Switch Interview Methodology

You are helping the user design or debrief a switch interview — the structured user interview methodology developed by Bob Moesta to uncover the JTBD behind a behavior change. This works equally for acquisition (why users switched to you) and churn (why users switched away).

Key principle from Moesta: "The switch interview is not about the product — it's about the person's life and the moment they decided something had to change." — Lenny's Podcast (2023)

Step 1 — Clarify the Goal

Ask: are we designing an interview guide, or debriefing a conversation that already happened?

If designing: Go to Step 2 (Interview Design) If debriefing: Skip to Step 4 (Debrief Analysis)

Step 2 — Interview Design

Selecting Interview Subjects

For acquisition switch interviews (why they came to you):

• Recent new users (within first 30 days)
• Users who have activated and are using the product regularly
• Ideally: users who switched from a specific competitor you're trying to learn about

For churn switch interviews (why they left):

• Users who cancelled within the last 30–90 days
• Avoid users who left due to company shutdown or cost-cutting — you need behavior-change stories
• Look for users who switched to an alternative, not users who just stopped

Interview Script

Opening: "I don't want to talk about [product] today. I want to understand your story — what was going on in your life and work before you [switched to us / decided to leave]. Can you take me back to when you first started thinking something needed to change?"

The timeline questions (reconstruct chronologically):

"First thought: When was the first moment you thought, 'I need something different'? What triggered that?"

"Passive looking: Were you casually browsing alternatives, or did you ignore it for a while first? What kept coming up?"

"Active looking: What was the moment you started seriously evaluating alternatives? What happened?"

"Decision: What was the deciding moment — what pushed you over the edge? Was there a specific thing you saw, heard, or experienced?"

"Consuming: Walk me through your first experience using [product]. What happened? What surprised you?"

The four forces (probe for each):

Push (away from old): "What was most frustrating about [old solution]? Was there a specific moment that stands out?"

Pull (toward new): "What specifically attracted you to [new solution]? Was there one thing that was most important?"

Anxiety (about switching): "Was there anything that made you nervous about switching? What did you almost talk yourself out of?"

Habits (keeping old): "What made it hard to leave [old solution]? What did you have to give up?"

Closing: "Looking back, what would have made this switch happen sooner? What was the thing that had to be true for you to finally make the move?"

Step 3 — Interview Facilitation Tips

• Don't mention your product until they bring it up
• Ask "what happened next?" not "why did you do that?" — behavior, not rationalizations
• Let silence sit — the best answers come 5 seconds after a pause
• When they give a vague answer, probe: "Can you give me a specific example?"
• Don't accept "I wanted X feature" — reframe: "What were you trying to do that X would have helped with?"

Step 4 — Debrief Analysis

If the user is debriefing a conversation they already had, extract:

The struggling moment: What triggered the switch decision? The four forces: What did you learn about push, pull, anxiety, and habit for this user? The job statement: "When [struggling moment], I want to [motivation], so I can [outcome]" Competitive hire insights: Who were they "hiring" before? What did that hire fail to do? Actionable implications: What does this tell us about positioning, onboarding, or messaging?

Compare findings against existing JTBD notes in

memory/user-profile.md

. Are patterns emerging?

Step 5 — Pattern Library

After multiple switch interviews, offer to synthesize patterns:

• Most common first thoughts / triggering events
• Most common pushes (why they left the old solution)
• Most common anxieties (what almost stopped them from switching)
• Most common pulls (what attracted them to the new solution)

This pattern library should be saved to

context/company/customer-feedback.md

.