Research Follow-Up Question Planner
Choose a neutral next question from a real evidence gap and explain which decision its answer could change.
When to use this template
Use this when a conversation raises an important uncertainty but the team is tempted to fill it with its preferred explanation.
Choose another approach when: You want to repeatedly contact someone without permission, ask them to validate a feature pitch, or keep researching a question unrelated to a decision.
Gather these inputs
- A specific evidence gap in existing task research.
- The decision that depends on resolving the gap.
- A permitted participant or observation route and a safe question.
Copy and adapt the template
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Worked example
Illustrative example, not a Crany customer result. Replace every example detail with facts you can verify.
An illustrative interview says a client did not complete a website update. The team’s first draft asks, “Would automated reminders have helped?” That assumes forgetfulness. The planner replaces it with a question about what happened after the instructions arrived and what prevented the update. The answer could reveal missing access, low priority or unclear steps, each implying a different response. The researcher contacts the participant only if follow-up was permitted; otherwise they recruit another appropriate person.
How to use it
- State the evidence gap and why it matters before writing the question.
- Remove assumptions and ask about a specific event or observable behavior.
- Use a permitted route and record how the answer changes the decision.
Check before using it
- The question does not contain the proposed feature as its expected answer.
- Follow-up participation remains voluntary and permission-based.
- One answer is not generalized beyond its context.
What to measure
Review whether follow-up evidence changes the decision or narrows uncertainty. More questions are not automatically progress; the investigation should serve a concrete unresolved choice.
Research and sources
Open task-focused questions and specific past accounts inform this original planning sheet. It is not a complete research protocol or permission to contact a participant.
- Yale: User Interview Example Questions — checked 2026-10-23. Interview structure, current tasks, past experience, alternative workflows and discovery paths.
- Teresa Torres: Customer Interviews — checked 2026-10-23. Story-based interviews about goals, needs and context; separate discovery from selling.
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