Product discovery is an important step before investing time and money. Also, it will answer product discovery questions.
Then, what are those questions? Why is product discovery important? And how will it help us build the right product for the right audience?
Product Discovery: Explained
To deliver solutions to our clients means that we should know what they need first. And these solutions should focus not only on some users. We should also consider everybody in general.
Thus, product discovery will help us distinguish good ideas from the bad. So, we can save time and money for the design process.
Product Discovery Questions to Consider
There are four question categories we should consider.
- Will the customer buy the product? Or will the customer choose to use it?
- Will it solve your customers’ problems?
- Can we successfully build the product?
- Will this product solution work?
You can ask these questions to your Product Managers. But it is not enough. Why?
We must collect evidence. And this evidence is the result of product discovery.
Now, let’s discuss the top questions.
Will the customer buy the product?
We should keep in mind that the customers do not know everything. Also, reports show that they do not even know that they love what they’re using now.
So, do not expect them to give you the right answer to what they need. It is part of our job. We should make sure that our product solution will solve their problems. Also, it should bring value to them.
Will it solve your customer’s problem?
As mentioned above, our product should bring value. If we can’t do that, our customers will look for other companies.
Additionally, our product should provide core values. We should prioritize that over other things, such as:
- compatibility
- bug patches
- user experience
Will it improve the customer’s overall experience?
We should also be open to solve problems from other angles. Sometimes, the design can be very complicated. So, we need to simplify it.
After all, we want to solve our customers’ problems. We don’t want to add another problem to them.
Can we build the product successfully?
We need to make sure that we can build it before committing. Our engineers should also be present in the planning. Why?
Engineers can help us know if the product is doable and possible to execute. This step will save us energy and money, too.
Is the product aligned with your business goals?
It’s not good if we discover a product but it doesn’t meet our vision. We should determine if it matches our goals. Otherwise, it will ruin our team’s image.
So, we must consider our goals and vision before committing to a roadmap. We can also consider the opinion of other teams in our business. That includes the opinions of:
- sales team
- legal team
- marketing team
- business development team
- management team
Will this product solution work?
After all the hard work, we should be able to know if our product works. And that will depend on how we apply it.
Some ideal ways to figure that out is the following steps:
- soft-launching
- feedback via ratings
- promos and discounts
- free delivery
Conclusion
The product discovery questions will help us prevent risks and mishaps. It can also help us develop the right product for the right people.
So don’t skip the next product discovery process in your next startup plan.
