Stripe is making headlines for its customer-centricity, supporting 1.3 billion customers and over 100 companies processing more than $1 billion annually through its platform.
The secret—a remarkable internal culture.
In today’s blog, we’ll explore what separates Stripe, drawing on insights from employees like:
- Jeff Weinstein, Product Lead at Stripe
- Eeke de Amaliano, Head of Global Product at Stripe
- Shreyas Doshi, Former Product Manager at Stripe
- Kevin Yieung, Head of Product, Merchant Experiences
Here’s a step-by-step look at how Stripe’s team built the powerhouse it is today. Let’s dive in!
Stripe User Research Best Practices
1. Nothing beats directly talking to customers
At Stripe, the focus is on talking to customers directly without restricting yourself. Here’s what talking to customers looks like at Stripe:
i. Speak directly to customers
Reach out to customers on social media and ask ‘Hey, I am looking for feedback’ to build a one-to-one connection.
"At Stripe, I'm able to quickly grab an engineer and hop on a call. I can forward a message over to a Slack group. And they know that because the customer's speaking directly, it somewhat trumps everything that's happening during the day."
—Jeff Weinstein
ii. Build a habit of silence
When you’re conducting a user interview, remaining silent after each question, helps reveal roadmaps for product development.
2. Put yourself in the shoes of your customers
Stripe runs Study Groups, where 4 to 8 team members act as customers of a fictitious company to experience the product from the customer's perspective.
Participants take on specific roles, focusing solely on understanding the customer journey rather than solving problems.
These groups, now franchised across the company, have engaged over 250 employees in more than 25 sessions recently.
Teams of 4 to 8 members act as customers of a fictitious company to experience the products from the customer's lens. "We show up four to eight people total, pretend to be some company with some outcome problem. Rule one is you do not work at Stripe, and rule two is we're not here to solve any problems. This is just about practicing empathy for the customer."
—Jeff Weinstein
Stripe uses Friction Logs, where team members step into the customer’s shoes and document their entire product experience. The goal—pinpoint issues, refine the product, and make it effortless for sales teams to demonstrate value.
"Stripe has a thing called friction logs as well, which is a single individual will pretend to be a customer and go through a product experience end-to-end and write it down."
—Jeff Weinstein
Here’s a structure that Stripe follows while writing Friction Logs:
- Context: Define the user persona and their goals
- Pros and Cons: Highlight what worked well and what needs improvement
- Stream of Consciousness: Document the experience step-by-step with screenshots or links
- Size & Clarity: Categorize logs as S, M, or L and ensure the journey is easy for teams to understand
- Objectivity: Stick to facts—leave emotions out
- Share & Follow-Up: Share feedback widely to spark ideas and follow up to ensure fixes happen
Use friction logging and resources like frictionlog.com to create an effective process.
3. Pay attention to survey practices
Stripe is strict about its survey and interview practices. Here’s a list that it swears by sticking to it no matter what, starting with:
i. Using magic wand questions
Uncover deeper insights with open-ended questions like:
- "If you weren’t talking to me right now, what would you be working on?"
- "What’s been frustrating you lately?"
- "What are you not looking forward to?"
- And the classic: "If you had a magic wand, what would you take off your plate immediately?"
"Great questions don’t always yield immediate answers, but they create space for customers to share what truly matters." —Shreyas Doshi
ii. Use different ways to manage detractors
Stripe tackles customer pain points with its Bad Day Metric approach:
- Resolve critical issues quickly, like SLA breaches or system errors
- Use NPS feedback to uncover root causes behind customer dissatisfaction
- Set clear goals, such as reducing support tickets to zero through faster resolutions
- Analyze data to identify recurring patterns that hinder key milestones
4. Focus on the two most important user segments
Surveying all your customers isn’t something Stripe does. Instead, it has established certain standards when it comes to targeting user segments.
It narrows down to two user segments:
a. DAFT
DAFT stands for:
- Detail-oriented Customers: This segment offers precise feedback enough to modify and upgrade product quality
- Ambitious Customers: Always ready to maximize the benefits of using the product calling for large-scale innovations
- Technical Customers: Have an appetite for advanced functionality driving pioneering requirements
- Fastest-Growing Customers: Playing around the product well enough to provide insights on scaling challenges and growth-driven solutions
b. Paying customers
Stripe seeks feedback from a curated cohort of paying customers. It engages with 5-10 high-impact customers who can offer insights to prioritize the product roadmap.
"The clearest signals often come from those who have invested in your product—their feedback is tied directly to their success."
— Shreyas Doshi
5. Pick the right metrics
Stripe chooses different metrics to analyze performance, starting with:
i. Bad Day Metrics
A Bad Day Metric tracks moments when users hit a snag—like a 404 error, delayed payouts, payment declines, or constant two-factor authentication. It’s how Stripe spots and fixes pain points fast.
"Just emit a log line anytime we think that a user bumped into a problem—a 404 error, payout delays, or frequent declines—and visualize it in a stacked bar chart."
—Jeff Weinstein
ii. Log Lines
Real-time logs create a clear record of every bad day event.
iii. Bar Charts
Logs are visualized as stacked bar charts showing problem frequency and trends over time.
iv. Prioritize Fixes
Insights highlight frequent, high-impact issues so the team can focus on what matters most.
v. Customer-Driven Metrics
Stripe measures what users care about—like payment speed and error rates—to deliver real value.
6. Avoid Metric conflict
Here’s how Stripe keeps metrics clear and conflict-free:
i. Metrics as a Forcing Function: Stripe sticks to a few key metrics to guide decisions, cut debates, and focus on what truly benefits customers
ii. Aesthetic Metrics: Metrics are simple, clear, and engaging. Think clean dashboards with concise titles like “Companies with Zero Support Tickets.”
"Metrics are not just numbers—they’re a reflection of how well we’re delivering on our promises to customers."
— Eeke de Emiliano
iii. Metrics Like Tweets: Stripe values both numbers and customer feedback (like tweets) to get the full picture of user needs.
iv. Cohort Metrics: Performance is tracked over time by grouping users (e.g., by signup date). This helps Stripe spot trends and make steady improvements toward 100% success.
7. Automate user research
Stripe streamlines user research with automation, making feedback collection more efficient. Here’s how:
- Recruiting Participants: Using UserInterviews.com, Stripe finds participants that match their ideal B2B customer profile for targeted insights
- Analyzing Sales Calls: Gong records sales calls, flags key terms, and shares transcript snippets via Slack, delivering real-time feedback directly to product teams
- Automating Interview Scheduling: Tools like Zapier and Customer.io send follow-up emails with Calendly links, letting customers easily schedule research interviews
- Monitoring Online Feedback: Stripe uses custom scripts to track mentions on Reddit, Twitter, and forums, identifying issues and improvement areas from indirect feedback
"Automation isn’t about removing the human touch; it’s about amplifying what we can learn and act on in real-time."
—Kevin
8. Practice Iterative Feedback
Stripe’s culture is all about trying things fast and learning as they go. Here are two great examples:
i. MVP (Minimum Viable Product): Stripe started with a super simple API to get quick feedback and tweak it based on how users behaved.
ii. Wizard of Oz Experiment: Back in the day, Stripe manually set up merchant accounts instead of automating everything. It was a clever way to test demand and improve their offering without sinking time or money into complex systems.
"When Stripe was new, it manually created merchant accounts for users instead of automating the process. This allowed them to test demand and modify their offering without heavy investment in complicated infrastructure."
— Jeff Weinstein
iii. Fast Iteration: Stripe tested their early API with friends, carefully watched how they used it, and quickly made improvements. This hands-on, iterative approach helped Stripe fine-tune the product to meet real user needs.
9. Prioritize what to pick
When it comes to building their product roadmap, Stripe knows where to start:
i. Solving Real Problems
They make it a point to talk to customers—users, developers, businesses, and financial partners—to understand their needs.
Take Stripe Connect, for example. It solves payment integration headaches for platforms, while Stripe Radar tackles fraud. By focusing on real-world challenges, Stripe keeps their products relevant and valuable.
“Solve a real problem in the world and are people clamoring, needing it badly? And that's really my obsession is in finding problems in which people will pause their entire day to solve."
— Jeff Weinstein
ii. Long-Term Vision
Stripe takes a long-term view, focusing on sustainability over quick wins.
For example, they’ve invested heavily in projects like Stripe Terminal for in-person payments, even when the ROI isn’t immediate. It’s all part of their bigger vision to simplify payments across every touchpoint.
This approach has paved the way for global expansion, allowing Stripe to tailor offerings to local payment methods and regulations seamlessly.
iii. Taking on Complexity
Stripe loves taking on tough challenges like global compliance (think Stripe Tax) and multi-currency processing. These complex projects require serious expertise, but they make it easier for customers to do business across borders.
And they don’t stop there—Stripe’s developer-friendly APIs turn complicated compliance into something simple and accessible.
iv. Strategic Product Expansion
Stripe’s approach to product expansion is all about creating a connected ecosystem.
For instance, Atlas for company incorporation, Treasury for managing finances, and Climate for carbon removal.
These tools don’t just stand alone—they’re built to work together, making it easier for businesses to tackle their biggest challenges while staying seamlessly connected.
v. Resource Allocation
70% on Core Improvements: Focus on fixing bugs, enhancing the user experience, and acting on feedback to keep customers happy and the product running smoothly.
20–30% on Big Ideas: Invest in game-changing projects like Stripe Tax and Treasury—fewer but impactful innovations that drive growth.
10% on Stability: Quietly work on reliability, tech debt, and infrastructure upgrades to ensure long-term success.
"70% of our building time should focus on core products with established market fit. 20% should go toward strategic initiatives—projects that aren’t core but align closely with our goals. The remaining 10% is reserved for ambitious bets."
—Shreyas Doshi
Loved this? Then you’re going to love this even more: Duolingo’s Growth Playbook
Wrapping Up
Struggling to get meaningful product feedback without annoying your users? With insights from Stripe’s playbook, there’s a clear path forward—and Blitzllama is here to make it seamless.
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Book a demo now and see how Blitzllama transforms feedback into growth.
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