40+ Best Customer Discovery Questions 

Startups don’t fail because the ideas weren’t innovative enough or the tech wasn’t good; it’s because the founders didn’t ask the right customer discovery questions early on. 

These questions lay the foundation for your business and make sure you’re solving the right problems for the right audience. This leads to smarter product decisions, stronger market fit, and ultimately, a higher chance of success.

In this blog, we’ll discuss more than 40 questions for customer discovery that you can use before moving on with a product or service. 

Let’s jump in!

What is customer discovery?

Customer discovery is the process of talking to real people to understand their problems, needs, and behaviors before building a product.

It helps you validate whether the problem you want to solve actually exists and whether your idea is worth pursuing. 

Instead of guessing, you ask targeted customer discovery questions to your potential customers and listen to their feedback. 

This step is extremely crucial, as 42% of startups fail because there is no market need for their product or service. If you get customer discovery right, you significantly reduce the risk of building something that no one wants.

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Problem-oriented customer survey questions

Good customer survey questions help you fully understand the problem. Here are 12 carefully researched problem-oriented questions you can use in your discovery interviews or surveys. 

1. Can you walk me through the last time you faced [this problem]?

It’s a great opener that encourages storytelling instead of a quick yes/no answer. You’ll learn how the problem unfolds in their real life. This question reveals actual user behavior, emotions, tools they used, and where friction exists. 

2. What made that situation difficult or frustrating for you?

People won’t always say “I hate this,” but they reveal frustration through details. This question gets to the emotional drivers and reveals pain points that your product could help solve, both emotional and practical. 

3. What did you try doing to solve the problem?

If the problem matters, people have likely tried something to fix it. By doing so, you can find competing solutions, hacks, or workarounds. It shows how motivated they are to solve it. 

4. Did that solution work for you? Why or why not?

Knowing what failed (and why) helps you avoid repeating mistakes in your own product. Unmet expectations, trust issues, or friction with current solutions are revealed through this. 

5. How often does this problem come up for you?

Frequency helps you understand urgency and impact. It’s one of the most important discovery questions to ask a customer that discloses whether the problem is a daily headache or a rare nuisance. 

6. What happens if you don’t solve this problem?

You should ask this question to reveal the cost of inaction. It shows what happens when a particular problem is not solved, showing how much people are willing to pay for it in the long run. 

7. Have you looked for a solution to this? What did you find?

This next customer discovery interview question shows how motivated they are to fix the issue. It gives away your competition, gaps in the market, or customer misconceptions. 

8. What’s the biggest obstacle in solving this problem? 

To truly understand what’s holding your customer back, whether it’s money, trust, time, or something else, this question is essential.

Add it to your customer discovery questions list for the survey to uncover barriers that other solutions may have missed.

This insight can help you build something that actually delivers results, especially when powered by UXtweak’s top-rated online survey tool. 🍯

9. If you could wave a magic wand, what would a perfect solution look like?

People cannot describe what they want directly, but this question makes it easier. It allows customers to imagine freely and reveal value and even deal-breakers. 

10. What’s stopping you from solving this problem today?

You should ask this question to understand barriers to action. This is often where product opportunities lie.

Time constraints, lack of knowledge, high costs, or fear of change are just a few things you can uncover through it.

11. Who else is affected by this problem in your life or work?

Problems rarely affect just one person. Knowing others involved helps you understand buying dynamics or shared pain. 

Motivation-oriented customer discovery survey questions

Once you understand the problems your customers face, the next step is to discover why they care about solving them. This is where you learn what truly moves people to take action. These best customer discovery questions include: 

12. What motivated you to try solving this problem in the first place?

This question shines a light on the trigger that got them moving. Whether it was frustration, urgency, or ambition, understanding what sparked their journey gives you insight into how important the problem truly is.

13. What are you hoping to achieve by solving this problem?

Instead of guessing their goals, this lets them tell you exactly what outcome they want. It helps you align your offer with their definition of success. 

14. Why is solving this issue important to you right now?

The timing of a decision often reveals deeper context, like changes in their role, a recent failure, or a new opportunity. When you understand why now, you can change your message to fit their current reality. 

15. What frustrates you most about your current situation?

Frustration is a sign that something matters. This question uncovers the tension that makes people seek change. The more specific the frustration, the clearer the opportunity. 

16. What has stopped you from solving this before?

Here, you’re looking for roadblocks such as budget, time, fear, or lack of know-how. Understanding past friction points helps you design something easier, safer, or more appealing than what they’ve seen before. 

17. Who do you look to for advice or guidance on solving this problem?

This tells you who influences their thinking. It could be a peer, a mentor, a YouTube channel, or even a Subreddit. Knowing their trusted sources lets you tap into the right voices or platforms when it’s time to reach them. 

18. What other solutions have you considered, and what made you move on?

They’ve probably tried or looked at other options. This question reveals not only what those were, but also what was missing. That missing piece is your opportunity to stand out and serve better.

19. What would make a solution feel truly worth it to you?

Everyone has a different idea of what makes something “worth it”, such as the time they save, cost, ease, trust, and outcomes. Their answer shows what value they expect and how your solution needs to deliver on it. 

20. How do you usually decide when to buy something to fix a problem?

You’ll learn how their decision-making process works, whether fast and gut-based or slow and analytical. This helps you align your marketing and sales strategy with their natural buying flow.

21. What concerns would hold you back from trying something new?

Resistance is part of every decision. This question surfaces doubts and fears so that you can address them proactively. 

22. What would success feel like after solving this problem?

By asking this, you’re diving into their emotional world. It’s not about what happens, but what it feels like. These emotions can powerfully influence buying decisions.

Behavioral customer discovery questions examples

To build something truly useful, you need to understand what your customers actually do, not just what they say. This includes their habits, routines, actions, and real-world decisions.

That’s where behavioral customer discovery interview questions examples come in. 

23. Walk me through the last time you tried to solve this problem.

This helps you get a real, grounded story and not some assumptions or idealized behavior. It reveals tools used, steps taken, and where things broke down. Focus on specifics and avoid blanket statements. 

24. What do you currently do when this issue comes up?

Instead of what they wish they did, this uncovers their go-to action, workaround, or coping mechanism. You get a raw look at what “good enough” looks like in the absence of a better solution.

25. When do you usually deal with this issue? During work, weekends, on the go?

The context of behavior is powerful. Knowing when and where someone deals with a problem helps you design for that setting, such as mobile-first, asynchronous, offline, etc.

26. What tools or methods are you currently using to manage this?

It’s important to learn what tools or methods they’re using, such as spreadsheets, apps, sticky notes, mental checklists, etc. This tells you what’s familiar and what you’d need to replace or integrate with.

27. What steps do you usually follow to complete this task?

A breakdown of their typical process shows you where delays, friction, or errors happen. These are great places for your product to step in and add value.

28. Have you ever paid for a solution to this problem before?

This one helps validate willingness to pay and what feels worth it or not. It also shows if there’s an existing budget mindset for your category.  

29. What frustrates you most about the way you currently handle this?

This reveals emotional bottlenecks in the process that your product can simplify or eliminate. Remember, companies that use structured feedback systems often boost retention by up to 15%. 

Source

30. What have you tried in the past that didn’t work?

Failures are gold. They tell you what to avoid, what expectations to manage, and what pain still lingers because nothing fixed it.

31. How long do you usually spend trying to fix or manage this?

Time cost gives you a sense of the problem’s weight. If people are wasting hours every week, they’re probably ready to pay or switch to something better.

32. How do you usually learn about new solutions for problems like this?

This tells you where discovery happens. It can be from Google, YouTube, coworkers, Slack channels, or anywhere else. This way, you can plan your future acquisition and awareness strategies. 

33. When was the last time you changed how you handled this issue?

Behavior change is rare, so if it happened recently, you want to know why. It shows what kind of trigger, pain, or offer finally got them to shift. 

Competitor analysis customer discovery questions to ask

Before you build or improve your solution, you need to know what users are already using and how well those tools or services are serving them. You can ask the following customer discovery questions for that. 

34. Are you currently using any tool or service to solve this problem?

This serves as your baseline. You want to find out if a competitor is already part of their workflow or if you’re replacing an existing solution.

35. Which tools or services have you tried in the past?

To gain insight into your competitors and what made them move, this question is necessary. If there’s a pattern of churn, you can look for pain points to improve. 

36. What do you like most about the current solution you use?

Even if they plan to switch, this shows what’s working well. You’ll know what not to remove or underestimate in your offering.

37. What do you find frustrating or annoying about your current tool?

Frustrations are opportunities. This question reveals pain points that you could solve better, faster, or cheaper than existing tools. 

38. How often do you use that tool or service?

Frequency helps you measure reliance. If a tool is used often, it may be hard to replace, unless you offer a smoother transition or a clearly better value.

39. How much are you paying for it, and do you feel it’s worth the price?

This uncovers pricing sensitivity and perceived value. It helps you understand whether cost or ROI is the real barrier.

40. Was it easy or hard to get started with that tool?

Onboarding friction is a major drop-off point. If people struggle to get value fast, you can design a simpler first-time experience. 

As John Russell, former CEO of Harley-Davidson, said,

41. If you could change one thing about your current solution, what would it be?

You’re asking for their wishlist. This data is extremely valuable when refining your product’s features and priorities.

42. What would convince you to switch to a different tool?

Knowing whether it’s price, ease, better features, or support helps you focus on the levers that truly matter.

43. How did you first hear about your current solution?

Studies show that 92% of startups fail due to poor marketing. That’s why this question is important to understand the marketing or discovery channels that worked for the opposing business.

It helps you decide where to show up and how to win attention.

Source

44. How long did it take you to see value in the tool?

Time-to-value (TTFV) is a huge factor in satisfaction. If users say it took weeks or months to get results, you may win them over by offering faster wins or clearer guidance.

45. If your current tool disappeared tomorrow, what would you do?

This tests how essential the current solution is. If they say they’d panic, the product is sticky. If they say they’d easily find a replacement, it’s vulnerable, and you can replace that product with the right strategy. 

How to ask customer discovery questions

Asking customer discovery questions isn’t just about what you ask, but how you ask them. Let’s look at the best ways to ask discovery questions for customer success. 

🙋‍♀️ During a user interview

While doing a user interview, you need to make the person feel safe, heard, and respected. Start by building a little rapport and thanking them for joining.

Once you begin, ask open-ended questions like “Can you walk me through how you currently do X?” Avoid interrupting them or rushing the conversation.

Moreover, be careful not to guide them toward answers you want to hear. Ask neutrally and stay curious. Repeat back what they say in your own words to make sure you understood them correctly.

With UXtweak’s user interview and moderated testing tool, running these conversations becomes seamless.

From scheduling and recording to note-taking and timestamped highlights, it allows you to focus on truly listening while the platform handles the logistics. 🐝

📝 In a survey

When asking customer discovery questions through a survey, your goal is to make the experience smooth and easy. Use clear, simple language that anyone can understand.

Also, avoid leading or biased questions and instead stick to neutral wording. 

It’s better to go with multiple-choice or scale-based questions wherever possible to make analysis easier. Start with simple questions first to build momentum and end with optional ones.

How to analyze qualitative data

After customer discovery questions and responses, qualitative data analysis comes in. Instead of counting numbers, you’re looking for patterns, themes, and insights in what people say and how they say it. 

Start by reading through your notes or transcripts carefully. After that, highlight repeating words, emotions, or problems that come up often.

Then, group similar ideas together into categories or “themes”. These could be common frustrations, motivations, or feature requests. 

UXtweak: the best solution for customer discovery

UXtweak offers everything researchers and product teams need for customer discovery, including user research, interviews, and prototypes, all within one platform. 

You can manage everything in guided workflows: schedule moderated interviews, conduct tests, and use built-in tools like AI transcription, video highlights, and edit-ready notes.

When you’re ready to share your findings, exporting clean, stakeholder-ready reports takes only a few minutes. 

The business plan for UXtweak starts at €125/month. However, you can use the free plan first to understand how the tool works. If you have a bigger team, you can talk to our sales team directly for better pricing and more features. 

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Wrapping Up

In the end, it’s about asking the right customer discovery questions. Whether you’re launching a new product or refining an existing one, these user insights can be the difference between a hit and a miss. 

If you’re looking for a solution that simplifies recruitment, testing, analysis, and sharing, UXtweak is your best bet. Try it for free today! 🐝