Interview 1

1. Questions: 

1. Tell me about the last time you did your taxes. (If it applies: How did you find that solution?)
2. What was hard about doing it? What was the hardest part?
3. What things/other options, if any, have you tried to make it easier?
4. What don’t you love about the solutions that you have already tried?
5. If you were going to recommend/pitch/sell your current solution to a friend, what would you tell them?

2. Interviews:

1. February 26th, 2021. On Zoom. Subject: M.
   • She didn’t feel specially frustrated about the problem, as she has a working “solution” to it (she hires an accountant).
   • She did feel the price of the accountant was too high, specially in comparison to what she hears from other friends’ stories, about how much they pay to their accountants. (She spontaneously shared this with me when I asked her to recommend the accountant to other people).
   • She values the ease of use: She just needs to collect the paperwork, and the accountant takes care of the rest of the job.
   • She values the fact that her accountant is well organized.
   • She values the fact that her accountant will usually take care of any problem that may emerge after the taxes have being submitted. The accountant will usually have already taken care of any issue, before she tells them about the issue.
   • She seems to be trying to delegate as much responsibility as possible.
   • Her only current solution is the accountant that she’s always being using. However, she plans to change her accountant for the one of her company. This is so because 1) her current accountant charges too much, and 2) the new accountant is well organized an up to date about any new laws.
   • There are two main deficiencies of her current solution: first, the cost, and second, the fact that she still has to collect the paperwork by herself. In fact, to her, that is the main pain. Having to collect paperwork from her employers, health care provider, banks, and so on.
   • Importantly, she let me know that she shares her password to the “IRS” website with her accountant. That is how her accountant is informed about any issue with her taxes before she even tells them. She values that the accountant handles those kinds of problems that fast.

3. Analysis:

There where many interesting facts and knowledge gained from this first interview.

• Her main pain is not doing her taxes (as I might have expected), but collecting the paperwork. This is so, because the accountant handles the rest of the job.
• Her accountant knows her password to the “IRS” website. This allows them to 1) submit the taxes for her, and 2) handle any issue that may arise after that. From this I learned:
  • Customers love the ease of use, translated as, delegating as much as possible. This might include filing the tax form at the “IRS”, and handling any further issues.
  • Customers like/expect their solution to handle problems that may arise after the taxes have being submitted.
• The “IRS” recently implemented a solution on their website that recommends a pre-filed tax form. This might be my biggest competitor (besides accountants).

4. Reflection:

I liked this first experience. I thought that I had a good knowledge about the issue, however in just one 15-minutes conversation I learned so much more.