95% of product managers see the value of effective user research for success. Yet, many find it hard to use these insights in their design and decisions. The User Experience movement highlights the need for design that focuses on people. But, our work often stays in the realm of producing research, not changing products.

Designers are now able to create more designs quickly. To make a real difference, we need to look at our work’s bigger picture. This means understanding our teams and organizations better.

By observing our teams and organizations as they really are, we can find the strategic changes needed. This approach to product development needs a deep grasp of the product world, team dynamics, and a shared vision. These are key to making products that really serve users.

Introspection and the Bigger Picture

I’ve worked with many clients, each with their own challenges and dreams. One project that really stands out was with a small startup earlier this year. They were at a crossroads and needed my help to understand their users better.

At first, I focused on learning about the team, their product, and what their users needed. But as I dug deeper, I realized a traditional user research project might not be the best fit. They already knew a lot about their users and what they wanted.

The real issue was they couldn’t see the big picture. They were stuck in the details and couldn’t see the strategic impact of their choices. That’s when design thinking and strategic foresight became key.

“Strategic designers blend management consultancy tools with human-centered design methods and employ systems-oriented thinking to look at the bigger picture.”

By taking a step back and looking at the whole situation, I helped the clients see things differently. This new view opened up new possibilities and highlighted what they needed to think about for better decisions.

The lesson here? Sometimes, the best thing a product design expert can do isn’t just user research or design. It’s helping clients see beyond the trees to the forest. With design thinking and strategic foresight, we can understand complex systems and guide them towards the right path.

Understanding the Product Ecosystem

Looking into product development, it’s key to look at the bigger picture. This includes the system that turns ideas into real products. Knowing this system helps us know where to improve and align our work for better results.

The first part of this system is the company with a product idea in a big industry. This sets the stage for our work. The second part is the group of people the product is made for. It’s crucial to know what they need and want.

The third part is the team that makes the product happen. Their skills and goals are key to the product’s success. By looking at all three parts, we understand what makes a product work well.

Companies that see themselves as part of a ‘product ecosystem’ often do better than others. But changing to this view can be hard. Workshops and exercises can help people think differently and handle the unknown.

What makes a product successful can vary. It could be sales, brand awareness, or more. Start-ups often see their first product as their brand. They face challenges in thinking strategically as they try to survive and enter the market.

Knowing the bigger picture of the information systems in the product ecosystem helps us make better choices. This approach is key for making products that really connect with people.

“Establishing trust and aligning brand values are crucial for successful partnerships between companies and design firms. Trust-building is considered a vital component of a successful engagement between companies and design partners.”

The world is moving towards a network economy, making a strategic product ecosystem approach more important. By 2030, this economy could be 25% of the total, up from 1-2% now. The potential revenue from these ecosystems could hit $70 trillion by 2030, showing the big opportunities and the need to understand the product ecosystem well.

In conclusion, by looking at the system behind product development, we can learn a lot. This helps us make better choices for creating successful products. This approach is key for businesses wanting to beat the competition and connect deeply with customers.

Aligning the Team Reality

As a product team, it’s key to use what the team already knows as our starting point. We must think about what they know and what they think they know. How clear is their view of the world? What are the main ideas they share? And how do they split up tasks and work daily?

Teams that are not aligned and have fragmented information will struggle. A shared understanding across different levels helps teams look inward and adjust. To improve how the team works, we must update their view of their tasks and the story they tell about their work. This is where research and design play a big role.

Key Strategies to Align Product and Engineering Teams
  1. Establish clear communication channels to align goals and objectives
  2. Conduct regular retrospectives to evaluate team collaboration effectiveness
  3. Use prioritization frameworks considering both business and technical aspects

Working together, product and engineering teams can make products faster, happier customers, and better quality. Good communication, shared plans, and clear roles help keep everyone on the same page.

“Aligning the team reality is crucial for successful product development. It requires a deep understanding of the team’s knowledge, assumptions, and daily operations.”

When teams share a clear product vision, they can aim for the same goals, using everyone’s skills. This unity is key for agile and flexible product making.

We need a space where the product team, engineering team, and others can share their views, worries, and ideas freely. Regular check-ins, frameworks for deciding what to do first, and clear talking channels help keep everyone aligned.

Building a Shared Understanding

Getting everyone on the product team to agree is key for success. Heather, a Growth team member, shares, “I’ve focused on teaching the team to do their own product and user research. This means knowing your goals and what questions to ask.”

Then, the team picks the best ways to research and get insights. This might include talking to users, watching them, and analyzing data. Heather says research is crucial for making smart strategies and knowing where to focus.

Chris and the Insights team aim to de-risk decisions and solidify the product strategy and roadmap. “Being in a large, mature organization, we already have a strategy and roadmap,” Chris notes. “Research helps spot risks and lower them. It also sets priorities.”

Creating a shared understanding of what users need and what the product aims to achieve is vital. This way, the team can make smart choices and avoid uncertainty. It ensures the product meets the audience’s needs and offers real value.

Key Strategies for Building a Shared Understanding
  • Conduct user research to deeply understand user needs, behaviors, and pain points
  • Align the team on product goals and priorities through collaborative workshops and discussions
  • Regularly review and update user scenarios to reflect the dynamic nature of user needs
  • Leverage design thinking methodologies, such as empathy mapping and co-creation, to foster a shared perspective
  • Encourage open communication and knowledge sharing among team members to break down silos

product research

“Research can help find the areas where there are risks and mitigate them. It can also help determine priorities moving forward.”

By working together and focusing on users, product teams can develop a shared understanding. This guides their choices, lowers risks, and leads to products that really connect with people.

The Role of Research in Product Decisions

Research is key to making smart product choices. It’s not just about asking users what they want and then making it. At Shopify, research varies by the business area’s maturity.

Heather from the Growth team says she’s been teaching her team to do their own research for a year. First, get clear on the goals and questions you aim to answer. Then, pick the best methods, like questions, observing, or analyzing data.

Research helps shape and inspire product strategy. By understanding user needs and behaviors, the team guides where to focus next. This approach makes sure product choices are based on solid market and audience knowledge.

The Research Framework

Shopify’s research framework uses various methods to get user insights and guide product decisions:

  • Primary research means directly talking to users through interviews, focus groups, and usability tests.
  • Rapid research gives quick answers, often in days or weeks.
  • Secondary research uses past data, which is quicker and cheaper.

These methods are used throughout the product development process. From the start to the end, they help the team make choices based on what users need.

Research Phase Key Activities
Discovery
  • Align stakeholders in a kick-off meeting
  • Define a research plan with methods and roles
  • Execute the plan and analyze the data
Evaluation and Concept Testing
  • Test concepts with small groups or stakeholders
  • Check assumptions and adjust as needed
Product Development and User Testing
  • Test the final product with users
  • Get feedback and enhance the user experience before launch

Shopify uses a research-driven approach for informed product decisions. This strategy, based on product research, user research, and data-driven decisions, ensures products meet customer needs and market trends.

From UX Research to product design expert Research

About a year and a half ago, our research changed from UX to product research. This change helped us move from tactical work to making strategic decisions. As our UX team grew, researchers were pulled into daily tasks, leaving less time for big questions.

Chris, our research lead, says, “I think research at Shopify aimed to shape strategy and answer big questions.” For five and a half years, we worked towards that goal. But with the design team growing, researchers focused more on their expertise, creating an imbalance.

The move to product research let us rebalance. UX designers are great at doing research and testing their designs. By giving back tactical work, researchers could focus on strategic questions that move the product forward.

This change in research has been huge. We can now solve complex problems, find deep insights, and affect the product roadmap more easily. This was harder when we were stuck in daily design checks.

“I think research at Shopify has always aspired to impact strategy and the big, dangerous, directional questions.”

The shift has given us a deeper understanding of our users and the product world. By stepping back, we can spot trends, predict future needs, and make smarter decisions.

The move from UX to product research has been key for our team’s growth. It lets us have a bigger impact on product development and make sure our work drives the business ahead.

UX Research Expert

Strategic Foresight and Future Thinking

At Shopify, strategic foresight is more than just guessing the future. It’s about exploring different futures and finding opportunities we might overlook. Heather, a former senior staff product researcher, says, “It’s not about predicting the future. It’s more about thinking about the possible futures.” We aim to challenge the usual and look at broader trends and cultural shifts.

Chris, with over 5 years at Shopify, shares a key method for strategic foresight. “My product director says, ‘What are the one-way or two-way doors? […] Can we come back through this door if X happens in the future?'” This method encourages deep thinking and helps the team understand the effects of different scenarios. It makes decision-making more informed.

“It’s not about predicting the future. It’s more thinking about the possible futures.”

Shopify has changed its research focus from UX to product research. This change lets us tackle more strategic questions and work closely with product teams. It helps us find new audiences in emerging markets and support creators, among other strategic goals.

Strategic foresight is key to innovation. It helps companies spot future opportunities and challenges. By asking tough questions and imagining different scenarios, businesses can get ready for the unexpected. This way, they can adapt to market changes.

Combining strategic foresight with design thinking improves how we talk to stakeholders and engage with customers. Companies that focus on foresight see 33% more profit and 200% more growth. As the business world changes, using strategic foresight and future thinking is crucial. It helps companies keep up with trends and stay ahead.

Generating and Evaluating Ideas

Now, we move on to the next step in product development. We aim to create a variety of ideas that meet customer needs and offer great value. This process, called ideation, uses our creativity and different views to find new solutions.

To spark our creativity, we use creative research methods like brainstorming, mind mapping, sketching, or prototyping. These methods help us come up with many options and explore various possibilities for our product. By working with customers, stakeholders, or our team, we can make the ideation process better and get important feedback.

After coming up with lots of ideas, we need to pick the best ones to work on. We can use methods like usability testing, A/B testing, or data analytics to see how well our prototypes or MVPs work. We can also use criteria-based evaluation, scoring, or ranking to pick the best ideas based on our goals, resources, and other factors.

By combining idea generation and strategic evaluation, we can find the best solutions for our customers and our business. This careful planning helps us make smart choices and use our resources wisely for product development.

Concept Generation Techniques Concept Evaluation Methods
  • Brainstorming
  • Mind Mapping
  • Sketching
  • Prototyping
  • Co-creation
  • Usability Testing
  • A/B Testing
  • Analytics
  • Criteria-based Evaluation
  • Scoring and Ranking

By carefully creating and checking a variety of ideas, we can find the best solutions for our customers and our business goals. This strategic way of developing products prepares us for the next steps of making and improving our product.

ideation

Implementing Solutions and Iteration

The final step in making a product is launching it to the market. This phase needs careful planning for a successful start. Using iteration is a key strategy here.

Iteration means making your product better over time with user feedback and market checks. This way, you can meet changing customer needs and stay ahead of competitors. It helps you make your product the best it can be for your audience.

Studies show that iterating can save time and money compared to a linear approach. Design iteration ensures regular user feedback, facilitating progress and addressing real user needs. It also helps teams work better together, leading to better results.

Companies like Spotify use iteration to add new features and improve their products. They watch the market and user behavior closely. This helps them make smart choices and improve their products, building trust with users.

To use iteration well, you need a clear idea of what you want and be open to learning from mistakes. Regularly gathering user feedback, testing prototypes, and analyzing market data can guide the iteration process and ensure your product remains relevant and compelling.

In summary, using iteration is key to reaching your product goals. By always making your product better with user feedback and market checks, you can give users a great experience and lead the competition.

“Iteration is the heartbeat of innovation. Without it, progress grinds to a halt.”

Conclusion

Research is key to making products that people really want. By understanding your customers, competitors, and market, you can make sure your ideas work. This helps you create products that really meet your audience’s needs.

First, define the problem you’re trying to solve. Then, come up with ideas to tackle it. Next, pick the best options and put them into action. Always keep in mind the big picture, your team, and the people who will use your product. Mixing deep research with creative thinking leads to innovative products that succeed over time.

User-focused design, keeping things simple, and working well together are crucial for great digital experiences. Keep an eye on the latest trends, adapt to changes, and use AI to improve your design. With these ideas, you can handle the fast-changing world of product development. This way, you’ll make your business and customers happy.

FAQ

What is the role of strategic research and design in product development?

Strategic research and design are key in product development. They help you get to know your customers, competitors, and market chances. By doing different types of research, you can check your ideas and make them better.

Why is it important to take a holistic view of the product ecosystem?

Looking at the whole product development process is important. It includes the organization, the user, and the team. This helps you know where to focus and improve your products for users.

How can aligning the team’s shared understanding lead to better product development?

To improve the team, you need to change how they see their work and their story. Fixing misalignment and sharing all the information helps the team think and adapt better.

What is the role of research in informing product decisions?

Research isn’t just about asking users what they want. It’s about setting goals, answering big questions, and testing ideas to make safer decisions. It helps find risks and set priorities.

How has the research practice at Shopify evolved from UX research to product research?

As the UX team grew, researchers started doing more tactical work. Moving to product research let them focus on strategy and big questions. This shift helped them work smarter.

What is the role of strategic foresight in product development?

Strategic foresight helps you prepare for the future by thinking about possible futures. It means challenging the usual ways, understanding the field, and finding key decisions to guide your strategy.

How do you generate and evaluate ideas for product development?

To get ideas, you can use brainstorming, prototyping, and working together with users. Then, test and compare these ideas to see which ones work best. This helps you pick the best solutions.

How do you implement and iterate on product solutions?

After launching your product, use methods like beta testing to check how it’s doing. This feedback helps you make it better over time. You can then change and improve your product to meet customer needs and stay ahead of competitors.

Source Links

Design thinking approach Product development strategy User research methods