# Customer Obsession

> User-centered tradeoffs.

Canonical: https://learn.significanthobbies.com/curriculum/concepts/customer-obsession

User-centered tradeoffs.

- Difficulty: intro
- Tracks: Behavioral & Communication, Behavioral & Communication

## Mental model

Customer obsession is not saying yes to whatever they ask. It is taking their underlying problem seriously, sometimes by shipping something they did not ask for. One customer's complaint is a hypothesis, not proof — go check whether it generalizes.



## Primary sources

- [STAR interview method (Wikipedia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situation,_task,_action,_result) (doc)
- [Know Your Customers' Jobs to Be Done (Christensen et al., HBR)](https://hbr.org/2016/09/know-your-customers-jobs-to-be-done) (article)
- [Opportunity Solution Trees (Teresa Torres)](https://www.producttalk.org/2016/08/opportunity-solution-tree/) (article)

## Practice

### STAR: acting on customer feedback

Write a STAR about a time you changed a roadmap based on a single customer signal. Address how you knew it would generalize.

**Expected evidence:** starStory() returns { situation, task, action, result, metric: { name, unit, before, after }, generalizationEvidence (array of 2+ pieces of disqualifying-or-confirming evidence) }. The checker enforces structure only: four distinct sections of 20+ words, action the longest, 150+ words total, before ≠ after, and the result section must name the metric and state its after value. Aim for 250-350 words — that is the interview bar, not the checker’s.

## Review prompts

- A customer asks for a specific feature. What do you establish before building it?


## Prerequisites

- None assigned.

## Related concepts

- None assigned.

## Learning paths

- [Behavioral Practice](https://learn.significanthobbies.com/curriculum/roadmaps/behavioral-practice)