Tools and techniques for understanding customer Jobs To Be Done and using evidence to design and build great products

1. @_phil_johnson
Essential Product
Design Research
unsplash.com

2. @willsh
smithery.co
Our
pursuit:

3. Use data rather than opinion to
identify what customers need

4. Empathise
Co-create
Iterate
Product Design Research:
• Context & empathy via observation of lead customers
• Understand what they do, not just what they say
• Identify ‘Jobs To Be Done’ and Behavioural Insights
• Quantify important and unsatisfied ‘Jobs To Be Done’
• Discuss and evaluate tangible ideas
• Monitor performance and satisfaction
• Use insights to evolve and improve solutions

5. A. Empathise

6. ethnography n.
[eth-nog-rafi]
“the scientific description of people and cultures with their customs,
habits, and mutual differences”
Gain empathy, in context => has roots in sociology & anthropology

7. unsplash.com
Gaining empathy in context
• Consent to go where lead customers are - unobtrusive and in everyday context
• Observe getting ‘Jobs Done’ with informal conversations to clarify - NOT task-based
• Discover insights that would be out of scope of a task-based study
• Watch, listen, ask, record and collect
• Understand the problems customers encounter when doing their Job
• Understand how they currently overcome those problems
• Holistic and contextual view of symbols, behaviour, emotions, beliefs, actions
• Interpretation of descriptions and explantations - NOT quantitative data
• Provides a better understanding of WHAT is happening & WHY

8. Performing empathy research
1. Definition
2. Planning & Set-up
3. Capture insights
4. Analysis
5. Output

9. 1. Definition
• Set the research question or customer hypothesis (‘Hunt statement’)
• Identify target customers (typically ‘lead customers’)
• Agree location and context required

10. 2. Planning & Set-up
• Define research themes and discussion topics
• Design data capture methods and tools
• Recruit participants - no fewer than 5 to gain sufficient insight

11. Observe real customers
in their own environment*
Steve Blank, Guide to Customer Development
*do not underestimate how powerful it is to be in context
“Get out of
the building”

12. 3. Capture insights
Managing the observation
• Involve several team members (split roles: lead / observe / capture)
• Start with a broad observation and narrow slowly
• Go with the flow - divert from your plan to fit with the participant
• Ask participant to show, not just tell
• Probe to uncover thought processes
e.g.“what do you think would happen if …… ?”
• Use Open questions (not yes/no answers) e.g.“Tell me about ….”
• Take care to not ‘lead the witness’
What to capture
• Video, photos, audio and write verbatim dialogue
• Watch to see if actions match words - behaviour, emotions, assumptions
• Look for tools used, symbols (incl. visual language), things that are important
• Map out systems and processes followed and explore why

13. 4. Analysis
Approach:
• Work and discuss learning as a group
• Allow a day of analysis per day of research
• First: analysis of each individual participant
• Then: analysis of the aggregate study & insight trends
Tools:
• Job maps (functional activities + importance Vs satisfaction)
• Empathy map (Say,Think, Do, Feel)
• Verbatim & Theming to derive most important concepts
Verbatim Theme
This is what I said Frustration
…… Support
…… etc
…… etc

14. 5. Outputs
• Map findings against initial hypotheses and discussion topics
• Highlight key themes, insights and implications
• Identify most important and least satisfied job map components (qual)
say
think
do
feel
Job map (functional activities)
Empathy map (thoughts & emotions)
Job map components

15. B. Co-create

16. unsplash.com
Working with
customers to
shape solutions

17. • Involve lead customers in defining a future solution BEFORE building it
• Avoid group discussions, which result in ‘group think’
• Observe 20+ lead customers discussing and interacting with tangible ideas
• Target priority ‘job components’ that are least well satisfied
unsplash.com

18. • Share tangible ideas, sketches, prototypes, Proofs of Concept
• Discuss general comments and feedback - focus on problems & ideas
• Plus, structure a task-based approach to quantify findings
• The outputs will inform what to build first and why
unsplash.com

19. Opportunity
High
Low
@strategyn
Low High
ImportanceofUserNeed
Satisfaction with Current alternatives
The aim is to identify needs that
represent an ‘Opportunity’

20. And therefore features that ‘satisfy’ or
‘delight’ using the Kano model
kanomodel.com

21. Identify important but poorly satisfied job outcomes:
1. Define outcomes (including ‘maximise’ or ‘reduce’ to frame them)
2. Rate ‘importance’ and ‘satisfaction’ on a 5 point scale for each outcome
3. Probe - how currently solved, or detail around each outcome
4. Add any additional goals missed.
Kano - prioritise outcomes:
1. Select 5 outcomes as ‘table stakes / essential’
2. Apply 10 votes to these 5 outcomes
3. Use 2 yellow ‘delighter’ stickers - apply to any goal [doesn’t have to be one
of the 5 ‘essential’] - what would you tell your friends about?
http://www.uxbooth.com/articles/discovering-table-stakes-delighters/
Quantify ‘outcomes’ with ‘features’ to
provide priority developments

22. C. Iterate

23. unsplash.com
Monitor performance
and satisfaction data

24. • Once the initial product has been released …..
• Monitor product performance data
• Ask ‘Net Promoter Score’ questions to determine satisfaction levels
• Use ’Kano’ as a framework for prioritising features to add
• Repeat ‘co-create’ exercise, involving customers in iteration decisions

25. Simple measure of customer satisfaction
Easy to track and benchmark
Net Promoter Score (NPS)

26. Product Design Research
Empathise
Co-create
Iterate

27. phil johnson
phil@thebrandshed.com
@_phil_johnson