HKSM

A structured conversation technique used by the Product Owner and Scrum Team to learn directly from customers and end users about goals, pain points, and desired outcomes. In SBOK Scrum, interviews inform epics, user stories, acceptance criteria, and ongoing refinement of the prioritized product backlog.

Key Points

• Tool and technique to gather qualitative insights from actual customers and users.
• Used during initiation and continuously during backlog refinement and release planning.
• Works best as semi-structured interviews with open questions and probing follow-ups.
• Directly shapes epics, user stories, acceptance criteria, and non-functional requirements.
• Often paired with prototypes, demos of increments, or usability tasks to elicit richer feedback.
• Requires ethical handling of consent, privacy, and unbiased facilitation.

Purpose of Analysis

Customer or User Interviews help the Scrum Team validate assumptions, understand real-world context, and uncover unmet needs. The goal is to discover value-driving outcomes that guide prioritization and story slicing.

Insights reduce ambiguity, align stakeholders, and translate directly into clearer backlog items with testable acceptance criteria.

Method Steps

1. Define objectives: clarify what decisions the interview findings will inform (e.g., refining an epic, prioritizing a feature).
2. Select participants: recruit representative customers, end users, and key stakeholders across segments and edge cases.
3. Prepare a guide: draft open-ended questions, tasks, or scenarios; plan to show an increment or prototype if available.
4. Set logistics: schedule sessions, obtain consent, ensure recording/note-taking tools, and brief the team on roles.
5. Conduct interviews: lead with neutral prompts, listen actively, probe for why and context, and avoid leading questions.
6. Capture data: record quotes, behaviors, pain points, metrics mentioned, and acceptance criteria candidates.
7. Synthesize themes: cluster findings, identify patterns, edge cases, and non-functional constraints.
8. Translate to backlog: create or refine epics and user stories, add acceptance criteria, and adjust priority based on value and risk.

Inputs Needed

• Interview objectives tied to product goals and release plan.
• List of target users/customers and stakeholder map.
• Semi-structured interview guide and consent materials.
• Current increment, wireframes, or prototypes to elicit concrete feedback.
• Recording and note-taking tools, and a plan for data storage and privacy.

Outputs Produced

• Interview notes, recordings, and synthesized themes.
• Refined epics and user stories with clearer descriptions and acceptance criteria.
• Identified non-functional requirements and constraints.
• Updated personas, user journeys, or story maps where applicable.
• Priority adjustments in the prioritized product backlog based on validated value and risk.

Interpretation Tips

• Differentiate wants from true outcomes by asking why until you reach the underlying need.
• Triangulate qualitative comments with usage data or support tickets when available.
• Look for themes across interviews rather than overreacting to single voices.
• Map each insight to specific backlog items and write testable acceptance criteria.
• Note edge cases and constraints that will influence Definition of Done and testing.

Example

A Product Owner explores an epic about improving search. They interview frequent and infrequent users, showing a working increment and a prototype of advanced filters.

Findings reveal users want fewer steps and clearer empty-state messages. The team creates new user stories for default filters, adds acceptance criteria for response time and relevance, and reprioritizes the epic to the next sprint based on expected value.

Pitfalls

• Asking leading questions that steer users toward a preconceived solution.
• Interviewing only vocal users and ignoring silent or edge segments.
• Failing to record and synthesize, resulting in lost or misinterpreted insights.
• Jumping to design decisions without translating insights into clear user stories and criteria.
• Neglecting consent and privacy practices for recordings and data storage.

PMP/SCRUM Example Question

The Product Owner needs to clarify acceptance criteria for a high-value epic with conflicting stakeholder opinions. Which tool or technique should the team use next to obtain actionable, user-centered input?

1. Sprint Retrospective.
2. Customer or User Interviews.
3. Definition of Done review.
4. Technical spike only.

Correct Answer: B — Customer or User Interviews

Explanation: Interviews with real users provide direct insights to refine acceptance criteria and stories. A retrospective and DoD review are internal processes, and a technical spike alone does not capture user needs.