Product managers have a tough job. Often working across multiple teams, they’re constantly meeting with engineers and designers—leaving less than the ideal amount of time to talk with actual users. However, putting off asking your customers the right product questions during usability testing, customer interviews, and discovery conversations can create more problems for the entire team, wasted time, and unnecessary dollars spent. Show
Product teams innately care about user experience, but sometimes don’t involve their actual customers until a project is in its final product development stages before launch. Ensuring that the product your designing from visual design, user flows, navigation, copy, and more are all tightly connected pieces of the overall customer experience. And you don’t need to be an expert researcher to unearth invaluable human insight from your customers. You just need to ask the right product questions throughout the development cycle to better understand their needs. Product questions to ask throughout your product development life cycle
Early-stage discoveryBefore you jump into developing solutions, spend time understanding what the needs and frustrations your customers are experiencing might be. Working a discovery interview into your current process allows you to uncover what your target market likes or dislikes about a specific experience, product, or activity. Discover needs and frustrationsIn this stage of development, you’re looking to better understand your customers. Often times, you won’t have an idea or an endpoint in mind, and that’s ok. Ask your target market:
Validate an ideaOnce you’ve come closer to deciding a problem-solution, you’ll want to make sure your hunch resonates with your target market. Conducting a test or interview with your customers can reveal whether your concept is viable and has a strong product-market fit. Ask your target market:
PrototypingOnce you’ve started work on your solution, it’s a good idea to get customer feedback as soon as you have a wireframe. This will help you quickly figure out whether or not you’re on the right track. If you need to pivot, then you won’t have wasted time and engineering resources in the development process. You’ll also be able to settle internal disputes with designers by letting users make your case for you. Ask your target market:
Compare between two optionsOften during this phase, you’ll have two (or more) working concepts that your users could test. A great way to uncover product insight is to determine which is better (or more viable) through a test that compares two different options. Ask your target market:
Development and pre-launchSo you’ve reached a milestone. You’ve validated your product ideas, and you’re moving on to development. This is where interactive prototypes really come in handy, as you can watch users explore around your product as they naturally would. Ask your target audience:
Keep an eye out for the things your users aren’t doing, as well. If no one is using one of your core features, then that should raise a red flag! Post-launchEven after a new feature, product, or campaign has launched, keep monitoring to address challenges and continue evolving the experience to drive greater adoption or conversion. The questions you ask post-launch will help guide decisions on functionality or features you need to add or remove. Ask your users:
Human insight is your north starThe process of building customer-centric products and experiences is easier said than done. That’s why it’s imperative that you increase your exposure hours with customers—time spent seeing, hearing, and talking with them. There’s no right or wrong way to uncover the needs and wants of your customers—unless you’re not doing it at all. Integrating fast customer feedback into your product development lifecycle will elevate your success and ensure you’re developing products that fill a need for your customers and your business. Further reading
What three questions should you ask if you are designing a new product?It's easy to rush into something without stopping to define exactly who needs your product or design. But the best designers consistently ask the same questions before they design anything: What's the problem I'm solving? Who's the user I'm serving? What does that user want to do?
What questions should I ask a customer about a product?Here are the top 5 questions you'd ask your customers. What can my company do to better serve your needs?. How satisfied are you with our products/services?. What value do we provide?. What are your biggest challenges?. Why did you choose us over the competition?. What questions would you ask a customer?Questions to Ask Customers About Your Product. "On a scale of one to 10, how happy are you with our product?". "Why did you give us that score?". "Can you explain the weaknesses or challenges you've found in our product/service so far?". "What do you love about our product/service?". What are the best types of questions to ask when interviewing customers about your product?Questions to Ask During a Customer Interview. When Was the First Time You Thought About Buying [PRODUCT]? ... . What Challenge Were You Trying to Solve When You Bought [PRODUCT]? ... . How Did You Learn About [PRODUCT]? ... . What Other Options Did You Consider When You Made Your Decision?. |