When building products, features, or experiences that actually matter, most teams fall into the same trap: they ask for opinions.
“Would you use this feature?”
“Do you like this idea?”
Harmless questions, right? Wrong. These only skim the surface. They capture what someone thinks in the moment—not what they’ve actually lived through. And building your solutions on opinions is like building on sand: it won’t last.
The real insights come from stories. Stories expose context, emotion, and the clever workarounds people invent to survive real problems—the human truths that drive behavior. That’s where real innovation begins.
Opinions vs. Stories: The Difference Between Sand and Rock
Where opinions shift like sand, stories hold the weight of real experience.
- Opinions: Immediate, vague, and shaped by what feels right in the moment.
- Stories: Grounded in real experiences, full of frustration, workarounds, and emotional stakes.
Ask for opinions, and you often get assumptions disguised as facts. Ask for stories, and you see the patterns, pain points, and possibilities that really matter.
Ask Better Questions, Get Better Answers
Stop skimming. Start digging. Switch your language from “what do you think?” to “what happened?”
Try questions like:
- “Tell me about the last time this went horribly wrong—what did you do?”
- “What’s the most frustrating workaround you’ve invented to survive this?”
- “When did you think, ‘there has to be a better way’?”
These questions force people to tell their messy, real stories—the ones that reveal the actual problem and point straight to solutions.
A Messy Story That Made All the Difference
We once worked with a client on a project aimed at improving emergency response. Instead of interviewing EMS about their opinions on a new tool or workflow, we asked them to share a real story — a moment when things got messy, urgent, and uncertain. Here’s what we heard:
“We arrived to chaos in the diner — voices shouting, dishes clattering, chairs pushed back in a rush. On the floor lay a man, bleeding from a gash on his forehead. At first glance, it looked like an assault. I’m thinking, ‘How did this happen?’
Witnesses shouted bits and pieces: ‘We saw a man leave… he just fell… I heard a crash…’ Until I heard ‘He was clutching his heart.’ That changed everything. Instead of treating it as just a head wound, we immediately checked for signs of a heart attack — the real cause behind his fall.”
Our client believed reducing response time was the answer. This event proved otherwise. Retelling this story showed us that saving lives depends on capturing the inciting incident — how it began. Without this context, we missed where time was really lost and the true complexity of the situation. It challenged our assumptions and brought clarity.
Build on Rock, Not Sand
Opinions are shallow. Stories are raw. Stories are true. And truth is the only thing worth building on.
Next time you’re gathering feedback, skip “what do you think?” and go straight to “what happened?”
Your users’ worst days will make your best products. Their frustrations, workarounds, and honest experiences are the sparks for solutions that actually work.
Turning User Stories into Better Products
At Twisthink, we help teams move beyond opinions and uncover the real experiences that shape user behavior. By listening to the moments that matter most, we transform insights into actionable product strategy that drives meaningful results.
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John is a Senior Design Strategist at Twisthink. He leverages his skills as an illustrator, designer, and artist to drive innovation and clarity within teams.
