In your everyday life, if you see someone struggling, frustrated or unhappy with something, it seems like the natural response is to ask them what's wrong or what they need, right?

But that changes when that "something" is a product you've been working on and you go out into the real world where you share it with people who have real goals and real needs.

Part of my job as a researcher is to test product proposals in real use contexts, together with a manager, and when the interviewee shows some difficulty with the interface, it is the manager who quickly points out where the "error" is and "what to do" to "help".

How can we do better?

What I recommend to Stakeholders is a simple strategy. Instead of advocating the product, they can be curious about the interviewee's thoughts, needs and expectations.

Let's see both options, as a short story.

In a nutshell

If you ask you learn and get information to truly improve your product while if you talk, you do not.

Be curious. Ask more about the situation and your product use, to understand different realities. With the good and the bad, this is the best way to move forward in the right path.