Customer Behavior
Customer behavior refers to the observable, measurable actions that customers take when using a product or service.
Why does customer behavior matter in product discovery?
Product outcomes should be defined as changes in customer behavior—what people do—because these behaviors are leading indicators that eventually drive lagging business outcomes like revenue or retention.
All business is fundamentally a bet on future human behavior. Understanding and influencing customer behavior is how product teams create value. As Josh Seiden recommends in Outcomes Over Output, teams should start with the question: "What are the customer behaviors that drive business results?"
When product outcomes become things people do, they become observable and measurable. Teams can test customer behavior through experiments—often with small sample sizes like 100 or 1,000 customers—to understand if their product changes are having the intended impact.
Customer behavior is the critical link between product teams and business outcomes. Longer-horizon project research helps teams keep tabs on external trends and understand customer behavior over time, while continuous discovery focuses on understanding and influencing specific behavior changes week over week.
Learn more:
- Empower Product Teams with Product Outcomes, Not Business Outcomes
- Customer Interviews: How to Recruit, What to Ask, and How to Synthesize What You Learn
Related terms:
- Product Outcomes
- Business Outcome
- Leading Indicators
- Behavior Change
Last Updated: October 25, 2025