Founders
What to do when customer interviews for AI coding tools contradict each other
AI coding tools: Contradictory interviews can reveal different segments, incentives, definitions, or contexts.
Contradictory interviews can reveal different segments, incentives, definitions, or contexts. Preserve the disagreement before trying to average it away. Two people can accurately describe different workflows while using the same label for their problem.
Start with the decision
Sort observations by role, company situation, current alternative, and triggering event. Revisit the exact episode behind each statement. Design a follow-up that distinguishes the competing explanations rather than asking which person was right.
The illustrative scenario
This is an educational workbook. The company or fund and all numerical inputs below are fictional. They are not ADIN results, customer claims, market benchmarks, or a forecast.
The fictional tool proposes small code changes in an internal development environment. Engineers review the patch and run the project's checks before merging. The product's user and the person approving a purchase may be different.
A patch that compiles can still violate the intended behavior. Repository permissions, test coverage, and rollback procedures matter alongside developer enthusiasm.
Turn the scenario into an evidence decision
Consider a review of AI coding tools in which a confident explanation arrives before the supporting records. Start with the first question in the table. Write down what an answer would change: the next interview, the experiment's scope, a request for specialist review, or a decision to wait. A question without a consequence can produce a longer document while adding little understanding.
Next, inspect the record named in the table and record its date, owner, permission boundary, and limitations. Track accepted and rejected patches, tests run, review comments, and downstream fixes. Use representative repositories that the team is authorized to process. If the record contradicts the explanation, preserve both accounts and ask which definition, period, or workflow differs. Do not silently select the version that makes the opportunity look strongest.
Finish with a conditional statement: if the specified evidence supports the claim under these conditions, take the named next step; otherwise investigate the unresolved question. A useful conclusion explains where each statement holds. If the conflict disappears after segmenting by workflow, update the target segment. If it remains unexplained, keep it as an open question rather than choosing the more flattering answer. This worked exercise is about the decision process. It does not assert that a fictional company has met a real diligence standard or that a template can authorize an investment.
| Item | Illustration |
|---|---|
| Decision question | Are the respondents doing the same task? |
| Case-specific constraint | A patch that compiles can still violate the intended behavior. Repository permissions, test coverage, and rollback procedures matter alongside developer enthusiasm. |
| Record to inspect | Track accepted and rejected patches, tests run, review comments, and downstream fixes. Use representative repositories that the team is authorized to process. |
| Comparison to preserve | Compare time to a reviewed, accepted change with the existing workflow. Count investigation and rework rather than treating generated lines as delivered value. |
| Unresolved case question | Who owns the repository permission? |
Use this worksheet
Answer the questions with a source, date, owner, and next action. Mark an unknown as unknown. Use public or permissioned information and involve a qualified specialist when a question requires expertise beyond the team’s competence.
- Are the respondents doing the same task?
- Do they use the same definition?
- Who bears the cost?
- Which constraint differs?
- What observation separates the explanations?
Questions specific to this scenario
- Who owns the repository permission?
- Which tests represent the intended behavior?
- How is a bad change rolled back?
Track accepted and rejected patches, tests run, review comments, and downstream fixes. Use representative repositories that the team is authorized to process.
A concrete next test
Select a small accepted patch and a rejected patch from an authorized repository. Ask the maintainer to explain the intended behavior and the checks used. Record whether the tool shortened review or merely moved investigation into a different step.
Interpret the result
A useful conclusion explains where each statement holds. If the conflict disappears after segmenting by workflow, update the target segment. If it remains unexplained, keep it as an open question rather than choosing the more flattering answer.
Compare time to a reviewed, accepted change with the existing workflow. Count investigation and rework rather than treating generated lines as delivered value.
Sources and method
These primary resources provide background for the concepts. The fictional scenario, calculations, and worksheet are ADIN educational examples; the sources do not report or validate those invented results. Reviewed October 11, 2026.