| Step | Goal | Time | Core Questions & Probes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prep (before call) | Walk in knowing their context | — | • Read their survey answers and product site.• Note current auth stack, team size, user base. |
| Welcome & framing | Set tone, confidentiality | 2 min | “Thanks for taking the time! We’re researching real pain points with auth/login systems to guide a new open-source SDK. We’re not selling anything today—just learning. We’ll keep your input anonymous. OK to record?” |
| Role & product snapshot | Establish relevance | 5 min | • “What’s your role day-to-day?”• “Give me the 30-second tour of your product & users.” * "What is the most critical personalized (i.e. requiring login) aspect of your product?" |
| Auth decision journey (Switch interview) | Understand selection drivers & constraints (H3) | 10 min | 1. “When did you last choose or change an auth/login solution?” |
“What triggered that decision?”3. “Which options made the short-list? Why?”4. “Who had veto or final say?”5. “What did success look like?” (metrics, KPIs) | | Jobs-To-Be-Done & pain inventory | Unpack core/sub jobs, quantify pain (H1, H2) | 15 min | “Walk me through the ideal onboarding flow for a new user.”• Where does friction appear?• —dig for anecdotes & numbers:• First-time conversion (drop-offs, OAuth vs wallet)• Duplicate accounts / identity stitching (costs, support tickets)• Session continuity across channels/apps (wallet reconnects, SSO gaps)• Account recovery & customer support load• Compliance / security worries (KYC, 2FA, phishing) | | Life after integration | Reveal latent / ongoing headaches | 7 min | “Has your PM (or you) wanted to do something that wasn’t possible because of the account and login system? What was it and why was it blocked?” | | Cross-app & alias themes | Test hypotheses H4 & H5 (without pitching) | 12 min | 1.. Account merge: “How do you handle a user who signs up with Google, then connects a wallet, then Discord? What breaks?”
“are there other apps that your customers use in their workflow with yours?” “How do they handle managing their identity and data across those apps?”
Alias-based payments (email/phone → wallet): “Would something like ‘send funds to an email’ be valuable in your context? Why / why not?” | | Effort & willingness to switch | Gauge adoption barriers | 5 min | • “If a new SDK solved , how much dev time could you realistically invest to integrate it?” (days/weeks)• “Roughly what annual or MAU cost band feels acceptable?” | | Wrap-up & referrals | Close, incentive, snowball sampling | 4 min | • “Anything we didn’t ask but should have?”• “Who else (team or network) has strong views on auth we should talk to?”• Confirm incentive method; thank them. |
Understanding why developers might signal like they are looking for more secure platforms