Q7. Stop point.**

**Q8. What they did after closing the tab.**

### Phase 3 — Pain mapping

**Q9. If we shut down tomorrow.**

**Q10. Closest competitor in their week.**

**Q11. Most frustrating moment.**

**Q12. Magic wand change.**

### Phase 4 — Willingness to pay

**Q13. How they'd pitch it to a friend.**

**Q14. If price doubled.**

### Scorecard

**Bucket A — Behavioral evidence (what they did):**

**Bucket B — Stated reasoning (why they say):**

**Bucket C — Self-prediction (ignore):**

### Notes for next call

---

## What PopHatch does with this

Hatch keeps interview notes, scores them across calls, and surfaces the segment pattern by call five so you don't have to. Free 14-day trial. Founding Member: $19/month.

**pophatch.com**