Unlocking Product Discovery: How Top Teams Find What to Build Next

Every great product begins with a question: What should we build next? In the ever-changing world of technology, guessing is not an option. The discovery process—championed by Marty Cagan and practiced by the world’s leading companies—is a disciplined approach to identifying and validating opportunities before a single line of code is written.

The Lightweight Opportunity Assessment

Forget lengthy business plans. The best teams use a set of 10 targeted questions to quickly evaluate new ideas. These questions cover the problem, market, competition, timing, and more—helping teams decide where to invest their energy. This rapid assessment ensures that only the most promising opportunities move forward.

Prototyping for Real Users

Prototypes are the secret weapon of discovery. High-fidelity, interactive models are put in front of real users early and often. Observing how users interact with these prototypes uncovers usability issues and reveals whether the solution truly addresses their needs. This iterative process saves time, money, and frustration.

The Role of Personas and Empathy

Effective discovery starts with empathy. By creating detailed personas, teams move beyond abstract features and focus on real user motivations and pain points. These personas guide every decision, ensuring the product is designed for real people, not just hypothetical users.

Continuous Learning and Iteration

Discovery is not a one-time event. It’s an ongoing cycle of learning, testing, and refining. The most innovative teams run discovery for future releases even as they execute on current ones, maintaining a steady flow of validated ideas.

Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

• Skipping discovery leads to wasted resources and failed launches.
• Relying on assumptions instead of real user feedback is risky.
• Ignoring personas results in products that miss the mark.

Investing in discovery is the surest way to build products that matter. By staying close to users and iterating rapidly, teams can confidently pursue opportunities with the greatest potential for impact.