3 Universal Truths to Cut
|
Dear Reader,
"We need more user research!" "Let's run a design sprint!" "Have you tried jobs-to-be-done?" Product Discovery can feel like drowning in an ocean of frameworks and methods. But after coaching dozens of product teams, I've found that successful Discovery isn't about following perfect processes—it's about understanding three fundamental truths that cut through the noise.
Truth #1: Evidence Beats Process
The strength of your evidence matters more than the steps you took to get it. Teams frequently get caught up in following the "right" process, but what truly drives progress is gathering reliable evidence about customer problems and potential solutions. Real, observed behavior will always trump reported feedback, and evidence showing meaningful commitment beats casual interest every time.
Truth #2: Context Beats Convention
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to Discovery. What works for a B2B enterprise product won't necessarily work for a consumer mobile app. The key is matching your method to what you need to learn next. Sometimes, that means running quick experiments instead of extensive research. Other times, it means conducting deep customer interviews before prototyping. Your context—including your customer type, business model, and constraints—should guide your choice of methods.
Truth #3: Focus Beats Completeness
Not every customer problem needs to be solved, and not every feature idea is worth pursuing. Valuable Discovery means choosing which problems matter most to your strategic goals. Teams need to evaluate the reliability of their customer insights and use that information to decide what to work on. This means being deliberate about which customer segments to focus on and which problems to prioritize.
The most successful teams I've worked with embrace these truths by:
Remember: The goal isn't perfect certainty—it's gathering enough reliable evidence to make confident decisions about what to (or not to) build next. When teams focus on these fundamentals instead of getting lost in the process, they consistently deliver solutions that matter for both users and the business.
Did you enjoy the newsletter? Please forward it. It only takes two clicks. Creating this one took two hours.
Thank you for Practicing Product,
Tim
There is ONE last ticket available for my in-person Product Discovery workshop on March 10 in London (as part of Mind the Product conference).
GET THE TICKET! |
(In case it's gone already,
check out one of the other amazing workshops)
As a Product Management Coach, I guide Product Teams to measure the real progress of their evidence-informed decisions.
I focus on better practices to connect the dots of Product Strategy, Product OKRs, and Product Discovery.
1 tip & 3 resources per week to improve your Strategy, OKRs, and Discovery practices in less than 5 minutes.
Product Practice #362 The Progress Wheel: My favorite Structure to Connect the Dots READ ON HERBIG.CO PUBLISHED May 9, 2025 READING TIME 4 min & 48 sec Dear Reader, Real Progress happens when you choose methods because they create value for you in your context, and you can use each domain to improve the others. To make Real Progress, teams need to understand and practice two core ideas: Putting the value of a practice before the selection of a method or framework is crucial to avoid getting...
Product Practice #361 Connecting North Star Metricsto Business Models READ ON HERBIG.CO PUBLISHED May 2, 2025 READING TIME 4 min & 45 sec Dear Reader, In many organizations, there's still a disconnect between product and business metrics. Product teams focus on customer-centric outcomes while business teams chase financial targets, with neither side fully trusting how one drives the other. When done right, a North Star Metric (NSM) can establish a middle ground that brings together both...
Product Practice #360 Why your Product DiscoveryFeels too Theoretical READ ON HERBIG.CO PUBLISHED Apr 25, 2025 READING TIME 4 min & 17 sec Dear Reader, Over the past two weeks, I've explored treating Product Strategy and OKRs like products to avoid Alibi Progress. Today, let's tackle the practice that often gets dismissed as "good in theory, impossible in practice" — Product Discovery. When teams tell me "we don't have time for proper Discovery," they're usually stuck in Alibi Progress —...