Continuous Discovery Habits Summary

Focus less on what you produce and more on the impact it has – that's the key to delivering what customers truly need.

1. The Shift from Outputs to Outcomes

It's easy to measure success by counting the number of products or features your team has shipped. But this traditional approach fails to consider whether those outputs actually make a difference to customers. Teresa Torres challenges us to shift our focus from what we create (outputs) to what changes for customers or the business (outcomes). By prioritizing outcomes, businesses can ensure their efforts are driving meaningful results.

For example, if a company makes custom dog food, an outcome-focused team seeks to enhance how customers perceive the health benefits of this food, aiming to build lasting trust. Here, the goal isn't just to launch a flashy new product feature, but to improve retention by educating customers about the benefits.

This approach requires organizations to embed a deep curiosity into their workflow. Instead of treating products as static achievements, teams should view them as vehicles for customer transformation. Product teams can then continuously refine their offerings based on customer feedback, fostering alignment between the business's goals and customer satisfaction.

Examples

• Custom dog-food companies improved customer retention by emphasizing outcomes, like healthier pets and higher satisfaction, rather than just introducing new features.
• A university confused "more online reviews" (output) with what they truly wanted: "more page views with helpful reviews" (outcome).
• Businesses often create new features, but without measuring their impact, they miss whether those features solve customers' actual problems.

2. Avoiding Mistakes While Choosing Outcomes

Focusing on outcomes is powerful, but the process requires clear direction and patience. Many teams stumble by trying to juggle too many outcomes at once or constantly changing priorities under pressure, which dilutes their efforts and wastes time. Success comes from picking a few key outcomes, sticking with them, and giving the team enough time to see results.

For instance, firefighting is common in organizations. Teams drop their work to address whatever seems urgent that day. But this approach leads to half-completed projects and missed opportunities as efforts are repeatedly redirected.

Making steady progress also means understanding that impactful outcomes take months—not days or weeks. The first few months often involve learning rather than noticeable improvements. By giving enough time to a chosen outcome, product teams can overcome initial hurdles and transform insights into tangible improvements for customers.

Examples

• A product team increases their effectiveness by sticking with an outcome-focused initiative for 9 months instead of constantly changing goals.
• A company reduced inefficiencies by resisting the urge to tackle multiple outcomes simultaneously.
• Realizing “page views” mattered more than “number of reviews” helped a university refocus its efforts meaningfully.

3. Thinking in Opportunities, Not Just Problems

Rather than framing their work strictly as solving challenges, product creators should think of their job as uncovering opportunities. Opportunities can arise from customers’ desires, pain points, or needs. This mindset shift allows teams to spot numerous ways to make a customer’s experience more enjoyable or rewarding.

Take the example of creating an ice cream product. People don’t buy ice cream because they lack nutrients (which, theoretically, spinach could provide). They buy it because it delights them. Viewing customers’ experiences through this lens uncovers opportunities to surprise or enhance joy.

Mapping opportunities involves looking at a process or experience and asking, "Where can I improve this?" For example, a team tackling a lengthy customer application form might identify bottlenecks where users drop off. Listing each opportunity allows them to decide which change could lead to their desired outcome—whether it’s simplifying a step or providing better instructions.

Examples

• Ice-cream makers improve products by focusing on enjoyment, not solving hunger problems.
• Product teams identified application process improvements to reduce customer dropout rates.
• Opportunities mapped individually by team members provided diverse perspectives and novel ideas.

4. Customers Don’t Always Know What They Want

It’s tempting to simply ask customers what they want, but their answers often reflect idealized scenarios rather than practical needs. Henry Ford famously said customers would have asked for “faster horses” instead of automobiles because they couldn't imagine cars. Similarly, today’s customers may not envision innovative solutions until they’re shown.

Psychological gaps between customers’ “ideal selves” and “actual selves” further complicate things. Corporate recruiters expressed a preference for "passive candidates," yet consistently hired active ones because real-world pressures—like filling roles quickly—didn't align with their stated ideals.

To better understand true customer behavior, product teams should ask exploratory questions. Instead of, “What features would you like?” they might ask, “What motivated you the last time you chose a product like this?” Such inquiries, grounded in past behavior, yield actionable insights by reflecting real needs over wishful thinking.

Examples

• Henry Ford's customers would have requested faster horses, showing limits of direct questioning.
• Recruiters stated they wanted “passive candidates” but hired “active” ones for practical reasons.
• Questions about past actions, not theoretical desires, yield better insights for product teams.

5. The Importance of Opportunity Mapping

Opportunity mapping ensures teams fully explore the space of possibilities before jumping to solutions. By isolating opportunities tied to specific outcomes, teams can reveal creative paths to impactful products.

In one scenario, a product team identified we'd-be customers abandoning their online checkout forms. Individually mapping the issues, then pooling distinct perspectives, helped the team uncover diverse solutions. Collaboration fostered ideas no single team member could generate alone, demonstrating the richness of comprehensive opportunity mapping.

Further refining the map involves reaching customers directly through focus groups or interviews. Encouraging participants to share their challenges reveals ways to make effective interventions.

Examples

• Teams identified abandoned application forms as a key opportunity, brainstorming diverse solutions.
• Fusing individual suggestions generated innovative routes for boosting sales conversions.
• Interviewing end-users revealed overlooked opportunities for improving app usability.

6. Alone Time Spurs Better Brainstorms

When brainstorming in groups, participants often self-censor ideas out of fear of judgment. This dampens creativity. Torres suggests that team members brainstorm alone initially to generate more diverse and unfiltered ideas. The “safe space” mindset fosters originality, leading to breakthrough solutions.

For example, imagine a redesign for a streaming TV service. Working solo, one team member proposes dynamically generating recommendations from users' watch history. Another suggests short promotional trailers. Upon regrouping, the team combines these ideas for a powerful hybrid solution.

This approach ensures fluency—the number of ideas generated—is maximized. Research confirms that higher fluency often delivers creativity and quality.

Examples

• Teams working alone produce wacky yet groundbreaking concepts free from social norms.
• Stand-alone sessions help ideate unusual features for apps or services.
• More ideas ensure a greater chance of selecting standout solutions.

7. The Right Questions Yield Actionable Results

Open-ended questions about past experiences produce better feedback than ones focused on hypothetical desires. Effective product teams steer customers toward reflecting on real scenarios, avoiding the distractions of their “ideal selves.”

For example, asking streaming-service users about how they choose what to watch can offer far sharper insights than asking what features would make them pay for a subscription. This is because real stories reflect customers' lives more accurately.

Examples

• Interviews shifted from "What do you want?" to "How did you pick a product last time?"
• Recruitment-product teams uncovered true needs by asking why past purchases were made.
• Refocusing interviews moved feedback from theoretical to concrete actionable data.

8. Narrowing Down Opportunities for Greatest Impact

With many options uncovered, the next challenge is finding the one that achieves the biggest effect on chosen goals. Teams must evaluate opportunities against their outcome objectives, narrowing them to workable solutions.

For example, a streaming platform prioritizes fixing episode shortages over actor biography features if engagement might double. Clarity about outcome goals simplifies these choices.

Examples

• Companies isolate pain points like “episode running out” for top-line improvements.
• Filtering massive customer data outputs highlights actionable, substantial opportunities.
• Outcomes (e.g., boosting retention) determine relevance of shortening service signup processes.

9. Continuous Discovery is a Long Game

Incorporating customer feedback and re-evaluating takes time and dedication. Torres emphasizes that iterating continuously can feel strenuous but results in superior products and heightened customer satisfaction.

Examples

• Businesses overhaul iterative designs deriving from prolonged survey cycles.
• Review teams transformed user-feedback loops into monthly routine processes
• Rapid-response cycles eventually transitioned Team XXX's differentiated outcomes.

Takeaways

1. Always distinguish between building features (outputs) and creating value for customers (outcomes). Ask, "What change does this achieve?"
2. Map opportunity spaces individually first, then synthesize collective solutions for richer perspectives.
3. Prioritize continuous discovery despite delays; patience increases eventual market impact.