What does Teresa Torres's story-based interviewing keep the conversation anchored to?

The principle — an interview is only as good as the concreteness of what it collects.

Why the key is correct — Torres's rule is to Keep the interview grounded in specific instances of past behavior. A specific instance is a single occasion with a date, a context and an outcome, and it is the only form of answer that carries the detail a team can act on.

Why the others are wrong — a prediction about future use is a guess the participant has no way to check. Stated preferences are summaries the person made earlier, so working from them means working from their conclusion rather than their experience. And a general habit is an average with the interesting details already removed.

Remember this — ask about one occasion, not about usual, and never about would.

Sources — Teresa Torres on story-based customer interviews, Product Talk.