Concepts
Customer research and product discovery are crucial aspects of any successful product development process. As a Certified Scrum Professional-Product Owner (CSP-PO), understanding and leveraging various techniques for these processes is critical. In this article, we will evaluate three customer research and product discovery techniques: customer interviews, surveys, and usability testing.
1. Customer Interviews
Customer interviews are in-depth, face-to-face conversations where you dive deeply into insights about your customers’ motivations, thoughts, and behaviors. Interviews provide you the chance to develop an understanding of the real-world context in which customers would use your product.
The major advantage of customer interviews is the depth of information they provide. You can ask follow-up questions to understand the “why” behind responses. However, they’re time-consuming, and analyzing responses can be subjective.
Example: Meet three customers who frequently use your mobile app. Ask them detailed questions about their experiences, expectations, and potential areas for improvement.
2. User Surveys
User surveys are another great way to gather customer insights. They can collect quantitative and qualitative data from a large population. You can gather data about customer satisfaction, preferences, demographic information, and much more.
The key advantage of surveys is that they give you a wider data set as responses are collected from a larger user base. However, the depth of insights may not be as enriched as interviews, and often, the response rate could be low.
Example: You have launched a new feature in your e-commerce website. To understand its success, send an online survey to all users. Ask them to rate the new feature and share their specific feedback.
3. Usability Testing
Usability testing is an observational method used to understand how people interact with products. During a usability test, the tester often performs specific tasks while observers watch, listen and take notes.
The advantage of this technique is that it allows you to see and understand how end-users use your product, providing real-time feedback on areas for improvement. However, it demands a lot more preparation and may sometimes require creation of specific test models.
Example: Launch a new software feature in a controlled environment. Ask a subset of your user base to use the feature, observe their interactions, and gather feedback on the experience.
Comparison of Techniques
| Customer Interviews | User Surveys | Usability Testing | |
| Advantages | Depth of information | Wide data set | Real-time feedback |
| Disadvantages | Time-consuming | Low response rate | Requires preparation |
| Real World Example | App user feedback | Feature satisfaction survey | Live testing of new software feature |
Ultimately, the choice of technique depends on a variety of factors like your goals, budget, resources, and the nature of the product. As a CSP-PO, your focus should be on selecting the right technique for the right problem and effectively leveraging the insights received. A mix of several techniques gives better results and helps build a well-rounded understanding of the customer experience.
Answer the Questions in Comment Section
True or False: Customer research is all about identifying what the customers like and dislike about a product or service.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Customer research indeed involves understanding the customers’ likes and dislikes, their challenges, and how a product or service can be improved to better meet their needs.
Which of the following are customer research techniques?
- a) Surveys
- b) Conducting Interviews
- c) Prototype Testing
- d) Compliance Testing
Answer: a) Surveys b) Conducting Interviews c) Prototype Testing
Explanation: Surveys, interviews, and prototype testing involve direct involvement with the customer, hence are customer research techniques. Compliance testing is more related to ensuring that a product meets specified regulations or standards.
True or False: A/B Testing allows the discovery of a customer’s preference between two versions of a webpage.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: A/B Testing involves showing two variants of the same webpage to different segments of users at the same time and comparing which version performs better.
True or False: Focus groups and surveys are similar in methodology for customer research.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: While both methods involve interaction with customers, focus groups are typically smaller and involve more detailed, qualitative feedback. Surveys on the other hand, are typically distributed to a larger audience for broader, quantitative data.
Which of the following are methods for product discovery?
- a) Skimming and Scanning
- b) Opportunity Assessment
- c) Benchmarking
- d) Sparring
Answer: b) Opportunity Assessment c) Benchmarking d) Sparring
Explanation: These are all methods of product discovery. Skimming and Scanning is a reading technique, not a product discovery method.
True or False: Product discovery is about identifying problems and then finding solutions for them.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: The goal of product discovery is to define the problem that needs to be solved and to collaboratively come up with a solution that is valuable, usable, and feasible.
Which of the following method is not typically used in data-driven discovery?
- a) A/B Testing
- b) Sales data analysis
- c) Competitive analysis
- d) Prototype creation
Answer: d) Prototype creation
Explanation: Prototype creation is more commonly identified with concept testing or design discovery, but it does not typically fall under data-driven discovery techniques.
True or False: The customer observation method for customer research involves stalking the customers.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: Customer observation is an ethical method of research where customers’ behavior, wants, and needs are observed in a professional and ethical manner.
Which of these tools are used for customer experience research?
- a) Heatmaps
- b) Session recordings
- c) Web analytics
- d) Error tracking
Answer: a) Heatmaps b) Session recordings c) Web analytics
Explanation: All these tools help to analyze customer behavior on a product, but error tracking is more aligned with quality assurance and bug detection.
True or False: Direct customer interaction is not encouraged in product discovery.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: Direct customer interaction is typically a significant part in product discovery as it helps to understand customers’ needs and preferences.
Which of the following methods help in understanding the customer’s mindset?
- a) User Persona
- b) Customer Journey Map
- c) Prototype Testing
- d) A/B Testing
Answer: a) User Persona b) Customer Journey Map
Explanation: User personas and customer journey maps are tools often used to represent and understand the customer’s mindset. Prototype and A/B testing are used to evaluate user interactions and preferences.
True or False: Customer surveys are a type of quantitative method for customer research.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Customer surveys typically lead to quantitative data as they gather measurable, numerical data from a large audience to draw conclusions.
Great blog post! I found the techniques for customer research very informative. Thanks!
Can anyone explain how ethnographic studies could be beneficial for a Product Owner in Agile environments?
I’m a CSP-PO and I highly recommend using A/B testing for product discovery. It provides quantitative data on what works best.
Journey mapping is another great technique to uncover customer insights. Anyone else using this?
Does anyone use customer interviews extensively? What are the pros and cons?
Excellent post! It gave me a lot of ideas for my next sprint planning.
I think focus groups are a bit outdated. Does anyone feel the same?
I appreciate the detailed examples in the blog. Very helpful for CSP-PO certification study.