In an increasingly digital world, creating innovative and effective products is essential for a company's success. However, developing a digital product involves much more than just coming up with an idea and investing financial resources.
To develop a successful product, it is necessary to deeply understand the needs and desires of the users, look for concrete evidenceto search for concrete evidence and ensure that the product meets the market's expectations. This is where Product Discovery comes in.
Product Discovery is a structured process that aims to understand users' needs, identify opportunities for innovation, and define the best solution for a digital product.
As opposed to simply following a biased person's view, Product Discovery seeks to eliminate these biases and be based on factual information.
To make it clearer, let's imagine a fictitious company called SalesBoost, a company that provides software solutions for sales teams.
They have an idea to develop a mobile app that helps salespeople manage their leads more efficiently by offering features such as interaction tracking, follow-up reminders, and performance analytics.
Before investing significant resources in developing this application, the SalesBoost team decided to conduct a Product Discovery process.
The company has done this to validate the viability of the idea and ensure that it meets the needs of the users. This avoids possible losses and increases the assertiveness of the product.
In the Product Discovery process, it is fundamental to understand the user in his entirety: his routine, his pains, and his desires.
By putting yourself in the user's shoes, it is possible to understand whether the proposed solution makes sense for the user.
To do this, it is necessary to conduct surveys, interviews, and mapping to obtain valuable information about the user's context and needs.
A practical example is a visit to the Azul made by theteam team at levva. During this visit, interviews were conducted with technicians, warehouse and crew members to understand their pains and journeys. This information provides valuable insights that drive the product creation process.
Product Discovery is a practice widely adopted by companies in various segments. Each organization adapts the method according to its reality and internal processes.
A good example of a company that uses Product Discovery is our company, levva, a technology company that serves large organizations around the world.
Levva aims to customize the product discovery process according to the specific needs of each customer, ensuring effective results.
To this end, Product Discovery is divided into three pillars: product, design, and technology.
In the product area, the Product Owner (PO) or Product Manager (PM) is responsible for organizing and managing the communication between the team and the stakeholders.
He conducts the agile rites for the best delivery of the backlog, collects information throughout the process, and attends strategy meetings to understand the path the product can take.
The designer plans the Product Discovery with a design focus, performing the necessary activities and supporting the PO in communication.
It plays a key role in understanding the project goals, the users, and the context, proposing impactful solutions, and ways to measure that impact.
The software architect has the responsibility to understand the technological context, ensure the technical feasibility of the product, and propose solutions that deliver quality.
It prepares everything for development and ensures the availability and financial sustainability of the project.
The Product Discovery process consists of several steps, which must be followed sequentially to achieve effective results.
Below, we describe how we do each of these in levva and their respective deliverables.
At this early stage, it is time to hold a meeting to align expectations and discuss the purpose of the project. We define the objecgoal of the discoveryobjective, we alignedalign expectations with the client and establishwe a clear understanding of the process and the results to be generated.
This phase is dedicated to researching and understanding the users, the company, and the people involved. They carry outthe interviews, mapping, and documentation to understand the user's pains and whether the proposed solution makes sense for them. The goal is to put yourself in the user's shoes and understand their context.
After the empathy phase, we analyze the results to identify the challenge, the users, the pains, and the value proposition. With more concrete information, it is possible to define the problem to be solved and think about how to solve it.
In this step it is also defined who should participate in the product design and which leaders and stakeholders should be involved.
Moment to explore the ideas for solutions for the problem previously identified. Usually, a group dynamic is conducted, involving the client's entire team.
Different techniques, such as the CSD Matrix (Certainties, Assumptions, and Doubts) and the Importance and Complexity Matrix, are used to generate insights and stimulate creativity.
This step challenges people to step out of their comfort zones and confronts the customer with the reality of their processes and products.
Team brainstorming meeting to develop the design of a solution in MVP (Minimum Viable Product) format.
At this stage, the insights generated are used to suggest features and outline the technical feasibility of the proposed ideas. Benchmarking of solutions in the market is also carried out to give traction to the project.
It is worth noting that the solution is not always a digital product, but may be a change in a process or the adoption of an existing tool in the market.
With the solution idealized and approved by all parties, it is time to prototype screens in MVP format. The product backlog begins to be organized and prioritized, defining the features that will be developed.
This phase allows you to have a concrete vision of the product and ensures that the development effort is directed toward something that will actually be used.
In this step, the features are divided into epics, enabling the delivery of value in sprints. The team defines the epics and stories that will be part of the product backlog, allowing better project management.
Creation of a solution map that defines the order of development of the features based on the client's priorities. At this stage, the agendas for the presentation of results are organized and the product development sequence is defined.
The goal is to align delivery expectations and ensure that resources are allocated efficiently.
This is when the strategy for the gradual delivery of the solution to users is designed. We define how the solution will be put into production and made available in an effective way. This may involve training, replacement of existing tools, or any other action necessary to ensure the adoption and success of the product.
At the end of this stage, the final presentation of the discovery project to the team and the client takes place, marking the end of the discovery process and the beginning of the delivery process.
Product Discovery is an essential step in the development of digital products. Through a structured process, it allows you to validate ideas, understand user needs, and reduce the bias of the experts involved.
By following the Product Discovery steps, such as kickoff, empathy, definition, ideation, solution refinement, prototyping, breaking into epics, roadmap, and rollout plan, technology companies can gain greater confidence in creating products that meet user expectations and bring effective results for the business.
When starting a new product development project, don't underestimate the importance of Product Discovery. Investing time and resources in this initial stage can make the difference between success and failure of a digital product.
Oh, and if you like this text, you will surely be interested to read this article here about Data Discovery. Are you curious to know how the discovery process works in the data area? Come with us!
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