PMF
INSIGHTS
You can learn a lot about the potential of your product once customers get a chance to experience it, including whether or not it is solving problems for them that matter.
Types of Research Services
There are a variety of research methods that can be deployed quickly and cost effectively to help you integrate customer feedback into your early stage product development process.
Before deciding on which research method, it is helpful to think through a couple of questions, these would likely include:
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What do you know about your target customers?
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To what depth do you understand their needs and/or problems?
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Do the problems you are solving for matter to them?
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How effective is your product at solving those problems?
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How does your product compare to the competition?
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What are the core tasks you want customers to do with your product?
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Are customers able to accomplish those tasks?
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What are the major gaps in your product that need to be resolved?
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Do customers understand your value proposition?
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What type of instrumentation do you have in place?
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How would customers feel if they could no longer use your product?
Once we prioritize these questions and take into consideration the developmental stage of your product and how easy or difficult it will be to engage with customers, we can decide on what would be the most appropriate research method to deploy.
Some examples of research methods we might use:
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In-depth interviews with customers
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Target audience identification, including persona development
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Customer journey mapping
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Participatory design workshop with customers
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Low fidelity concept testing via exposure to concept or mock
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High fidelity concept testing via exposure to MVP
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Moderated / unmoderated usability testing
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Quantitative-based feature prioritization
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Competitive assessments
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Workshop designed to improve how you interview first customers
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There is no cost to have an introductory meeting as that will provide me with a good understanding of how I can best provide value to you, including what the best research method would be, how long it might take, and the cost.
HOW LONG WILL THE ENGAGEMENT TAKE?
The length of our engagement depends on a number of factors, often revolving around the type of research method we use and how difficult (or not) it will be to recruit and engage with research participants.
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A straight forward set of interviews among first customers and synthesis of key learnings can take as little as a few days. A harder to engage with set of customers and more sophisticated research method can take a few weeks.
HOW DOES THE RESEARCH ENGAGEMENT PROCESS WORK?
STEP ONE
SCOPING
Our engagement begins with me seeking to learn more about you, your journey, and aspirations. We will then dive into learning about your product and where it is along the product development cycle including the problems it seeks to solve and for whom (target audience). And, why you think these are critical problems to solve for. Sometimes it is relevant to talk about the competitive landscape and what it is that makes your value proposition unique. These and other questions will provide me with a better understanding of the knowledge gaps, that if filled, would enable you to accelerate your time to product market fit.
STEP TWO
DATA COLLECTION
Based on listening to you and learning about your product, I will work with you in developing a research plan that we can execute quickly and cost effectively. The focus will be on moving as fast as possible and being pragmatic and scrappy! The choice of research method (e.g. the technique we'll deploy to obtain customer feedback) will take into consideration the research priorities (e.g. your high priority knowledge gaps), your timeline, where your product is along the product dev cycle, and who we will seek to obtain feedback from. Sometimes, especially if you have first customers, this can be easy, other times it can more challenging. Also, this isn't a time for you to sit back and wait as I'm a big fan of including my clients directly in the research process!
STEP THREE
ACCELERATE TIME TO PMF
With our data collection phase completed, I will take the lead in quickly synthesizing insights in such a way that will enable you to easily incorporate the learnings into your ongoing product iterations. The way in which you digest the learnings could be a simple as receiving a detailed report from me. Or, more of a workshop (in-person or virtual) style approach that enables us to be more collaborative in how we think through the product implications of our learnings; and potentially consider a more systematic way to collecting and synthesizing customer feedback as the product continues to evolve.