This suggestion always drives me batty, because it sounds like a good idea, but either my acquaintances are just spectacularly unhelpful or it requires some great skill that is always omitted from the suggestion.
If they allow it, you could go with them to their workplace and have them explain what they're doing as they do it. This will give you a much better idea of what their workday actually entails and make up for your friends' inability to describe their activities.
The missing piece is your own analysis. They cannot tell you how to solve their problem, you must do that. They can only tell you where their problems lie. Combining your greater understanding of the wider internet domain and your ability to ask pertinent questions, with what you and your team might be able to accomplish, possible solutions will sometimes reveal themselves.
They can't even identify the essential problem in many cases, because they don't know how technology can help. They can only describe the symptoms, and you have to diagnose the problem, like a doctor.