---
title: "Is asking why always the best strategy? - The Intercom Blog"
description: "The post argues that asking ‘why’ repeatedly in product design interviews is not always the best strategy because digging too quickly to the deepest reason can miss valuable insights. Instead, the author recommends exploring three productive layers: usefulness (what the tool does), usability (the result of using it), and desirability (the emotional outcome), each revealing different design opportunities. For example, with an electric drill, the usefulness layer suggests power and speed settings, the usability layer suggests lighter weight and prescriptive settings, and the desirability layer suggests a docking station or attractive design. The author cautions that going beyond these three layers, such as asking why a more personal home matters, becomes too abstract and rarely actionable for product design. Taking time to explore each layer thoroughly yields more actionable and interesting insights than rushing to the root cause."
---

# Is asking why always the best strategy? - The Intercom Blog

[Intercom](https://yomu.fyi/company/intercom) · Oct 13, 2026

**Type:** Explainer

## Summary

The post argues that asking ‘why’ repeatedly in product design interviews is not always the best strategy because digging too quickly to the deepest reason can miss valuable insights. Instead, the author recommends exploring three productive layers: usefulness (what the tool does), usability (the result of using it), and desirability (the emotional outcome), each revealing different design opportunities. For example, with an electric drill, the usefulness layer suggests power and speed settings, the usability layer suggests lighter weight and prescriptive settings, and the desirability layer suggests a docking station or attractive design. The author cautions that going beyond these three layers, such as asking why a more personal home matters, becomes too abstract and rarely actionable for product design. Taking time to explore each layer thoroughly yields more actionable and interesting insights than rushing to the root cause.

## Context

The post is written by Dan Ritzenthaler, a Senior Product Designer at Iora Health, and published on the Intercom blog. It discusses the value of asking ‘why’ in customer interviews for product design, but argues that exploring intermediate layers of the ‘why’ is more productive than digging to the deepest root cause.

## Takeaways

- Asking ‘why’ repeatedly in product design interviews can be counterproductive if it rushes to the deepest layer, missing actionable insights at intermediate layers.
- The three productive layers to explore are usefulness (what the tool does), usability (the result of using it), and desirability (the emotional outcome), each revealing different design opportunities.
- Going beyond the desirability layer (e.g., asking why a more personal home matters) becomes too abstract and rarely yields actionable insights for product design.

## FAQ

### What are the three productive layers of 'why' in product design interviews?

The three layers are usefulness (what the tool does), usability (the result of using it), and desirability (the emotional outcome). Each layer reveals different design opportunities: usefulness suggests power and speed settings, usability suggests lighter weight and prescriptive settings, and desirability suggests a docking station or attractive design.

### Why is it not always best to dig to the deepest 'why' in customer interviews?

Digging too quickly to the deepest reason can miss valuable insights at intermediate layers. The deepest layers, such as why a more personal home matters, are often too abstract and rarely actionable for product design, whereas the intermediate layers yield more concrete and useful design ideas.

**Tags:** [Design Process](https://yomu.fyi/topic/design-process), [Product Design](https://yomu.fyi/topic/product-design), [User Research](https://yomu.fyi/topic/user-research)

- Source: [Intercom](https://www.intercom.com/blog/asking-why-is-not-always-the-best-strategy)
- Source URL: https://www.intercom.com/blog/asking-why-is-not-always-the-best-strategy
- Ingested by Yomu: 2026-10-13T18:00:48.144Z

[Read original post](https://www.intercom.com/blog/asking-why-is-not-always-the-best-strategy)