Interview Script·45 min·9 questions
Discovering why knowledge workers abandon expense submissions despite needing reimbursement
You're seeing employees skip submitting legitimate business expenses or batch them into frustrating marathon sessions. Your expense system gets complaints about being clunky, but people still need their money back — so why are they avoiding the process or delaying it for weeks?
Why standard questions fail here
Direct questions about pain points miss the competing priorities and workarounds people create. This script reconstructs actual submission moments to understand what job people are really hiring the expense system to do, and where current friction derails their progress toward that outcome.
Sample Questions
Grounded in The Mom Test and Jobs-to-be-Done.
JTBD principle: understand the broader context of their work life to frame where expense reporting fits
Listen for natural mentions of travel, purchases, or reimbursable activities - note these for deeper exploration later
- What kinds of business expenses do you typically have?
- How often would you say you need to submit expenses?
- Generic job descriptions without specific activities
Mom Test core rule: ask about specifics in the past instead of generics about the future
Use the story spine technique: get them to narrate step-by-step, then probe each step for details
- What triggered you to realize you needed to submit that expense?
- How long did the entire process take you?
- What did you do while you were waiting for reimbursement?
- Generic process descriptions instead of a specific recent instance
- Hypothetical 'usually I would' statements
JTBD: uncover the emotional and functional job dimensions - what outcome were they trying to achieve
Probe for both functional goals (get money back) and emotional context (urgency, frustration, routine)
- Was there any urgency around getting reimbursed?
- How did you feel about having to do this task?
- Rational post-hoc explanations instead of in-the-moment emotions
Contextual inquiry principle: understand the physical and digital environment constraints
Map their actual setup - device, location, time of day, other demands on attention
- Did you have all your receipts with you?
- Were you multitasking or doing other work at the same time?
- Idealized descriptions of their setup rather than the messy reality
Design thinking: identify the most painful friction points in the current journey
Use the laddering technique - ask 'why was that frustrating' to get to root emotional drivers
- Why was that particularly difficult for you?
- How did you work around that challenge?
- Has this happened before in other submissions?
- Generic complaints without specific examples
- Suggesting solutions instead of describing problems
Critical incident technique: failure cases reveal system limitations and user mental models
Focus on their emotional response and recovery actions - how did they diagnose and solve the problem
- How did you figure out what was wrong?
- Who did you turn to for help?
- How much time did this add to your process?
- Hypothetical scenarios instead of actual incidents
Get your jtbd interview script
Generate a complete interview guide tailored to your specific product and audience — with rationale, techniques, and follow-up prompts for every question.
Create free account & generate