Product Answers #6: We know what needs to be done. Why all that research?
This question came from the board members of an established organisation. Decades old and successful for many years in a row. They were wondering how much research was actually needed, as they were used to define initiatives from the top. Why should that change now?
As described in "Why do we need weekly user sessions if we have no questions to be answered?", once a product team starts doing research, they don’t want to go back. The benefits of learning about the needs of your users, which potential solutions might work and how those solutions need to be built are simply too high to ignore them.
The same is true for executives. It really is not about telling them what they have done wrong in the past (especially when they have been successful), but what additional potential might be hidden. Once they learn that there is a cheaper way of identifying winning solutions than to build and ship them, they demand to see more of such research we know as discovery. Often enough, a team in a continuous discovery mode uncovers potentials the executives have not identified themselves before.
This is exactly why I encourage especially product managers to share their learnings on all levels:
Inside the product team (the team that discovers and delivers the product: product manager, product designer, engineers) itself. Not every team member might take part in every discovery session, but needs to be aware of the learnings.
Inside the product organisation (product management, design, engineering).
Throughout the rest of the organisation (including board members). Sharing learnings and your successes that come with them with boards members can vary across organisations. If the board members are really close, they might join an open sharing session on Fridays. If they like to stay more to themselves, product managers need to find a way to share in a more private session. Maybe a board meeting, maybe a 1:1. It’s important the board sees that product does their homework, can generate learnings and can turn those learnings into a successful product. This needs support from the head of product (CPO, VP, Director) - best by coaching their product managers to successful story tellers and presenters.
Keep in mind that this kind of research is new to a lot of board members. They have worked differently across their career and still made it to where they are today. They might not see the benefit up front and it’s the product manager’s job to start the conversation.
Pick an example that was started as an initiative from the top and ended up in the trash after lots of time and money spend. Show them that there are other ways to identify an opportunity. Share what you learned from potential users and your stakeholders. Share how you will use that combined learning to discover if there is a feasible solution that can be built (within reasonable time) and that users will actually pay for.