Can I talk to you?

I’m not going to try to hide it:

I’m full of anticipation and doubt about this book project.

Will people find it useful?

Will this even be a book they want to read?

This book is a labor of love, and it’s also a mission. I feel strongly that people are capable of building good software and could do so more successfully if they had the practical tools to understand their customers.

But…

I’m under no illusions about customer research. I’m aware it’s a “vitamin” – something people know they should do, but can often feel overwhelming, intimidating, like a chore, or some combination of that.

I’m going to accept that anxiety I have about this effort.

And I’m use it to drive me to make it practical and actionable.

There are about 175 people on this list. (About 160 more than I ever expected there to be!)

Including people haven’t had a chance to read every issue.

Have you tried the things I’ve talked about in the newsletter? Some of the conversation techniques, the scripts? Did it work? Where did you have snags? Have you not gotten to it?

Whatever you’ve done or not done with the information here is okay.

It’s okay if you have a pile of these stacked up in your inbox. (I’ve had so many people tell me that.)

Understanding how people are using or not using this information will help me as I think about the kinds of practical examples, dialogues, and other devices I can add to the book to make it more actionable.

(It’s so meta.)

I want to hear what didn’t work, what fell flat, or how you still feel like you don’t have the tools to do this.

The more honest you can be, the better.

Maybe your honesty is positive stuff. Cool! Maybe you tried something and aren’t sure if you did it right because it didn’t have the result you hoped for. Maybe you still feel like you’re grasping to understand it and can’t quite put your hands around it. Maybe you just kinda feel “meh” about this.

So…

Do you have 20-30 minutes sometime in the next weeks for me to interview you?