This is the first micro post of a 3-post series that focuses on the 3 things that matter most in customer-focused innovation:


  1. Understand your customers
  2. Develop fast prototypes and experiments
  3. Validate prototypes and hypotheses for next steps


We often get lost when talking about the best methods to develop a roadmap or product strategy. We tend to look for advanced tactics to find the most valuable features. We think the process needs to be super complex, but that’s not the case. 


Asking Questions

Understanding your customers starts with a central question: “Why would they care about our product?”


To find the answer to this question, we need to talk to them. Field research. 


We aim to build products that make our customers' lives easier. We need to find the moments in their lives where something isn’t easy.

If you ask, they will tell you.


For example, when you’re working on B2B SaaS products, you are often helping your users with their daily tasks and to-dos. 


Customer Interview Questions

Here is a set of key questions that can lead us down the path of discovering challenges or situations we can work on. I refined these questions based on many conversations with the people I built products for. The goal is find the situations in their life where my product can make the most impact. 


  1. What is your biggest priority when you walk into the office in the morning?

 

If what you uncover isn’t related to your product, see how it can be, and go deeper with follow up questions. The answer to this question helps you define your landing page.


  1. What are your top 3 worries when you start your work day/week?


Find ways to plug your product into these recurring situations. Highlight the data needed to resolve their worries, and your product will become a daily helper.


Now, let’s drill down. 


    3. What is the first thing you look at when you open/log in to [the tool of choice]?


From here, you need to understand whether they find everything they need in that tool, and if they are aware of all the features you offer that can do what they need to accomplish.


Then, a great follow-up question you can ask is: Is there anything else you want notifications on when you login? or What would you want to hear from your (virtual) assistant in the morning?


In Closing 

You want your users to think about YOUR PRODUCT as the SOLUTION TO THEIR PROBLEMS. But if you just ask: “What are the problems I can solve?” They won’t give you the right answer. The questions above lead you to their daily struggles. Helping them solve those, brings them daily value. Therefore your product gets daily usage.