This past week, I started performing user interviews for Cushion again. I’ve always talked with users at-length via Cushion’s in-app chat, but that’s typically focused on a single topic or problem, and it’s filtered by text-based communication. Real in-person or remote user interviews, however, let me witness the raw unfiltered experience of someone navigating my creation—for better or worse. (Usually worse.)

For anyone who hasn’t done any user interviews for a product you made yourself, it’s not for folks who lack patience and it requires great restraint, but I will say that it’s the most valuable routine you can establish as a product owner, and once you start, you should never stop. The true value I see in user interviews is not what they tell you, but how many pain points or moments of friction they experience along the way—especially if you’re onboarding a new user. True story: a user interview with a good friend and long-time Cushion user actually caused me to give up and take a full-time job. After watching her click around Cushion, telling me everything she didn’t use, I lost whatever steam I had left. It was heartbreaking, but much needed. Now, I’m back in the saddle to course correct with weekly user interviews as a mandatory part of my process.

Similar to writing, performing user interviews takes a lot of upfront commitment, but once you get going, it becomes routine. And like going to the gym, the first step is to simply show up. In my first scheduled user interview, the “showing up” part was crucial because technology decided to fail me that day.

I met with a 3-year user whose in-app chat warranted more of a back-and-forth conversation, so they agreed to a video call. In the ~7 years since my last user interview, many new futuristic tools are available to me, so I was excited to use them. I would record the call, so I could revisit any screen sharing parts, and I’d set up a notetaker to summarize the call and avoid missing anything. On all calls, I still like to have a pen and paper with me, so I could scribble down notes that no one can read. In hindsight, I’m very fortunate that I took those analog notes because once the call was over, I realized that the recording didn’t capture any audio and the notetaker never started transcribing. To quote Kevin Sorbo from Hercules, “Disappointed!”

Aside from the rookie mistakes, the interview was incredibly valuable, and led to a couple ships already, including one that the user didn’t even ask for, but I knew would help them from how they navigated the app. There’s an overlap between being a good user researcher and a thoughtful gift giver—you just need to listen, see, and take notes.

Later that week, I sat with a fellow freelancer at my studio space, Design Town, for an in-person user interview. She didn’t know about Cushion—which goes to show how bad my marketing has been—but she was interested in trying it out. Because she wasn’t already a user, I sat with her as she signed up for a new account and went through onboarding. There were a lot of caveats along the way because both the homepage and onboarding are very much a work-in-progress right now, but I still held my breath as she made her way through.

With this user interview in particular, my biggest takeaways were the aspects of Cushion that made her say “Oh, that’s useful” or “I really like that.” I instantly made a note to highlight these on the homepage. Conversely, any time she said “My existing app let’s me do this” or “I wish I could just do that”, I would add to my list of chores. Not everything made the list, though. As I jotted down notes, I needed to filter along the way. Just because her existing app does something doesn’t mean Cushion needs to do that thing, too. For instance, her existing app handles payroll for subcontractors. No thanks! I have no problem sitting that one out. But when she mentions that her existing app has reminders for invoices, I say Cushion does, too!—I just need to make that more clear and obvious.

As we wrap up the user interview, I’m left with a dozen new to-dos on my list and plenty of things to think through. This is good, though. I’m collecting more and more signal with every user interview. It’s almost addicting. At the same time, it can be overwhelming because if every user interview leaves me with a dozen more tasks, my to-do list will only snowball. Let it. Gathering this intel is the easy part, and I need to remind myself that it’s okay for this list to grow, but the hard part—the real challenge—is shaping everything into a laser-focused plan that leads to a well-oiled machine. That’s my driving force. I want more than anything for Cushion to start sailing again.

If you’re an existing Cushion user, or a freelancer interested in trying it out, and you’d be down to spend 30 minutes with me, hit me up! I’d love to chat.