Visualizing discovery work with an opportunity solution tree has been a game-changer for both me and the teams that I work with. It’s a simple visual that packs a lot of power. At the top, we start with a clear outcome. This sets the scope for our discovery. From there, an effective team is doing […]
Adopting a Continuous Discovery Mindset Across the Organization
I teach two courses at Northwestern University. I want to share a little bit more about the work that I am doing there as I think it’s relevant for people working at companies who are starting to adopt continuous discovery practices (in other words, many of you). The first course focuses on teaching practitioners how […]
Stop Validating & Start Co-Creating
Meet Sally and Pam. Sally is a product manager, Pam a user experience designer, and they are working on a new mobile app. They’ve conducted customer interviews, defined their MVP, and are now working through the initial designs. Even though their MVP will only include a fraction of their near-term vision, Pam wants two weeks […]
4 Powerful Ways to Use Rapid Prototyping to Drive Product Success
When you hear the term “rapid prototyping,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind? For most of us who work with digital products, we tend to think of wireframes or mockups. We equate prototyping with a quick way to get user feedback on our designs. But when we think of rapid prototyping and usability […]
How to Improve Your Experiment Design (And Build Trust in Your Product Experiments)
I’ve got a pet peeve to share with you. If you’ve been following along with the growth of the Lean Startup and other experimental methods, you’ve probably come across this hypothesis format: We believe [this capability] Will result in [this outcome] We will have confidence to proceed when [we see these measurable signals] If you […]
3 Best Practices for Adopting Continuous Product Discovery
It’s easy to think you already do continuous product discovery. Most of the teams that I work with come into coaching thinking that they don’t need help. They’ve read the industry books, they attend the popular product conferences, and they follow all the leading blogs. They’ve got this. And they aren’t wrong. Most product teams […]
The Evolution of Modern Product Discovery
Product management is evolving quickly. The days of gathering requirements from business stakeholders and documenting them in long product requirements documents are vanishing. We no longer take months or years to release value to our customers. Instead, product teams are experimenting their way to viable solutions. We are putting our customers first, taking the time […]
Why This Opportunity Solution Tree is Changing the Way Product Teams Work
I’ve found a visual aid that is profoundly changing the way teams work. It’s working so well that I feel compelled to write a book about it. But that’s going to take time and I want you to have it today. So I’m going to scratch the surface in this blog post. I suspect you […]
