How to optimize product growth with continuous product discovery
Dec 19, 2023
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Pawal Huryn, a successful Product Manager and coach, shares insights on Product Discovery, including identifying assumptions, validating through experimentation, and collaborating with teams. He discusses the cultural shift needed for success and offers tips on conducting experiments, managing expectations, and achieving goals. With over 9 years of experience in Product, Pawal provides valuable recommendations for successful product discovery.
Product discovery involves identifying and addressing five risk areas: usability, value, feasibility, viability, and ethical considerations, in order to validate assumptions through experimentation.
Continuous product discovery requires a collaborative effort by a product trio, prioritizing opportunities based on value, leveraging quantitative data, and conducting experiments using prototypes and tools like Miro or user testing platforms.
Deep dives
The Importance of Product Discovery
Product discovery is crucial because most ideas fail, and it's essential to validate ideas before investing time and effort into implementation. The discovery process involves identifying and addressing five risk areas: usability, value, feasibility, viability, and ethical considerations. The goal of product discovery is to discover the best ideas, identify assumptions related to risks, and validate those assumptions through experimentation. By prioritizing outcomes and focusing on the quality of output, product discovery can lead to more successful and impactful solutions.
The Process of Continuous Product Discovery
Continuous product discovery involves a collaborative effort by a product trio consisting of a product manager, designer, and engineer. The process includes discovering and exploring the problem space through customer interviews, data analysis, and structuring knowledge using opportunity solution trees. Prioritizing opportunities based on value and leveraging quantitative data are crucial. The next steps include brainstorming solutions as a team, estimating ideas based on value and cost, identifying risks using user story maps, and formulating testable hypotheses. Experiments are conducted using prototypes and tools like Miro or user testing platforms. The results of the experiments are then analyzed, learnings documented, and successful ideas placed in the product backlog for implementation.
Cultural Elements and Considerations
In implementing continuous product discovery, several cultural elements should be considered. Avoid obsessing over velocity and instead focus on outcomes and the quality of output. Encourage collaboration and open-mindedness within the team, valuing diverse perspectives. Balancing the need for ideas while also maintaining a healthy distance from personal attachment to one's own ideas is essential. Cultural changes should prioritize effectiveness over mere efficiency, especially as the company scales. Building trust within the team and providing the right context and support from leadership are key factors in fostering a culture of continuous product discovery.
Tips for Successful Continuous Product Discovery
For successful continuous product discovery, embrace the product trio approach, involving a designer, engineer, and product manager. Going beyond customer interviews and incorporating quantitative data is critical. Prioritize opportunities based on value and satisfaction levels, rather than focusing solely on solutions. Formulate testable hypotheses expressed in numbers and connected to measurable metrics. Shift the focus from opinions to behavioral data by asking customers about specific past situations or observing their actions. Celebrate failures as learning opportunities and continually iterate on ideas based on experiment results. Lastly, establish a clear product goal and strategic direction for the team's focus and productivity.
Product Discovery is the most important area for a Product Manager.
That’s why we have Pawal Huryn, a successful Product Manager and coach with more than 9 years of experience in the world of Product on the podcast today. In this chat with Wes Bush, Pawal explains what exactly Product Discovery is and shares his insights on discovering the best ideas, identifying assumptions, and validating them through experimentation.
Along with his process, he gets into the details of how to best collaborate on Product Discovery and the team you should bring along for the ride. He also talks about the cultural shift needed to successfully implement Product Discovery in a product-led business.
Highlights:
5:00: Introduction to the guest and his expertise in product management.
8:00: Definition and importance of product discovery.
14:30: The five risk careers in product management.
19:30: The cultural elements necessary for successful product discovery.
25:00: The process of continuous product discovery.
34:30: Tips for conducting experiments and analyzing results.
40:30: Managing expectations and focusing on goals in product discovery.
45:00: Final tips and recommendations for successful product discovery.
About the Guest:
Pawal Huryn is an author, product coach, and Product Manager at iDeals. He has more than 9 years of experience in Product, and for five years, he ran a successful startup in Poland. He’s helped thousands of professionals boost their product management skills by sharing knowledge and experience in online courses, a newsletter, and social media posts.