#8 Product trios and continuous discovery | Niko Noll, Product Discovery Coach & Founder
May 16, 2024
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Join Niko Noll, a product discovery coach and founder of Juttu, as he shares his insights on continuous discovery and the dynamics of product trios. He discusses how to build trust within teams and shift focus from outputs to outcomes. Niko explores the benefits and challenges of collaboration among product managers, designers, and tech leads. He emphasizes the importance of testing assumptions over features and cultivating a culture of experimentation to streamline product development and foster innovation.
Successful product discovery hinges on fostering trust and collaboration within teams, prioritizing outcomes over mere task completion.
The product trio model can enhance cross-functional teamwork but requires clear roles and ongoing communication to avoid confusion.
Deep dives
Transitioning to a Startup Mindset
Shifting from traditional roles to collaborative teams resembles moving into a startup environment, where decision-making is shared among co-founders. In this dynamic, each member brings unique strengths and weaknesses, requiring a team-oriented approach to harness these for effective product discovery. This collaborative atmosphere might lead to longer decision-making processes if team members are uncertain, but this is an acceptable trade-off for fostering inclusivity. Embracing this mindset enhances team cohesion and encourages open dialogue regarding product strategy and user needs.
Essentials for Continuous Discovery
For product teams to thrive in continuous discovery, three core components must be established: a focus on outcomes over outputs, an understanding of user problems, and trust within the team. Teams must prioritize achieving meaningful results rather than merely completing tasks, which can enhance business performance in the long run. Additionally, having a clear grasp of user pain points ensures that products developed truly address their needs, ultimately leading to better decision-making. Trust plays a crucial role as well; teams need to feel empowered to make choices based on the collective knowledge and experiences they share.
Navigating Trust Between Leadership and Teams
Building trust between product teams and leadership is vital for an effective discovery process, especially when teams feel they lack autonomy. Leaders should proactively assign trust and allow teams to demonstrate competence by making informed decisions about product opportunities. Effective communication of shared goals and mutual understanding of incentives can bridge the gap between leadership and teams, creating a more cohesive environment. When product teams acknowledge leadership’s objectives and align their efforts, trust naturally strengthens, facilitating smoother decision-making.
Understanding the Product Trio Concept
The product trio—consisting of a product manager, a design lead, and a tech lead—can present both advantages and challenges for organizations. While this collaboration encourages cross-functional teamwork, without clearly defined roles or responsibilities, confusion may arise regarding decision-making authority. Companies may face difficulties if they assume the trio model functions as a plug-and-play solution; rather, adapting to this structure necessitates ongoing dialogue and experimentation among team members. Success in implementing product trios relies heavily on the team’s ability to establish their dynamic and navigate the uncertainties inherent in collaborative processes.
My guest today is Niko Noll. Niko is a software engineer turned product manager turned product discovery coach.
He has learned Product at scale - shipping value to 18 million monthly active users - and spends most of his time coaching teams and being a founder at Juttu, a tool that helps product teams talk to users every week.
Niko is very dedicated and passionate about helping product teams discover value sooner - and so it was a bit of a no-brainer for us to get together and talk about all this discovery.
In our chat, we covered:
* The ingredients to get started with continuous discovery
* The pros and cons of product trios
* The dynamics of trios and bringing user research onboard
* Practical tips to foster collaboration within product trios
* Treating a product trio like a team of co-founders
* Testing assumptions rather than features
* Creating an environment to foster continuous discovery habits
* And more
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit afonsofranco.substack.com
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