user research to validate product ideas workshop
TRANSCRIPT
User Research to Validate Product Ideas Workshop
/Productschool @ProductSchool /ProductmanagementSF
Mike Burk
- 7+ years of Product Management experience at companies like:
ScootMyspaceElectronic ArtsBigCommerence
MEET OUR SPEAKER
www.productschool.com
User Research forProduct ManagersMichael BurkProduct SchoolMarch 8, 2017
About me
Product Team Leader / Company BuilderHeld senior product roles at Scoot Networks,
BigCommerce, Electronic Arts, MySpaceLoves working with startups to build product, design and
engineering teamsAmateur home brewer, BBQer, disc golfer
Overview
What is user research?Types of user researchResearch processFramework for leveraging research in your product
Guiding Question:How do product managers gather user insights and use them
to build successful products?
What is user research & why should you care?
User research focuses on understanding user behaviors, needs, and motivations through observation techniques, task analysis, and other feedback methodologies.
Good research will result in actionable data that leads us to develop testable hypotheses.
As product managers, user research helps us understand whom the product is for and why it's valuable.
User research improves the likelihood of a product satisfying user needs in a way that complements their existing behaviors and
motivations.Source: https://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/user-research.html
Types of user feedback
Source: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/which-ux-research-methods/
Where do I start?
Source: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2013/09/5-step-process-conducting-user-research/
Research Process: Objectives
Research needs a goalWhy are you doing research? What are you
trying to learn?Do you need lots of data or a few key
insights?Do you have a hypothesis that can guide
the research, or are you trying to understand unexplained phenomena?
What data do you have already?You may be able to answer your question without
conducting new researchIf you have a hypothesis, how do you validate as
quickly and cheaply as possible?
Research Process: Hypotheses
What do we already know about our users?What assumptions need to be true in order
for our product to be successful?
Developing and testing hypotheses is a key skill for product managers
Research Process: Methods
Source: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/which-ux-research-methods/
Research Process: Methods
Depending on your objectives and hypothesis, which method is most effective in achieving your research goals?
Check out usability.gov for a great list of research methods and their pros/cons
With all necessary caveats...If you're trying to validate a hypothesis, use
quantitative.If you need to explore/understand
unexplained user behavior, use qualitative.
Research Process: Conduct
Recruit test subjects:Your usersYour colleaguesYour target customersYour competitors
Execute your research using the predefined method
Research Process: Synthesis
Did we validate or invalidate our hypothesis?
Did we learn anything unexpected?Did we collect actionable or testable data
that can be used to inform product planning & roadmapping?
Now what?
Product managers are constantly responding to two key questions:
What do we build?
In what order?
We need a framework for translating user research into product features and roadmaps.
We can use research to develop user personas and what they need and value in terms of product features.
Product Market Strategy Framework
Step 1: Identify your target user(s)-- e.g. Aspiring product managers, soccer moms, real estate agents
Step 2: Determine differentiating features-- Reasons why someone would use your product instead of competitor-- Things people talk about when asked why they use your product-- Should exceed expectations-- NPS 9-10
Step 3: Determine table stakes features-- Core features that make your product viable-- No credit for having them, but penalty if you don’t-- NPS 7-8
Product Market Strategy Framework (cont)
Step 4: Use your research to identify feature gaps and quality deficiencies
-- Are your differentiating features very high quality (NPS 9+)?-- Are your table stakes features good enough (NPS 7+)?-- How does your product compare to your competitors’?
Step 5: Prioritize based on maximum impact-- Identify the features that are dragging down your user satisfaction.-- The features your users interact with most often comprise the bulk of their opinion & satisfaction. Prioritize them.
Sample: Building the framework
● Organize your differentiating & table stakes features using the results of your user research
● Target 3-5 max in each category
Sample: Determining user satisfaction
● Assign user satisfaction rating (e.g. NPS) to each of your features● Use your research as much as possible, but make informed estimates as needed
Sample: Identifying product opportunities
● Identify feature gaps & quality deficiencies to inform your roadmap● Prioritize features that are used most often
Recap
User research improves our odds of success for building products that meet (or exceed) our customers’ expectations.
The form and method of our research is determined by our goals.
Good research results in actionable data or testable hypotheses.
Understanding the features our customers value most should inform our roadmapping and prioritization processes.
Thank you!
Salesforce's Director of Product Talks: Communication in the Digital Age
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