home / skills / coowoolf / insighthunt-skills / causal-interview-protocol
This skill helps uncover the real causes behind a purchase by reconstructing the customer timeline and penetrating surface answers.
npx playbooks add skill coowoolf/insighthunt-skills --skill causal-interview-protocolReview the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.
---
name: Causal Interview Protocol
description: A JTBD interviewing technique to reconstruct the customer's timeline and uncover causal mechanisms behind a purchase. Resembles criminal investigation—penetrate surface-level answers to find the struggling moment.
---
# The Causal Interview Protocol
> "It's criminal and intelligence interrogation that feels like therapy because most people don't actually know why they bought." — Bob Moesta
## What It Is
A specific interviewing technique designed to **reconstruct the customer's timeline** and uncover the causal mechanisms behind a purchase, resembling a criminal investigation or therapy session rather than a standard survey.
## When To Use
- During **customer discovery**
- Validating **zero-to-one product** concepts
- Understanding why a product is being **"hired"**
- When survey data seems **unreliable or shallow**
## The Protocol
```
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ STEP 1: RECRUIT │
│ → Interview ONLY people who already switched │
│ → Recent behavior > Hypothetical intent │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ STEP 2: RECONSTRUCT TIMELINE │
│ → Work backwards from purchase moment │
│ → "Walk me through when you first thought about..." │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ STEP 3: PENETRATE LAYERS │
│ → Layer 1: Pablum (polite surface answers) │
│ → Layer 2: Fantasy/Nightmare (hypothetical fears) │
│ → Layer 3: Reality (actual causal mechanism) │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ STEP 4: CLUSTER CAUSAL PATHWAYS │
│ → Group by WHY they switched, not WHO they are │
│ → Ignore demographics initially │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```
## Core Principles
### 1. Interview Only Actual Switchers
People who have already made the progress (purchased/switched), not prospects.
### 2. No Discussion Guide
Follow the story and the energy. Don't force a script.
### 3. Penetrate the Pablum
Get past polite surface answers to the real story.
### 4. Cluster by Causality
Group interviews by causal pathways, not demographic segments.
### 5. Find the Struggling Moment
Listen for what triggered the search.
## Key Questions
```
❌ AVOID: "Why did you buy this?"
(Invites post-hoc rationalization)
✅ USE: "Walk me through what happened..."
"What was going on in your life when you first thought about this?"
"Tell me about the moment you decided to actually purchase..."
"What did you try before this?"
```
## Common Mistakes
❌ Asking "Why?" repeatedly (invites **rationalization**)
❌ Believing customers' **hypothetical claims** ("I would buy this")
❌ Segmenting by **demographics** instead of causal pathways
## Real-World Example
Discovering why people buy Snickers (meal replacement/masticaton for energy) vs. Milky Way (emotional reward/melting texture), leading to completely different competitive sets.
---
*Source: Bob Moesta, Co-creator of Jobs-to-be-Done, Lenny's Podcast*
This skill is the Causal Interview Protocol, a JTBD interviewing technique that reconstructs a customer's timeline to surface the true causal reasons behind a purchase. It treats discovery like an investigation—moving past polite answers to find the struggling moment that triggered behavior. The goal is actionable causal patterns, not demographic stereotypes.
Interview only people who actually switched or purchased, then work backwards from the purchase moment to rebuild their timeline. The interviewer avoids scripted why-questions, penetrates layers of surface answers, and listens for concrete events, constraints, and attempts made before the switch. Finally, interviews are clustered by causal pathways to reveal distinct reasons customers hired the product.
How many interviews do I need?
Start with 10–20 switcher interviews to surface recurring causal patterns; iterate until additional interviews yield diminishing new pathways.
Should I ask 'why' repeatedly?
No. Repeated 'why' invites rationalization. Instead, ask for concrete timelines, preceding events, and what they tried before switching.