What is it?

Facebook's 3 Question Approach is a rapid user-interview framework designed to unearth genuine customer pain points and workflows before you build.

Instead of leading or hypothetical queries, you ask three open-ended questions that anchor users in real events: when they last faced the problem, how they tried to solve it, and what worked or fell short.

This method flips scripted surveys on their head, surfacing actionable insights in under an hour of interviews. Use it to validate assumptions, refine your problem statements, and steer your product roadmap with confidence.

Why it matters?

When you ground product decisions in real user behavior instead of gut or self-reported preferences, you cut waste, slash feature flops, and turbocharge adoption. This approach surfaces the friction that truly holds back your activation and retention metrics, so your roadmap aligns with high-leverage fixes, not vanity ideas.

How it works

Growth co-pilot turns your toughest product questions into clear, data-backed recommendations you can act on immediately.

Define your problem hypothesis

Pinpoint the exact issue or workflow you suspect needs fixing. Frame it as a clear, concise statement (e.g., “Users struggle to share long videos in-app”).

Craft your three core questions

1) When did you last encounter this problem? 2) What did you do to solve it? 3) What worked and what didn't? Keep them open, non-leading, and tied to real user experiences.

Conduct 5–8 one-on-one interviews

Use video or in-person chats, record consented sessions, and stick strictly to your core questions, only probe deeper when the user mentions a surprising or high-impact detail.

Synthesize common patterns

Transcribe key responses, cluster recurring pain points and workarounds, and rank them by frequency and business impact.

Validate & iterate

Cross-check top problems with quantitative metrics (support tickets, analytics) and refine your questions or hypothesis for the next round.

Frequently asked questions

Growth co-pilot turns your toughest product questions into clear, data-backed recommendations you can act on immediately.

How many interviews do I need to run?

Start with 5–8 interviews, enough to reveal recurring themes without drowning in data. If new insights keep coming after eight, schedule more; if they dry up, you've reached saturation.

How many interviews do I need to run?

Start with 5–8 interviews, enough to reveal recurring themes without drowning in data. If new insights keep coming after eight, schedule more; if they dry up, you've reached saturation.

Can I customize the three questions?

Keep the core structure intact (past event, attempted fix, outcome), but tailor the wording to your domain so users talk in their own language. Don't add leading options or binary choices.

Can I customize the three questions?

Keep the core structure intact (past event, attempted fix, outcome), but tailor the wording to your domain so users talk in their own language. Don't add leading options or binary choices.

What if users can't remember specifics?

If recall fades, help them anchor to context (“What were you working on that day?”). When context still fails, pivot to asking about similar past episodes to jog their memory.

What if users can't remember specifics?

If recall fades, help them anchor to context (“What were you working on that day?”). When context still fails, pivot to asking about similar past episodes to jog their memory.

Is this framework quantitative or qualitative?

It's strictly qualitative, built to uncover deep insights, not statistics. Pair it with analytics or surveys afterward to validate the scale of the problems you've surfaced.

Is this framework quantitative or qualitative?

It's strictly qualitative, built to uncover deep insights, not statistics. Pair it with analytics or surveys afterward to validate the scale of the problems you've surfaced.

When should I repeat the interviews?

Re-run after major product changes, every 6–8 weeks of active development, or whenever you hit conflicting user feedback. Fresh interviews keep your problem definition razor-sharp.

When should I repeat the interviews?

Re-run after major product changes, every 6–8 weeks of active development, or whenever you hit conflicting user feedback. Fresh interviews keep your problem definition razor-sharp.

You've pinpointed the raw pains behind your problem hypothesis. Now feed those insights into the CrackGrowth diagnostic to map out high-impact experiments that close the gap between what users need and what you build.

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