How do you measure and track your customer discovery progress and outcomes?

Have a set of hypotheses ie statements that you want to prove (or disprove) through this discovery process. Keep these statements to 5 at the most and tailor your questions around them. For instance, if one of your hypotheses is that ‘an ideal customer prefers to spread costs over 12 months’, ask questions about current challenges with cashflow and what influences capital/operating spending decisions. That way you get more detail that informs how to engage and retain your ideal client. You might even have a change of heart about who your ideal customer is!

Setting predefined goals and metrics may box you into narrow pathways, limiting the discovery process's potential. While having clear objectives can provide direction, it can also stifle the exploratory nature of customer discovery. As Steve Jobs famously said, "People don't know what they want until you show it to them." Stay open to unexpected insights and be ready to pivot based on real customer feedback rather than sticking rigidly to initial assumptions. True innovation thrives on flexibility and adaptability.

Before even defining goals and metrics it is worth doing some initial research to frame the hypotheses. What is being talked about on the internet? What questions are different market segments asking? An obvious way of doing this is to use a tool like AnswerThePublic where you simply put in a topic and it retrieves the questions being asked in categories such as How, Which, What, Can, Why, When and Who. Use AI with carefully crafted prompts to find challenges, desires and obstacles of a particular segment. This will all inform customer discovery and the potential hypotheses to be tested. And of course ask current clients and prospects what their pains are

In order to complete a value proposition (as I understand one) you need both the Customer Profile (which is the discovery) and the Customer Value Map in order to develop a product or service that matches and resonates. In my mind the value map can't be completed until after discovery so neither can the value proposition

Before you decide on the tool you will use map out your requirements and any constraints such as budget or number of users that will need access. And not that Rev is human and Otter is AI so the results may differ in quality and level of editing needed (depending on who needs to use the transcript)

Data analysis should go beyond surface-level patterns to uncover deep, actionable insights. While visual tools like Miro and empathy maps are useful, they can sometimes lead to overemphasis on obvious trends. As Sherlock Holmes might remind us, "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data." Dive deeper into the nuances of your data, looking for less apparent connections and contradictions that might reveal hidden opportunities or threats. Genuine insights often lie beneath the surface, waiting to be discovered.

In my experience as innovation facilitator of 100+ projects, the best way for customer discovery is: “GO OUT AND TALK TO THEM YOURSELVES”! 4 concrete tips for you: 1. Immerse as an anthropologist among your potential customers without being judgmental. 2. Find out what really relevant for them in their lives at this moment. 3. Identify their jobs-to-be-done and issues related to the context of your scope. 4. Do customer discovery before your ideation process YOURSELVES with your whole tam, as the experience is as important as the results. When as immerse in your target group yourself you will understand their situation, and their jobs to be done more profoundly than any other method. You will never forget your customer vists ?????.

Ask yourself a few questions: Who are your customers and why? What is your value add to customers? Why do they continue to be with you? How competitors can take them away? How do you want to communicate with your customers? What do customers like about your products, services, communication, etc.? Your discovery process should include all of the above questions and answers to those. Design the survey with open-ended and close-ended questions, conduct exercises, do sample tests/trials, etc., and gather the data. Analyze the data and identify key metrics to manage the customers' responses. Apply statistical methods, AI, and metrics to come out with the final result, and perform a comparative assessment with the expected result.