Journey Interview Scripts by Industry

Proven questions that uncover real customer journeys in your specific market

How to Use These Scripts

• Interview people who completed the journey within 30 days (memory fades fast)

• Record everything (with permission)

• Listen for stories, not opinions

• Ask "tell me about the last time" not "what do you usually"

• When they give you an adjective, ask for a story

E-Commerce / Retail

Opening

Journey Discovery Questions

• "Tell me about the moment you realized you needed [product]. What was happening?"

• "How long did you live with that problem before doing something about it?"

• "What finally made you say 'I need to buy this now'?"

• "Walk me through how you started looking. Where did you go first?"

• "What did you type into Google? Can you show me your search history?"

• "Which sites did you check? What order? Why that order?"

• "What confused you while researching?"

• "Show me the browser tabs you had open. What was each for?"

• "How did you narrow down from all options to a few?"

• "What made you eliminate certain options?"

• "Did you read reviews? Which ones mattered? Which didn't?"

• "Who else did you talk to about this purchase?"

• "What almost made you not buy anything?"

• "Take me through the exact moment you decided. What tipped you over?"

• "What were you still worried about when clicking 'buy'?"

• "Did you leave and come back? What brought you back?"

• "What would have made you abandon the cart?"

• "After purchasing, what was your immediate feeling?"

• "What happened between ordering and receiving?"

• "How did you track your order? How often?"

• "When it arrived, what was your first thought?"

• "What surprised you about the product?"

• "Would you buy from us again? What would have to be true?"

Deeper Probes

• "You mentioned [emotion]. Tell me more about that feeling."

• "When you say 'easy' what specifically made it easy?"

• "What were you comparing this experience to?"

• "If you had a magic wand, what would you change?"

B2B Software / SaaS

Opening

Journey Discovery Questions

• "What was broken that made you start looking for solutions?"

• "How long had this been a problem? What made it urgent now?"

• "Who first said 'we need to fix this'? What was their exact complaint?"

• "What were you using before? Why wasn't it working?"

• "How did you figure out what was available?"

• "Who got tasked with researching? Why them?"

• "What requirements did you think you had? Which turned out to be wrong?"

• "Which vendor websites did you visit? In what order?"

• "What information was hardest to find?"

• "Walk me through who had to approve this. What did each care about?"

• "What objections came up? From whom?"

• "How did you build the business case? What numbers mattered?"

• "Who almost killed this project? What was their concern?"

• "What political dynamics affected this decision?"

• "Which vendors made your shortlist? How?"

• "Tell me about the demos. What impressed you? What worried you?"

• "What questions did you ask sales reps? What didn't they answer well?"

• "Did you do a trial or proof of concept? What did you test?"

• "What almost made you choose someone else?"

• "What ultimately made you choose [vendor]?"

• "What were you still unsure about when you signed?"

• "How long between decision and go-live? What happened in between?"

• "What broke during implementation? How was it handled?"

• "Looking back, what do you wish you'd known earlier?"

Deeper Probes

• "You said 'stakeholder buy-in'—tell me about a specific conversation."

• "When you hit that roadblock, what exactly happened next?"

• "Who was your internal champion? What did they do specifically?"

• "If you had to do this again, what would you do differently?"

Healthcare / Medical Services

Opening

Journey Discovery Questions

• "When did you first notice something wasn't right?"

• "How long did you wait before seeking help? What made you wait?"

• "What finally made you take action?"

• "Did you research symptoms online? What did you search for?"

• "How did you decide where to get care?"

• "What did you look up about providers? Where?"

• "What information was hard to find?"

• "Did you check insurance coverage? How?"

• "Who did you talk to for recommendations?"

• "How did you choose this specific provider/facility?"

• "What almost made you go somewhere else?"

• "What questions did you have that websites didn't answer?"

• "How did you book your appointment? Any frustrations?"

• "What paperwork did you deal with? When?"

• "What surprised you about the actual visit?"

• "How was follow-up handled?"

• "What did you have to figure out on your own?"

Deeper Probes

• "When you say 'confusing,' what specifically confused you?"

• "What made you trust or not trust that information?"

• "What would have made this experience less stressful?"

Financial Services

Opening

Journey Discovery Questions

• "What life event or situation triggered this need?"

• "How urgent was this? What was the deadline?"

• "What were you trying to accomplish financially?"

• "Who influenced this decision? How?"

• "How did you learn about your options?"

• "What terms or concepts confused you?"

• "Which websites did you trust? Which didn't you?"

• "Did you use calculators or tools? Which ones? How?"

• "What questions did you have that were hard to answer?"

• "How did you compare different providers?"

• "What factors mattered most? Interest rates? Fees? Something else?"

• "Did you read reviews? Where? What did you look for?"

• "Who did you ask for advice? What did they say?"

• "Walk me through the application process. What was painful?"

• "What documents did you need? How hard were they to find?"

• "What made you nervous during the application?"

• "How long did approval take? How did waiting feel?"

Deeper Probes

• "You mentioned 'trust'—what specifically made you trust them?"

• "When you got stuck, what did you do?"

• "What would have made you choose someone else?"

Local Services (Restaurant, Salon, Auto, Home)

Opening

Journey Discovery Questions

• "What made you need [service] right then?"

• "Was this planned or emergency? How did that affect your search?"

• "What day and time did you start looking?"

• "How did you search? Phone? Computer? What did you type?"

• "Did you use Google Maps? Yelp? Something else?"

• "What information did you need immediately? Hours? Prices? Location?"

• "How many places did you consider? Why those?"

• "What reviews did you read? What did you look for in them?"

• "Did you look at photos? What were you checking?"

• "Did you check their website? What for?"

• "What almost made you choose somewhere else?"

• "How did you book/schedule? Phone? Online? Walk-in?"

• "What happened when you arrived?"

• "What was different than expected?"

• "How was payment handled?"

Deeper Probes

• "When you say 'convenient,' what specifically made it convenient?"

• "What would have made you leave and go elsewhere?"

• "Have you been back? Why or why not?"

Education / Online Learning

Opening

Journey Discovery Questions

• "What made you want to learn this? What triggered it?"

• "What were you hoping to achieve?"

• "How long had you been thinking about it before acting?"

• "What finally pushed you to start?"

• "How did you find available options?"

• "What did you compare? Price? Format? Credentials?"

• "Did you look at reviews? From students? From employers?"

• "What questions did you have that were hard to answer?"

• "Why this specific program over others?"

• "What almost stopped you from enrolling?"

• "Who did you talk to about this decision?"

• "How did you justify the time and cost?"

• "How did the reality compare to expectations?"

• "When did you almost quit? What kept you going?"

• "What support did you need? Did you get it?"

• "Would you recommend this? To whom? Why?"

Nonprofit / Donation

Opening

Journey Discovery Questions

• "How did you first hear about this organization?"

• "What caught your attention about them?"

• "How long between learning and donating?"

• "What did you want to know before donating?"

• "Did you research their impact? How?"

• "What validation did you look for?"

• "What would have made you not donate?"

• "What finally triggered your donation?"

• "How did you decide on the amount?"

• "What payment method? Why?"

• "What happened after donating?"

Universal Follow-Up Questions

1. "If you had to do this journey again tomorrow, what would you do differently?"

2. "What advice would you give someone starting this journey?"

3. "What's the one thing we could fix that would have made the biggest difference?"

4. "On a scale of 1-10, how likely are you to recommend us? Why that number?"

5. "Is there anything I should have asked but didn't?"

Interview Best Practices

• Recruit people who completed journey within 30 days

• Offer appropriate incentive ($50-150 depending on length)

• Send calendar invite with clear expectations

• Test recording equipment

• Start with easy, factual questions

• Let them tell stories without interrupting

• Ask "what" and "how," not "why"

• Mirror their language, not your internal jargon

• Be comfortable with silence

• Send thank you within 24 hours

• Transcribe immediately while context is fresh

• Pull out quotes and specific moments

• Look for patterns across interviews

• Share findings with team within a week

• Leading questions ("Wasn't that frustrating?")

• Hypotheticals ("Would you use...?")

• Multiple questions at once

• Interpreting while they talk

• Solving their problems during interview