roadmap-interviewlisted

# Roadmap Interview A structured, non-leading interview that pulls real needs out of a user and turns them into roadmap input. The goal is not a wish list. It is to understand the person's actual job search well enough to know which features would matter and which would just look good. Run it in fifteen to twenty minutes. Respect the person's time. ## Interviewing principles (these matter more than the questions) - **Ask about the real and recent, not the hypothetical.** "Walk me through the last job you applied to" beats "what features do you want." People describe their needs accurately when telling a true story and inaccurately when speculating. - **Do not lead, and do not pitch.** Never describe a feature and ask if they would like it; almost everyone says yes. Ask what they did, where they got stuck, and what they wished had happened. Let the feature idea come from the friction. - **Separate the stated want from the underlying need.** When they ask for a thing, ask why, twice. "I want it to auto-apply" often means "I am exhausted by the repetition," which points at a very different, and better, feature. - **Follow the energy.** When someone gets animated or frustrated, stop and dig there. That is where the real signal is. - **One question at a time.** Let them finish. Silence is fine. - **Capture their words.** A vivid verbatim quote is worth more than your paraphrase. - **Welcome disagreement.** If they think something you built is useless, that is the most valuable