What do you do if logical reasoning fails to identify and analyze customer needs in product development?

Getting into the shoes of the customer, going to his workplace, Gemba, observe how he uses the product, what changes if any he makes in it, what trouble he has, what things he likes or dislikes in competition products, these things are subjective, to be observed. Instead of logical reasoning, empathy helps.

Empathize with the user, stand in their shoes to understand their perspective and how they make their decisions. Understand how the problem affects them, the context of it and what moments of struggle they have. This will help you identify areas in which your product can create value, and jobs users expect to get done with the product. Empathizing with them during interviews helps them understand that you care about their problems, trust that you will understand them and build rapport with you to give honest feedback. Empathy also helps you avoid any confirmation bias, when you start looking for data or facts to prove your own pre conceived notions about the user.

Empathy is the biggest friend of product managers as it keeps customer at the centre of things. The mindset should shift from 'ahh we need to fix this because users are complaining' to 'lets do this as it will vastly improve client experience '. Empathy may sound a little outdated in today's world full of data analytics and AI driven decision making, but doing a qualitative research by sitting across the table or on the other end of a video call with a client still holds value. We must listen carefully and ask additional questions, gather all the details, contexts, motivations and nuances needed to ensure the final product exactly meets the client requirement.

Seek direct feedback from customers through surveys, interviews, or usability testing. Utilize data analytics to uncover patterns and trends in user behavior. Engage with frontline staff who interact directly with customers to gain insights. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to brainstorm alternative approaches and perspectives. Iterate and refine your methods until you gain a clearer understanding of customer needs.

Utilizing empathy enables a deeper understanding of customer needs and fosters trust. By empathizing with their experiences, you gain valuable insights that inform product development. Methods like interviews and personas facilitate gathering qualitative data, allowing you to empathize effectively and build stronger connections with customers, leading to more honest and relevant feedback.

Steve Jobs said that you can't expect users to give you solutions to their problems, because they won't look beyond the present situation. You can aim to understand their problem well and come up with an innovative solution. As product makers, we need to be able to show users what's possible and what's the best possible way to solve their problems. Brian Chesky of Airbnb says that design thinking is helpful. It helps you think beyond the ordinary, push limits and go to the extreme to find the sweet spot that gives the best experience to the user. His famous 11 star experience of Airbnb is an exercise to think beyond the ordinary and envision an unparalleled user experience, as it moves through what would make users give stars from 1-11.

Creativity is instrumental in addressing customer needs innovatively. It empowers exploration of diverse solutions and challenges assumptions, fostering unique and delightful offerings. Techniques like brainstorming and prototyping facilitate idea generation and testing, enabling the development of novel solutions that add significant value for customers.

We can't always expect customers to know what they want. While asking open ended questions (why, what, how, when etc) and avoiding close ended questions (yes/no) can help product manager dig deeper and and get hidden customer insights. Many times the customer need is so intrinsic that it requires creativity such as experimentation or prototyping or co-creation can be good approaches to understand customer needs.

In today world, even the big tech firms who can shape market trends can get it wrong. Failing fast with a prototype or even simpler model like wireframe is critical. Market will tell you the results. The metrics to measure is success or failure is critical too. Including the user demographics and even the macro trends. Did you create a right product at the wrong time?

Intentional experimentation is a key mindset for building products that meet and exceed user needs and expectations. It helps you create, test, learn and adapt, giving you an understanding that there are different ways to approach a problem, and leading you to continuous discovery- the necessary time and space where you can learn from iterations, and not settle on the first solution you can think of. This is helpful for understanding evolving user needs and nuances that influence them.

Experimentation drives informed decision-making and iteration in product development. By leveraging methods like A/B testing and user testing, teams can validate ideas empirically, reducing uncertainty and avoiding biases. Embracing experimentation facilitates rapid iteration, learning from failures, and adapting to evolving customer needs, ultimately optimizing the product development process for greater success.

Collaboration is a great ally to have as it helps the product manager not only get inputs from his team but also from other teams. This helps getting a diverse perspective and helps in better decision making. People providing feedback/inputs should also feel their inputs are taken into consideration and given a logical thought. The culture of the organisation/ team needs to be conducive to encourage collaborative work and diverse opinions. Many teams/organisation are held back due to people working in silos and people agreeing to the majoritarian view in order to look aligned with the team and don't be looked like the one always questioning the group.

Perspectives of a diverse team are always helpful to explore different ways in which you can add value to users' lives. It helps you capitalize on collective expertise and think of different ways of approaching the problem, learning from those iterations and creating a space for intentional experimentation.

Collaboration harnesses the collective strength of diverse team members toward shared objectives. By leveraging workshops and co-creation sessions, teams can capitalize on varied expertise and experiences, fostering communication and innovation. This collaborative approach streamlines the product development process, enabling more efficient and effective solutions that better meet customer needs.

Being neurodivergent, I rely heavily on natural intuition as a superpower to solve complex problems. However, where possible, I validate my theories and solutions through qualitative testing. Relying solely on gut feel can be risky, although sometimes necessary; validating theories enhances their credibility.

Intuition complements logical reasoning by offering instinctual insights and direction. It aids in capturing nuanced customer needs that may be challenging to articulate, tapping into subconscious and experiential knowledge. Techniques like reflection and visualization help cultivate and trust intuition, enriching decision-making processes in product development with holistic perspectives beyond mere rationality.

It is important to not get carried away by confirmation biases in the name of logical reasoning. It can lead to a tendency to generalise users and how they make decisions. Confirmation biases can distance you from user needs as you start looking for data or instances to confirm your own preconceived notions. Here also lies the assumption that you think you know what the user needs, when, in reality, you really need to find out and empathize to understand user needs.