Product discovery
Investigating needs, constraints and risky assumptions before settling on a product solution.
What is product discovery?
Product discovery investigates which problem should be solved for which people and what assumptions underlie a product idea. It covers user tasks, existing workflows, constraints and possible solutions. Conversations, observation and suitable trials can provide findings. A feature list alone is not evidence that the need has been understood.
In a fictional company, many status questions arrive by phone. The team plans to investigate with customers and staff which information is missing and how the current process works before settling on a new portal. Depending on findings, clearer messages, a different process or a product feature could fit. Discovery may also argue against a planned implementation. It does not remove all uncertainty; open assumptions and the basis for the next decision should remain visible.
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Related terms
- Project scopeThe agreed boundary of the outcomes and work a project is intended to include.
- Product OwnerThe person accountable in Scrum for product value, the Product Goal and effective backlog management.
- Definition of DoneThe shared description of the quality conditions a completed product Increment must meet.
- User storyA short description of a user role, a need and the goal behind it.
- Product BacklogThe ordered, continually evolving collection of improvements needed for a product.
- ScrumA framework for working together incrementally on complex product challenges.
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