Digital product management has many lessons, and one of the hardest lessons of all is realizing that the focus should always be on the problem and not on the solution. That sounds like an easy life, but admit it; it’s quite obvious, isn’t it? However, in practice, people don’t only assume, but they actually believe that there is no further challenge to deal with when a team embarks on a mission to build solutions. It’s like wanting to build a wall all around the compound but never knowing the reason as to “why is there an open space within the compound to build a wall?”
Resisting the urge to seek answers before problems
It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt; in this case, someone might be your resolution. Every new challenge has a fresh new set of solutions, and that mood makes all the volunteers feel as if they can contribute too. People love the idea of being the one that came up with the best idea, even if it solves nothing at all: but sometimes, even that idea works. But there is a big problem lurking around back here, and it’s that if there are people that don’t agree on a resolution, then there is no point in even attempting to find one or hold on to ideas for ones that can’t ever work.
Shifting mindset yesterday will help you today
At the outset, this focus on the problem can be aided by a healthy dose of modesty. It is an admission of, “Perhaps we don’t know it all, and there’s nothing wrong with that”. This type of mindset avoids wastage of time, materials, and energy that could otherwise be spent on future annoyances. If a product team prematurely engages in an activity that focuses on finding solutions then the chances are that they will end up spending time developing skills of developing features which are utterly useless to the job in hand or even worse, cater to only a fraction of the needs of the user.
For example, take customer feedback. “I wish the checkout wasn’t so slow”, is a phrase that you will hear quite often. In such cases, one would suggest adding an extra step which provides express options or eliminating the step altogether. Then again, instead of jumping to these conclusions why not ask what causes the sensation of slowness in the very first case? The reasons could be any of the following: It could be a result of the time it takes the page to load. It could be the way the site is structured that it navigates around. Or it could be simply that people are being asked to provide too much information. With the problem in focus, you can trace back to the basic causes making way for more sweeping solutions.
Problem space and opportunity space
As a generally accepted method for thinking in the problem-first mode, an attempt to reach the ideal customer rather than the end target market should be attempted in all cases within the grid framework. In this case, an empathy map may help demonstrate how users may feel pressured to start their first workout and uninterested before they even turn on their first workout. Another situation: you’re developing a fitness app and monitoring its users’ behavior during the onboarding stage and noticing that a portion of the users is churning.
Staying focused
What could be emphasized is how does one avoid the attractive fallacy of rushing to the solution. These are a few strategies:
- Use the “5 Whys” Technique: This is another efficient technique useful when analyzing a problem. For instance, if the customer churn is high, why. When you obtain an answer, ask why once more. Repeat this process a total of five times and you are most likely to be able to pinpoint the main cause of the issue.
- Prototype with Users and Gather Feedback: Instead of jumping into building, prototype with users to understand the problem area. Asking users, “What’s the most irritating thing about this feature?” is often more useful than “Would you use the feature?”
- Write Down Problem Definition: Define the problem in such a way that serves to unify the team’s focus. A statement like: “Users do not proceed with sign up because they do not understand what data is required and why,” helps direct attention to what matters.
Changing culture, not only the mindset
To become fully solution-focused and stop emphasizing the issue at hand, a culture change occurs, not a routine. It is in this space that the answer, “We don’t know yet,” can be offered without fear, and the search for answers is preferred to providing quick answers. It’s aspiring leaders who should encourage teams to present such findings during the discovery process even if they do not culminate into an immediate feature development.
In the end of it, it is a great product management who cannot be gauged by the number of features delivered but by the problems solved. A team that is obsessed with the problem not its solution produces more creative and more viable products for users. So the next time you are in the shower and start tossing around ideas with people, do not participate. Instead, when all the ideas have been floated, ask the question that you should have asked in the first place: “What’s the primary issue that we’re looking to resolve?” I bet you it is the most important question you will ask throughout your day.