How do you create a customer discovery plan?

1 Define your hypothesis

The first step of creating a customer discovery plan is to define your hypothesis, or the core assumptions you have about your product, your customers, and your value proposition. You can use a tool like the Lean Canvas or the Business Model Canvas to help you articulate your hypothesis in a clear and concise way. Your hypothesis should answer questions like: Who are your customers? What problem are you solving for them? How are they solving it now? What is your unique solution? How will you reach them? How will you make money?

3 Plan your execution

The third step is to plan your execution, or how you will implement your chosen methods and gather your data. This involves defining your criteria, your sample size, your channels, your tools, your schedule, and your budget. You should also prepare your questions, your scripts, your incentives, and your consent forms if needed. You should aim to be as specific and realistic as possible, and anticipate any potential challenges or risks.

4 Conduct your research

The fourth step is to conduct your research, or to actually go out and talk to your customers. This is the most important and exciting part of customer discovery, as it allows you to validate or invalidate your hypothesis, and to learn from your customers' behaviors, opinions, emotions, and stories. You should follow your plan, but also be flexible and adaptable to any changes or surprises. You should also record, document, and organize your data as much as possible, using tools like audio, video, notes, transcripts, etc.

5 Analyze your findings

The fifth step is to analyze your findings, or to make sense of the data you collected and extract insights and patterns. You should review your data, code and categorize it, look for themes and gaps, and compare it to your hypothesis. You should also use tools like charts, graphs, maps, personas, journey maps, etc. to visualize and communicate your findings. You should aim to be objective and critical, and to avoid biases and assumptions.

6 Apply your learnings

The final step is to apply your learnings, or to use your insights and feedback to improve your product and your strategy. You should prioritize the most important and actionable learnings, and decide how to implement them in your product development process. You should also update your hypothesis, your value proposition, and your business model based on your learnings. You should also plan your next steps, and repeat the customer discovery cycle as needed.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?