By Tangenix · Published 2026-10-23 · Free template

Product Switching Interview Template

Reconstruct why a customer changed tools, from the first trigger to migration effort and the outcome of the new workflow.

When to use this template

Use this when a person recently moved from one tool or workaround to another. Investigate the chronology and switching costs before concluding that one feature caused the decision.

Choose another approach when: The person has not switched and can only speculate, or you want a public competitor review rather than a private account of their own experience.

Gather these inputs

The prior solution and the new solution, as described by the participant.
A recent switch date or decision event.
A neutral approach that does not assume your product is the better choice.

Copy and adapt the template

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Product Switching Interview Template: editable text

Worked example

Illustrative example, not a Crany customer result. Replace every example detail with facts you can verify.

An agency moved from email approvals to a shared client portal after a client approved an outdated file.
The participant describes collecting three file versions, asking the project lead which was final, then searching for a way to keep one approval record.
The portal’s reminder feature was useful later, but the trigger was version confusion. Migration required inviting two clients and moving only the active project.
Research note: test whether the marketing message should show the approval record before discussing reminders. This is an illustrative interpretation, not a verified competitor finding.

How to use it

Start with the old workflow and the first concrete trigger.
Map decision, setup and first successful use as separate events.
Look for evidence that weakens your preferred positioning as well as evidence that supports it.

Check before using it

No competitor feature or price is asserted without independent verification.
The participant’s experience is not generalized to every customer.
Unprompted criteria are distinguished from options the interviewer suggested.

What to measure

Review which triggers recur, which migration steps create friction and whether the new workflow actually solved the original problem. Interview stories generate positioning hypotheses; they do not measure market share.

Research and sources

The sources support context-rich accounts of past behavior and alternatives. This chronology is an original application for switching research, not a claim about any named competitor.

Teresa Torres: Customer Interviews — checked 2026-10-23. Story-based interviews about goals, needs and context; separate discovery from selling.
Yale: User Interview Example Questions — checked 2026-10-23. Interview structure, current tasks, past experience, alternative workflows and discovery paths.

This original template and worked example were prepared with AI assistance. Source documentation supports the principles stated above; it does not endorse Crany or guarantee this template’s performance.

About Crany

Crany is an AI marketing co-founder in development for software founders and vibe coders, designed to strategize, execute approved marketing and improve based on results. This free resource is usable independently of the product. Join the public waitlist.