ProductLed Podcast

Outcome-Driven Innovation with Tony Ulwick (Strategyn)

Sep 5, 2023

Tony Ulwick, innovation leader and bestselling author of 'Jobs to Be Done: Theory to Practice,' discusses Outcome-Driven Innovation as a framework for market success. Topics include understanding customer needs, defining customer groups, targeting underserved segments, step-by-step process for understanding customer needs, mapping out desired outcomes, collaborative approach, categorizing desired outcomes, segmentation based on unmet needs, and an example in dentistry where patient segments are identified based on their unmet needs.

45:44

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Tony Ulwick

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Quick takeaways

Understanding customer needs based on desired outcomes is crucial for creating successful products.

Segmenting opportunities based on unmet needs and aligning value propositions accordingly increases the chances of market success.

The iterative process of outcome-driven innovation requires a balance of common sense and data-driven decision-making, along with effective collaboration and segmentation.

Deep dives

Understanding customer needs in product innovation

The podcast episode discusses the importance of understanding customer needs in order to create successful products. The speaker shares a personal experience of a failed product launch and highlights the common struggle companies face in creating winning products. They introduce the concept of outcome-driven innovation and emphasize the need to define customer needs based on desired outcomes rather than focusing on specific solutions. The speaker explains the process of mapping out customer jobs to be done, identifying desired outcomes, and segmenting opportunities based on unmet needs. They also discuss the importance of building a value proposition that aligns with customer needs and the potential for repositioning existing products to better meet those needs.

Introduction

2min

History and Development of Outcome-Driven Innovation (ODI)

9min

Different Types of Customers in the Product Lifecycle

7min

Understanding the Jobs to be Done in the Context of Cars

3min

Outcome-Driven Innovation and Understanding Desired Outcomes

19min

Unrecognized Problems and Improving Innovations

3min

A Discussion about a Free Book and Research on Met Needs

2min

Today’s episode dives into understanding your customers' unmet needs and mastering the art of building products the right way.

Our guest is Tony Ulwick, innovation leader and the bestselling author of "Jobs to Be Done: Theory to Practice." Tony offers a simplified approach to the innovation process, and together with host Wes Bush, they discuss Outcome-Driven Innovation as a framework for market success.

The focus here is on discovering what customers aim to achieve (their "jobs to be done") rather than rushing into product features or solutions. Explore the roles of different customer segments, a systematic approach to customer discovery, valuable segmentation for product development and marketing, and more.

Key Takeaways:

[1:00] Tony Ulwick’s IBM experience and ongoing innovation challenges

[2:10] His desire to predict product success before development

[3:15] Understanding customer needs

[9:00] Defining customer groups

[10:40] Targeting underserved segments

[13:10] Finding segments of opportunity

[15:00] Step-by-step process for understanding customer needs

[16:00] Mapping out desired outcomes

[20:45] Discussion of platform-level solutions

[21:40] Mapping out desired outcomes

[24:00] The collaborative approach

[25:00] Categorizing desired outcomes

[28:00] Finding segments of opportunity

[30:00] Segmentation based on unmet needs

[30:40] Focus on the job to be done

[31:00] Example in dentistry where patient segments are identified based on their unmet needs.

[32:10] Identifying unmet needs to inform product strategy

[33:00] Shifting the value proposition based on identified unmet needs.

[34:15] Innovations and unmet needs

[38:30] Free book “Jobs to be Done” theory

About Tony Ulwick:

Tony Ulwick is the CEO of Strategyn, an innovation consultancy. He's known for pioneering Jobs-to-be-Done Theory and inventing Outcome-Driven Innovation® (ODI) with an 86% success rate. Tony works with Fortune 500 companies to make innovation more predictable and oversees the JTBD + ODI publication.

Links:

Tony Ulwick | LinkedIn

JOBS TO BE DONE book