Break the Silence: How Regular User Talks Can Save Your Product
Please talk to users first before building a feature. It’ll save you so many badly implemented features.
You see, meetings, docs, features shipped — these are “enforceable.” Not talking to users. There’s no work product. No face time.
It’s kind of like reading up on your field. It’s necessary, but we just assume everyone is doing it. But, in practice, we know everyone is not.
The reason is actually benign. When we as PMs prioritize a long to-do list, urgent things try to crowd talking to users out. We couldn’t fathom dropping a strategy doc or product review, so it falls below the line. It’s not like we don’t want to. It’s just hard to find the time.
This is especially true the more scope you take on. Between email, slack, and meetings, you could easily fill a 50-hour workweek. Things add up in the form of pings & chats for all that responsibility. So, paradoxically, as scope grows, talking to users becomes harder.
This makes it critical to systematize talking to users.
Here is a 5-part system that should help you out:
- Make it a daily habit
- Build a repository of research
- Make friends with user-facing roles
- Use spare time to read reviews & chatter
- Enshrine the work into work products
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1. Make it a daily habit
One of the best ways to build the habit of talking to users is to do it daily. Get involved with customer calls, user research, and ask people in your daily life about your product. When it becomes daily life, you don’t need to summon energy to do it.
2. Build a repository of research
Save research about your customers — that is done internally & externally. When you’re in a reading mood, crack it open. I like to read it weekly. This has the added benefit of being there when you are in need for a PRD or strategy doc.
3. Make friends with user-facing roles
Whatever roles in your org work with the customer are an encyclopedia of product insights. Make friends with them. Learn from them. Work with them on features. They make it easy to have a daily habit — and interpret what you hear.
4. Use spare time to read reviews & chatter
Have a meeting end early? Stuck somewhere where the only entertainment is your phone? Check the latest reviews and chatter on your product. Go where your users talk about you. EG, App store reviews are generally useful for apps.
5. Enshrine the work into work products
Finally, flip the opening of this post on its head! Incorporate what you find from talking to users into your work products. The power of a story is a great way to open a strategy doc or PRD.
Make it part of how you PM.
