How to structure your Product Discovery Process

With all the uncertainty and non-linearity of a Product Discovery, it can be incredibly hard to define your own Product Discovery Process and set up a structure. In this video, I dive into some general advice for bringing structure into your Product Discovery activities.
0:00 - Introduction - Bringing structure and clarity to Product Discovery
0:32 - Product Discovery Definition
1:36 - Product Discovery Activities
3:58 - Time boxing Product Discovery Activities
6:23 - Coordinating Product Discovery Activities
9:47 - Discovery Check-ins
11:53 - Product Discovery Process Tips
MORE FREE PRODUCT MANAGEMENT RESOURCES
My best resources on Product Strategy: herbig.blog/strategy-recources
My best resources on Product Management OKRs: herbig.blog/okr-resources My best resources on Product Discovery: herbig.blog/discovery-resources
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ABOUT ME
I’m Tim, and as a Product Management Coach & Consultant, I enable Product Teams across the globe to put Outcomes into Practice by helping them to connect the Dots of Product Strategy, OKRs, and Product Discovery.

[@irajt5667]

Thank you Tim. These videos are very helpful.

[@Kamil-dt6vu]

By far the best guide I have seen on this subject, great job Tim!

[@herbigt]

Thanks so much, Kamil. That's amazing to hear!

[@ivanhurtado7652]

Hey Tim, Thanks for putting out this great content. I have been leaning on it lately to get a Discovery process going and it has helped me shape my thoughts on how to tackle the situation. I really appreciate it, keep up the great work!

[@yuriiandrusiak3510]

Well done Tim! Thanks for this awesome content on product discovery.

[@herbigt]

Thanks so much, Yurii!

[@DaveRino]

Tim is a great coach I really enjoy his videos.

[@herbigt]

Awe, thanks so much, Dave. That's amazing to hear!

[@anthonynworah2893]

Thank you for this piece of valuable content Tim👍. Do keep it up Sir.

[@herbigt]

Thanks so much, Nworah. That's awesome to hear!

[@anthonynworah2893]

@@herbigt You're very much welcome Tim! If you don't mind, I'd like to create the subtitles for one other video you have on your channel at no cost! I see you have 3 more. What do you think?

[@leandrekoffi]

Great video. thanks you for all this stuff and time taking to produce it.

[@herbigt]

Thanks, Leandre. Happy to hear it resonates!

[@daffamusyafa3647]

What a great video for new product manager like me!

[@herbigt]

That‘s awesome to hear, Daffa!

[@anshu5337]

thank you for such a great explanation.

[@herbigt]

Thanks, Anshu. That's great to hear!

[@kakauefebe]

Great work here! Love it.

[@herbigt]

Thanks so much, Kakau!

[@janabarclay6885]

Super useful video, thanks Tim!

[@herbigt]

Thanks a lot for the feedback, Jana. That's great to hear!

[@NikhilSingh-cj8fp]

Loved it.. Thanks man!

[@herbigt]

That's great to hear, Nikhil. Thanks for your feedback.

[@ruslanl5425]

Hey Tim! Thank you for a such great content in this video. I would say this is on of the best explanation of the Prodcut Discovery process. I have few questions for you. What do you think about Double Dimaond approach from Design Thinking? Is it good enough to be used for Product Discovery?

[@herbigt]

Hey Ruslan, thanks for the question. I believe that the general act of diverging and converging is very useful for Discovery as a whole and the individual activities in it. Like co-creating a research interview guide or collaborative ideation sessions after understanding the problem space. But, in general, I wouldn’t be too rigid about the order of your activities and recommend to adapt to new insights. Your progress should be more important than the process.

[@priyeshnaik]

Very informative and helpful.

[@herbigt]

Thanks, Priyesh. That's great to hear!

[@DaveRino]

Tim, this explanation of the process is excellent. I have a question about post product launch and the kind of activities you feel are appropriate at that point, and the discovery process you might utilize for a V2 of a launched product where there are “high confidence” features you didn’t add in the V1. Thank you!

[@herbigt]

Thanks, Dave. My first question would be what drove the high confidence in the first place and are these signals still as strong? Also, what are the overarching strategic directions and goals for v1+? Still the same? Are you going after the same users? I talked more about structuring evidence strength and prioritization in this post: www.linkedin.com/posts/herbigt_productdiscovery-outcomes-productteams-activity-6948127234008203264-Wuqa I hope that's helpful

[@allanpaulose8167]

Thank you Tim!

[@herbigt]

Thank you for watching, Allan!

[@marcelomfp87]

Awesome content, Tim. Thank you for that!

[@herbigt]

Thanks, Marcelo. Feedback like this keeps me going!

[@vinipuonder5455]

Great video, although this was not what I was looking for. You should have probably named the video as "how to plan a product discovery schedule". The question I was trying to answer was in the beginners space "how to do product discovery". Thank you anyway, your recommendations can help anyone planning a project that involves different stakeholders.

[@herbigt]

That‘s a great point, Vinicius! I will work on a follow-up video for that specific question soon.

[@applebeetea9301]

Yes please do change the title as I felt it was misleading.

[@eldariefimenko4190]

Love it!

[@herbigt]

Thanks, Eldar. I appreciate the feedback!

[@unrick8851]

Animal. Parabéns e muito obrigado. Continue assim!

[@herbigt]

Thanks, Andrew

[@Baelstrax]

I have a 1 week Product Discovery and definition deadline lol, Only two days left, wish me luck

[@syedahmad5655]

Thanks Tim... great presentation. Do you know of a tool or a template that people can use to ensure that everyone is clear on the discovery process - (I mean get a buy-in on the discovery process) and can follow along as a way to ensure ppl don't keep jumping into the solution from the start.

[@herbigt]

Such a great question, Syed. I have seen lots of success with teams that create an explicit understanding around the problem space using alignment frameworks like the Mission Briefing: herbig.co/product-discovery/#mission-briefing But, as with any tool, it‘s about how you use it. Even the best framework can be misused by solely focusing on features, cramming all pet projects in there, or never revisiting it again. Make sure to keep this in mind.

[@m.design]

This is gem.

[@herbigt]

Thanks a lot for the feedback, Meet!

[@venkatsivaraomamidala5022]

Really good content Tim

[@herbigt]

Thanks a lot, Venkat. That‘s great to hear!

[@solomonkitumba]

Great stuff...

[@herbigt]

Thanks for the feedback, Solomon!

[@caiorolim4519]

Nice!

[@herbigt]

Thanks so much, Caio!

[@daviddawid123]

Good sessions...Thank you . What books would you recommend for me please. To keep on learning

[@herbigt]

Thanks so much! Here are some of my all-time favorites (beyond the usual suspects): *Validating Product Ideas Through Lean User Research by Tomer Sharon* What I love most about this book is its insane focus on practicality. It doesn't bother you with flashy introductions or stories but gets right at it. In addition, you can use it as a catalog. Skimming it for whatever you need at any given time. It's also organizing techniques around questions (i.e., "What do users need?") to help you select what framework to apply when. The book also sticks to the basics without re-inventing the wheel. *Radical Candor by Kim S. Scott* Probably the most transformative book of my career in regards to soft skills. It helped break with traditional limiting beliefs (like the "shit sandwich) and how to balance giving it straight to people and not being a jerk. As someone who was sometimes a bit too focused on harmony, this book helped me approach hard(er) conversations with more confidence and to embrace those to create clarity. *Just Enough Research by Erika Hall* I love diving into writing from domain experts that operate within the broader craft of Product Management. As a User Researcher, Erika Hall is focused on this particular craft with high-quality standards, without making it sound only she could to great research. This book is complementary to the work of Tomer Sharon (see the first recommendation) as a deeper layer of research activities. It also stays away from adding fluff through artificially created frameworks and buzzwords and instead focused on the necessary basics and categories like differentiating Competitive Research from Evaluative Research, etc. *Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore* Recently, I've seen some discussion around how startups or solutions are driving a "wedge" into a market to gain adoption. I think this is similar to the concept of the chasm in this book and it's such an excellent reminder for product companies to think strategically about the adoption of a new feature or entire product. The chasm refers to the 'handover' process between user groups along the lifecycle Disruptive and innovative products don't cross the chasm organically. They require smart efforts to cross the chasm in order to avoid remaining stuck in an earlier but maybe smaller customer segment.

[@daviddawid123]

Woah Tim, Thank you for this comprehensive response.. I would definitely be purchasing this books especially the soft skill, am a new Business Analyst, i did the course during the lockdown... And i just got a role but am definitely being challenged in terms of the soft skills.. Thank you for your recommendations

[@magnumopus9033]

Very useful Tim

[@herbigt]

Glad you think so, Magnum!

[@NadiTsech]

Thank you!

[@herbigt]

You‘re welcome!

[@leoberdu]

Awesome! It help me a lot, thanks @Tim Herbig!

[@herbigt]

That's amazing to hear, Leo. Thanks for the feedback!

[@joshcollins9125]

Can you recommend any decent books on discovery?

[@herbigt]

Great question, Josh. You can probably get the best overview from Teresa Torres‘ recent book or Marty Cagan‘s Inspired (2nd edition). However, I am also a fan of enabling teams to go deeper through the content provided by specialists. That‘s why I repeatedly recomment these three books for specific parts and disciplines of Discovery: Erik Hall - Just enough Research David Bland - Testing Business IdeS Tomer Sharon - Validating Product Ideas

[@AlexMusatkin]

Please provide more examples on how actually discovery process happening

[@herbigt]

Great question, Oleksandr. Since I'm a firm believer in individual better practices, rather than over-generalized examples, I typically don't talk about specific scenarios outside of my course student community calls.

[@eveningrice]

How can I set a discovery OKR?

[@herbigt]

Great question! Here are two resources on this topic (which is more complex than a YT comment allows for): herbig.activehosted.com/index.php?action=social&c=521&m=496 herbig.co/okrs-product-management/#okrs-product-discovery

[@andrapinzariu5482]

Discovery chickens

[@Serreski]

Useless. You spoke a lot but said nothing useful

[@herbigt]

Sorry to hear that, Paul. Maybe future videos can provide more tangible value for you.