How to Find Users to Interview: A Practical Guide for Different Stages

Finding users to interview is one of the most challenging parts of building a product. Whether you’re validating a problem, testing a solution, or understanding why someone churned, the type of interview you’re doing determines how you go about finding people to talk to. Also, some interviews are more suitable to outsource to an AI agent than others.

Let’s break down the strategies depending on the type of interview and stage you’re in.

1. Problem Discovery and Solution Discovery Interviews

This is where the heavy lifting usually starts. You’re not talking to users of your product yet—perhaps you don’t even have a product, or no one has signed up. At this stage, you’re trying to talk to potential users to understand their problems, workflows, and unmet needs. These interviews are critical but notoriously difficult to schedule.

Here are a few key tactics:

🌐 Explore Your Network

Start with people you know or have worked with. Ask former colleagues, friends, or connections in the space if they’d be open to a quick conversation. It’s low-friction, and often one conversation leads to another.

🔄 Ask for Referrals—Every Time

At the end of every interview, ask:

“Is there anyone else you think I should talk to?”

Even if the interview wasn’t a perfect fit, they might point you to someone who is.

📞 Cold Calling and Cold Emailing

Yes, it works—but it requires tact. When reaching out cold:

• Offer value: Position yourself as someone who has insights into where tech or trends in their field are headed.
• Be human: Keep it short, respectful, and to the point.
• Mention why you’re reaching out to them specifically—not just anyone. Tell them you’ve heard they’re an expert in the field. It helps.

People often want to help entrepreneurs, and if they feel like the conversation is a two-way street, they’re more open to it.

We recommend not outsourcing all discovery interviews to AI, since this is something the founders must do themselves. However, it can be extremely beneficial to have a SelkoDialog interview link on your landing page, so people can take an interview with an AI agent right away. It will complement the real human interviews.

🤝 Warm Introductions

A warm intro beats a cold one every time. Even a weak tie (“I met them once at a meetup”) can make the difference between getting ignored and getting a meeting. Ask people in your network if they know anyone relevant, and be clear about what you’re looking for.

💵 Bribery (Within Limits)

Sometimes—especially if you’re struggling to get conversations—offering a gift card or incentive can help. Just be aware: when you pay people, they may try to please you. That can distort the honesty of the interview. We normally advise against this in discovery interviews. However, when using SelkoDialog’s AI Agent for interviews, it’s fair to give participants something—like entry into a gift card lottery.

2. Interviewing Existing Users

If you already have users, you’re in a much better position—especially if they like your product.

❤️ Start with Your Power Users

Look at the people who use your product the most. Heavy users are often eager to share their feedback and help improve the experience.

• In B2B, customer success teams can help make introductions.
• In B2C, consider sending short, personalized messages to your most engaged users.

📞 Phone Numbers? Use Them

If your product collects phone numbers during sign-up, you have a direct line. Most people are surprisingly open to a very quick 5-minute call if approached respectfully.

You don’t need a formal interview every time. Sometimes, a light chat is enough to learn a ton.

When using the SelkoDialog AI Interview Agent, just send a polite email with the link to the interview, and your users can complete it at their convenience.

3. Exit Interviews (Users Who’ve Churned)

These are trickier. Once someone has decided to leave your product, they usually don’t have much motivation to help you out.

🧲 You’ll Probably Need to Offer Something

An incentive—money, a gift card, a donation to charity—can help get people to talk. Just as with discovery interviews, be aware that this can influence what they say. But with exit interviews, there’s usually no other way around it.

🕵️ Don’t Wait Too Long

The closer the interview is to the time they churn, the better. You want to catch them while the experience is still fresh in their mind.

Final Thoughts

No matter what stage you’re in, remember to be respectful of people’s time. The best user interviews can often come from unexpected places, so stay curious and keep asking around.

And above all, keep talking to users. Use an AI Agent to complement your interviews.

Get started today and see how automated user research can transform your product development process.

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