Even if you have access to the people you need, customer research is not without its pitfalls. It can be tricky because, as you might have experienced already, people often immediately jump into telling you the solution. “Oh, I just need a button here that lets me do X,” they say. As a product manager, you need to back up and ask, “Okay, but why? Why do you need a button? Why do you think a button is the right thing? What are you trying to accomplish?” It is understanding the user’s need — not the button — that helps you to get closer to understanding the root of the problem. Remember, it’s
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