Observational VoC

Many times when interviewing a customer, it is difficult to really understand what it is like to be in the customer's shoes. Sometimes we don't have the right amount of experience in the customer's world to relate to some of the things they are saying. Other times, they are not able to fully explain what we need to know.

You will find, when interviewing a customer about their experiences, that sometimes they are just too close to their own issues to see the big picture. Other times, they have learned how to get around the various roadblocks and obstacles we have created for them by making poorly-defined products, and they have learned to accept their situation and the status quo. And still other times, you will find that customers just "don't know what they don't know." Of course, this is why we do the VoC in the first place. If the customers could just tell us what we need to build so we could sell them tons of equipment to make them more successful, they would; unfortunately...