(2018-04-23) Torres How Much Time Should You Spend In Product Discovery

Teresa Torres: How Much Time Should You Spend in Product Discovery? - Product Talk

In discovery, we start by defining a clear outcome and then asking, “What’s the best path to that desired outcome?”

We need to discover what needs, pain points, desires, wants—or what I call opportunities—impact that outcome.

We then ask, “Which of these opportunities, if we addressed them, would have the biggest impact on our desired outcome?”

Discovery isn’t a linear process. It’s a complex, messy process that is happening all at once.

However, some teams fall prey to analysis paralysis

Instead of asking, “How much discovery do we need to do?” teams should be doing continuous discovery and asking, “How can we quickly integrate the new information we are learning without losing momentum?”

I have two tools that teams can adopt to help answer this better question: the opportunity solution tree and understanding the difference between one-way door decisions and two-way door decisions (Reversibility).

Use an Opportunity Solution Tree to Map Out Your Decisions

If you hear more than one customer share a need or pain point, add it to your tree. Remember, you aren’t committing to addressing it, you are just adding it to your map of possibilities.