» Focus your prototyping on the moments that matter most to users
» Prototypes range in fidelity, but remain throwaway
» Prototyping brings tangibility to intangible experiences
» Be clear about what you want to learn, and what assumptions you want to test
» Design simply to deliver early and learn quickly
Engineering teams are choosing to work on projects that make them look busy, but which don’t actually move things forward. What they’re usually working on is a convoluted — and arguably doomed — attempt to replatform a legacy ‘cash cow’ product.
» More specific questions yield better user research findings
» User research works well when the team collaborates with a specialist user researcher
» Increased team user exposure hours correlates with more successful product improvements by the team
» The sooner you start user research, the greater impact it will have on your product
» A Kanban board helps the team to collate and track the questions to be researched
» Discovery is about understanding the problem space experienced by people
» When on a tight budget for discovery, mitigate bias where possible and document all the biases you see
» A relaxed participant will open up and be more honest with you
» A discovery can prompt one or more possible solutions, or tell you the problem is not worth pursuing
When companies set out to redesign a product or service, the results can sometimes be underwhelming. Instead of delivering service transformation, the team recommends only minor efficiency tweaks. If this has been happening to you, there can be many underlying causes. I’ve identified a few common problems and what you can you do about them.
Even if your product’s achieved product-market fit, you’re wrong if you think you never need to worry about it again.
» Avoid waste by by first researching “shallow” user personas then progressively elaborating as needed
» Product managers can and should conduct user research when demand outstrips the researchers available
» Connect user personas to people’s actual goals for more emotional impact
» Good interviewers listen, not talk
» User research needs to be proactive as well as reactive validation
» Some research techniques are more useful than others at different stages
» You must safeguard the welfare of your user research participants
» There are many ways to recruit participants for your research without outsourcing
» Use a simple format for sharing research findings memorably
Starting a new product manager job can be daunting, particularly if you don’t change jobs very often. I work freelance, so I find myself in a new organisation roughly every 3-6 months. Let me share with you my tips for your first few months in a new role.
» Lockdown has accelerated existing tech adoption trends
» You need to be asking different questions about product strategy now
» 25% discount available on my Product Management Masterclass
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» Avoid the biases and traps of user and market research
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