Product Research Rules

Digital product research doesn't have to be difficult, take a long time, or cost a lot of money. Nor should it be a job solely for scientists or expert researchers. In this practical book, C. Todd Lombardo and Aras Bilgen demonstrate how your entire team can conduct effective product research within a couple of weeks-easily, cheaply, and without compromising quality. Drawing from decades of experience in product development, the authors lay out nine simple rules that combine user research, market research, and product analytics to quickly discover insights and build products customers truly need. Recognize and avoid common research pitfalls Switch to the insight-making mindset that underlies all successful research efforts Find out how to look at data, formulate the right questions, and pick the right research method Learn interview techniques and research skills Analyze for insights collaboratively while avoiding bias Inspire action with your insights through powerful presentations and prototypes Learn how to involve a wide variety of stakeholders in research, from developers to executives Discover how you can make research a habit, not a one-off effort.

Intro -- Table of Contents -- Foreword -- Introduction -- Excuses for Not Doing Research -- When Do You Do Product Research? -- Building on Different Research Disciplines -- A Set of Rules for Product Research -- Acknowledgments -- Rule 1: Prepare to Be Wrong -- Ego Is the Enemy of Product Research -- Different Mindsets in Research -- Steps for Good Insights -- Summing Up -- Rules in the Real World: Founders of Zeplin Were Very Wrong -- Key Takeaways -- Rule 2. Everyone is Biased, Including You -- What Are Biases? -- Assumptions: What Do You Think You Know?

Rules in the Real World: SME Interviews -- Key Takeaways -- Rule 3. Good Insights Start with a Question -- What's an Insight? -- It's Too Easy to Start Research Without a Question -- Going from Hunch to Research Question -- The Usage Perspective -- The Business Perspective -- The Expertise Perspective -- Formulating the Question: Using the QFT -- Try It Out: Are These Good Research Questions? -- Rules in the Real World: How One Product Manager Deployed Data Science in Product Research -- Key Takeaways -- Rule 4. Plans Make Research Work -- Picking a Research Method -- Finding Participants

The Dynamic Duo: Researcher and Notet…