Product discovery

Product discovery is how we define the problem we’re trying to solve and the possible solutions we could build to address it. We answer all these questions and more in our Product Discovery Workshops. While there are some similarities between the content covered in the Product Discovery Workshop and Project kick-off meeting, this one-day workshop digs much deeper into the details than we can in an initial one-hour kick-off meeting.

We usually structure the Product Discovery Workshop to cover the following topics:

• Project Pitch: The client usually sets the stage for the rest of the day’s conversations by sharing a high-level overview of their project and their long-term vision and goals for it.

• Problems and Opportunities: We use this session to align on what the problem is and how other companies are or are not effectively solving it. We should also use this session to dig into the problem, the target market it affects, and the broader competitive landscape so we can better define the exact problem we’re focused on and the opportunities that currently exist in the market.

• Solutions: Next, it’s time to focus on how a new product or service could solve the identified problem and exploit market opportunities. We should discuss the solutions we’ve considered and how they could address the problem. We’ll also need to consider distribution channels for the product and how we can find reference customers to use throughout the development process. By the end of this session, there should be agreement on the solution to build and a high-level list of deliverables that will be required to bring it to life.

• Defining Deliverables: Using the list of deliverables identified in the previous session, we should now define them in more detail, including the users who will be using them, the journeys that those users will be taking with them, and the features necessary to make those journeys possible in the product.

• MVP Roadmap: In an ideal world, we would be able to develop all the features we defined in the previous session by the time we release the first version of the product. However, with limited time and resources, we must hone in on the essential features and functionalities the app needs to have for users to complete the most important flows in the app. Therefore, the goal of this session will be to produce a design and development roadmap that gets us to the estimated release date for the minimum viable product (MVP). This roadmap should take into account all of the required deliverables, quality assurance testing sessions, launch dates, and any other moving pieces that need to be taken into account when determining the final timeline.

Though all of these topics are important to cover during the Product Discovery Workshop, it can also become clear in these discussions that certain topics would benefit from more attention before moving forward. In those cases, you may need to pivot the workshop toward specific areas such as branding, design, competitor analysis, and defining personas. As always, it’s better to be agile and see where the conversation takes you!