How Do You Identify User Needs?

If your company is not one of those that takes on projects from individual customers specifying what exactly it is that they’d like to be built, then it is important that as the company is manufacturing or coming up with its product, everyone on the team keeps at the back of their mind, exactly what the ideal user for that product looks like.

One way that this could be done is by creating user personas which involves describing fictional characters that represent the user types that can have an interest in the future product. In other words, a portrait of your ideal customer. Ascribing such characters' information such as age, gender, education level, average income, life goals, common problems and spending habits will help you to create a product that such a person needs.

An alternative to this fictional route is reaching out to real people and uncovering their needs by conducting user interviews, handing out questionnaires, studying trends or watching current and possible users of the product. Stop imagining what you think the user needs as though humans are a scarce commodity. Seek out users and listen to what they’re saying; you’ll find out what they need. 

For example, when creating DeepDive, the team first identified their users: people working remotely in tech. Then they interviewed a handful of individuals who fell within that category. After understanding what such people were seeking from their remote interactions with co-workers, they could create a product that best served their user’s needs. Where they could easily have created a card game that helped break the ice between co-workers, they listened to their users and realised that people were looking to form deeper connections. So instead, they formulated questions that broke the ice but prompted meaningful conversations between co-workers.

From their research, the Product Manager can draw out a user need statement. This statement aims to ensure that everyone in the team uses the same design approach. It also helps to concentrate thoughts on the requirements and problems of users rather than specific features. 

Kristine Oak, a Product Manager at Yelp advises Product Managers to start with possible personas and detailed use cases. Prioritize the use cases and brainstorm solutions. This is where you have to put yourself in the consumer's shoes and brainstorm unique, delightful, and compelling ideas.

Remember to let go of your focus on the product if not, you can only use the research to make one product. Focus on the user so you can create multiple products. And be prepared for the possibility that investigating user needs might lead to the realisation that you need to make another product.                                                                                             

As part of the principle of building agile, be willing to make compromises on your product. It might not be the exact picture you had in mind, but if you find something else better answers your user’s needs, ship that. Keep adding to it as you learn more and perhaps find a way to make the things your customers need what you want. Overall, don’t look at the process of identifying user needs as a duty; it’s an ally that will help you create a long-lasting product that people will actually use.

For an opportunity to identify user needs and perform other duties of a Product Manager, register to join our next cohort!‍