Ask the questions that get people talking about themselves.

technique — attributed to Colin Cowie

Cowie's discovery questions are specific. Where do you vacation. Do you have a favorite color. A favorite flower. Favorite restaurants. A particular designer you follow. How do you entertain at home. How do you prefer to be entertained. Where do you go when you travel. People open up because they love talking about themselves. The answers go on to inform the design. The team also studies the client's Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram to triangulate. The discipline is operational rather than performative. The personalization that defines a Cowie event is built on hours of investigation, not on intuition.

For brand experience agencies, event designers, and luxury hospitality teams running client discovery. The technique is most useful when the team has a discovery call coming up and wants a structured question set.

client-questions, discovery, personalization, interview