INSPIRED, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 33Principles of Product Discovery

The purpose of product discovery is to address these critical risks:

• Will the customer buy this, or choose to use it? (Value risk)
• Can the user figure out how to use it? (Usability risk)
• Can we build it? (Feasibility risk)
• Does this solution work for our business? (Business viability risk)

And it's not enough that it's just the product manager's opinion on these questions. We need to collect evidence.

When it comes to how we do product discovery, there are a set of core principles that drive how we work. If you understand these, you will understand not only how to work well today but also how to easily incorporate new techniques as they emerge in the future.

1. We know we can't count on our customers (or our executives or stakeholders) to tell us what to build.

   Customers don't know what's possible, and with technology products, none of us know what we really want until we actually see it. It's not that customers or our executives are necessarily wrong; it's just that it's our job to make sure the solution we deliver solves the underlying problem. This is probably the most fundamental principle in all of modern product. Historically, in the vast majority of innovations in our industry, the customers had no idea that what they now love was even a possibility. This is only becoming truer with time.

   Customers don't know what's possible, and with technology products, none of us know what we really want until we actually see it.

2. The most ...