Continuous Discovery Habits: Discover Products that Create Customer Value and Business Value

by Teresa Torres

“Customers will take the time to browse all the options on our getting-started page,” “Customers will know how to select the right option based on their situation,” and “Our engineers can identify the right subset of options to show the customer based on the customer’s profile data.”

Our goal as a product team is not to seek truth but to mitigate risk. We need to do just enough research to mitigate the risk that our companies cannot bear and no more.

There are two tools that should be in every product team’s toolbox—unmoderated user testing and one-question surveys.

If you want to do a deep dive on qualitative tests, pick up a copy of Laura Klein’s UX for Lean Startups.

TBR

This is why we say discovery feeds delivery and delivery feeds discovery. They aren’t two distinct phases. You can’t have one without the other.

When we show our work, we are inviting our stakeholders to co-create with us. Instead of sharing our conclusions and inviting them to share their preferences, we are sharing our work and inviting them to assess our thinking and to add their own. We are leveraging their expertise and improving our process.

I worked at a startup where our Vice President of Product thought his job was to manage a spreadsheet of feature requests that came from the CEO.

This is relatable lol.

If you aren’t familiar with the concept of a keystone habit, it comes from Charles Duhigg’s book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. Duhigg argues, “Keystone habits start a process that, over time, transforms everything.” They are habits that, once adopted, drive the adoption of other habits. For most people, exercise is a keystone habit. When we exercise regularly, we naturally tend to eat better, we have more energy, and thus we are more productive at work. For others, making your bed each morning is a keystone habit. It sets the tone of rigor and discipline from the start of your day. This is why many military leaders advocate for this habit. To be clear, it’s not that exercise makes you eat better or making your bed makes you more disciplined, but doing the former makes the latter easier. The keystone habit builds motivation for the subsequent habits.

I believe continuous interviewing is a keystone habit for continuous discovery. Of all the habits in this book, if you are looking for one place to get started, this is it.

When you are asked to deliver a specific solution, work backward. Take the time to consider, “If our customers had this solution, what would it do for them?”

If next week looks better than last week, you are on the right track.