Product Talk

Recording customer interviews Learn more about customer interviews: https://buff.ly/4gs3i9l Do you record your customer interviews? If so, how long do you keep the recording around? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. #ContinuousDiscoveryHabits #CustomerInterviews

Worthy Read: The Looking Glass: The Paradoxes of Data by Julie Zhuo "The biggest misconception of data is that it provides certainty. That somehow, a set of numbers is scientific, smart, and foolproof." 📊 Learn why data and design aren't opposites, but two sides of the same coin in the quest for truth. This article explores: 🔍 The deep connection between data and design 📈 Why data can never provide complete certainty ⏰ What makes the most decisive leaders different 🎯 5 key values of data-informed cultures: • Purpose-driven over number-obsessed • Clear goals over vague aspirations • Company-wide data literacy • Active testing of beliefs • Embracing probability over certainty Plus, for paid subscribers: 💡 5 rules for designing metrics 💪 How to handle data-based pushback Read the article: https://buff.ly/3AlgH45 ❓ Do you rely more on data or intuition when making decisions? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

"If you’ve never talked to a customer, I don’t want you to worry about optimizing who to talk to. I want you to talk to whoever it’s easiest to talk to. But with time, I want you to start to think about how to increase the variation.” Want to know who you should be interviewing in your continuous discovery practice? This article breaks down: 👥 Why you should start by talking to any customer 📊 How to interview for variation over time 📊 Tips for B2B customer interviews ⚡ Creative solutions for interviewing "hard-to-reach" customers 🗣️ Why story-based interviewing keeps customers coming back for more Read the article: https://buff.ly/3ECoyMI ❓ What's the most creative way you've found to connect with busy customers for interviews? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Worthy Read: How to Know if Your Idea’s the Right One — A Founder’s Guide for Successful Early-Stage Customer Discovery by First Round Review "Moving too fast makes you miss the root cause of the problem" - wise words from Jeanette Mellinger on why proper customer research matters 🎯 Want to validate your startup idea properly? Learn how to conduct effective customer interviews from BetterUp's Head of UX Research. Here's what you'll discover: 🔍 How to create a focused research plan that saves time later 👥 The magic number of people to interview (hint: it's smaller than you think!) ⚠️ Three types of bias to watch out for in customer interviews ❓ How to ask better questions that uncover real insights 📊 A 3-step framework for analyzing your research findings The key is being intentional and structured in your approach - no more random coffee chats that lead nowhere. Break your research into mini-sprints of 5-8 conversations to keep things focused and actionable. Read the article: https://buff.ly/3TbLXIu 💭 What's been your biggest challenge when trying to validate a business idea? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Story-based interviewing vs. Quantitative Data Learn more about customer interviews: https://buff.ly/4jIkryB What do you get from your customer interviews that you can't get from your quantitative data? Please share in the comments. #ContinuousDiscoveryHabits #CustomerInterviews

"When we use the same artifacts to do the work, communicate the work, and archive the work, all three purposes get the attention they deserve." 📈 Struggling with managing all your discovery artifacts? Learn a practical approach to organizing your discovery work that serves three key purposes: doing the work, communicating with stakeholders, and archiving decisions. 🎯 You'll learn: • Why creating separate artifacts for different purposes is inefficient • How to use opportunity solution trees and story maps effectively • Tips for communicating progress without overwhelming stakeholders • What's actually worth archiving (hint: less than you think!) 📖 Read the article: https://buff.ly/42HJifG ❓ What's one discovery artifact that you find most valuable for both doing the work AND communicating with stakeholders? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Worthy Read: Unleash the Power of Discovery: Teresa Torres’ Continuous Discovery Habits (Book Review) by Alba Mata "The Power of OST lies in the tree structure that helps us visualize and understand the complexity of the opportunity space. It helps deconstruct large, intractable problems into a series of smaller, more solvable problems." 📚 Alba Mata shares her experience with Continuous Discovery Habits, highlighting how the Opportunity Solution Tree (OST) serves as valuable documentation for teams with high turnover. She describes how the book guides teams through practical discovery practices, from outcome-focused thinking to stakeholder communication. 🌳 Alba connects the concepts to her own work experience: "In my experience, some organizations I've worked with were all about boosting business outcomes... Looking back, throwing in a leading indicator, spending more time figuring out product outcomes with the devs, and using an OST could've saved us a load of confusion." 💡 What resonated most with Alba was the book's adaptability - these habits serve as templates that can be customized to align with your team's needs and preferences. Read the review: https://buff.ly/4fikMoN ❓ How have the discovery habits influenced your work? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Worthy Read: Chains of Assumptions (Part 2) by Julie Zhuo "The harder a problem is to solve, the more likely any proposed solution will garner many critiques." 💭 Want to solve difficult problems more effectively? This article explores how to harness collective intelligence by breaking down our chains of assumptions. Here's what you'll learn: 🔍 Why we often rely on assumptions without questioning them 🤔 The importance of identifying "salient assumptions" - those that are both important and uncertain 👥 Why the traditional "one person proposes, others critique" model often fails 🌐 How to build a "web of assumptions" to tackle complex problems as a team The article walks through a practical example of hiring a top-notch engineering team to demonstrate this collaborative approach in action. Read the article: https://buff.ly/407EzTp ❓ What's the most challenging problem you've had to solve as part of a team? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

"Product development is a team sport. While we each bring a unique set of skills and expertise to the team, we'll only win by working together." 🎯 Learn six key principles for effective product discovery: 1. Building genuine empathy for your audience 2. Continuously exploring the problem space 3. Using visual mapping for clarity 4. Drawing from theory and first principles 5. Co-creating solutions with your audience 6. Testing underlying assumptions Plus, get practical tips for implementing each principle in your product work 🚀 Read the article: https://buff.ly/4hoP5eT ❓ Which of these 6 principles do you find the hardest to implement consistently in your product work? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

"When we work in silos, we do more work, we take longer to complete that work, and we often build sub-optimal solutions." 💡 Want to build better products faster? Learn how product trios—a cross-functional team of a product manager, a designer, and an engineer—work together from day one to make better product decisions. 🤝 In this comprehensive guide, you'll discover: - What makes a product trio effective - How to resolve conflicts and make decisions together - Tips for getting engineers excited about discovery - Ways to adapt the trio concept for your team's needs - Practical advice for remote collaboration 🌐 Read the article: https://buff.ly/3Ws33Dl ❓ What's the biggest challenge you face when trying to collaborate across product, design, and engineering? Share your thoughts in the comments below.