How To Prioritize Customer Needs In Innovation

While it can be easily believed that customers are the ultimate experts about their own needs, there are ways to gain insights and knowledge that customers may not be aware of or able to articulate directly. While customers are the ultimate source of truth about their needs, product managers can complement this knowledge by employing a combination of research, data analysis, and empathetic understanding to gain a more comprehensive understanding of customer needs and expectations. The goal is not to know more than customers but to use various tools and methods to gain insights that can lead to building better products and delivering exceptional user experiences. ➡️ User Research: Conducting thorough user research, such as interviews, surveys, and observational studies, can reveal underlying needs and pain points that customers may not have fully recognized or articulated. By learning from many users, we gain holistic insights and deeper insights into their motivations and behaviors. ➡️ Data Analysis: Analyzing user data, including behavioral data and usage patterns, can provide valuable insights into customer preferences and pain points. By identifying trends and patterns in the data, product managers can make informed decisions about what features or improvements are most likely to address customer needs effectively. ➡️ Contextual Inquiry: Observing customers in their real-life environment while using the product can uncover valuable insights into their needs and challenges. Contextual inquiry helps product managers understand the context in which customers use the product and how it fits into their daily lives. ➡️ Competitor Analysis: By studying competitors and their products, product managers can identify gaps in the market and potential unmet needs that customers may not even be aware of. Understanding what competitors offer can inspire product improvements and innovation. ➡️ Surfacing Implicit Needs: Sometimes, customers may not be able to express their needs explicitly, but through careful analysis and empathetic understanding, product managers can infer these implicit needs. This requires the ability to interpret feedback, observe behaviors, and understand the context in which customers use the product. ➡️ Iterative Prototyping and Testing: Continuously iterating and testing product prototypes with users allows product managers to gather feedback and refine the product based on real-world usage. Through this iterative process, product managers can uncover deeper customer needs and iteratively improve the product to meet those needs effectively. ➡️ Expertise in the Domain: Product managers, industry thought leaders, academic researchers, and others with deep domain knowledge and expertise can anticipate customer needs based on industry trends, best practices, and a comprehensive understanding of the market. #productinnovation #discovery #productmanagement #productleadership

“The customer is always right.” Right? Well… yes. But not in the way you might think. In Customer Success, we hear this phrase all the time. And while I do believe the customer is always right, it’s not because we should say yes to every request or scramble to build every feature they mention. It’s because they’re right about the pain. They’re right about the friction, the gaps, the confusion. But they might not be right about the solution 😬 That’s where we come in. The magic happens when you go beyond the request and uncover the real problem. Because here’s the truth: Most feature requests are symptoms. Our job as CSMs is to diagnose the cause. Let’s say a customer says: “We need a new page on our dashboard” Now here’s the classic trap: CSM: “Sure! Let me request this for you. I’ll add it to the roadmap!” WRONG APPROACH! 🙅♀️ Here’s why: jumping straight to a solution without understanding the why behind the request leads to misaligned expectations and, most likely, frustration down the road. Instead, here’s a better approach - a simple 3-step process I use often: 1️⃣ Step 1: Validate the request... but don’t commit yet + hypothesize the underlying need The customer is raising something important. Acknowledge it, but leave room for discovery… after all, you suspect what they want isn’t a new page - they want easier access to a specific piece of data. So you need test that theory. CSM: “Thanks for surfacing this - if I sent you that data weekly, or gave you a shortcut to it, would that help for now? This serves three purposes: 1. Keeps the conversation open and shows you’re here to understand, not just execute 2. It gives them an immediate sense of support and momentum 3. Helps you figure out whether this is about UI structure or data accessibility 2️⃣ Step 2: Dig into the “why” Now that you’ve tested a quick fix, it’s time to zoom out. CSM: “What’s driving the need for that data? What decision or action depends on it?” This is where you uncover gold 🌟 The real issue might not be visibility - it could be workflow-related, team reporting pressure, or something else entirely. And that’s what you really need to solve. 3️⃣ Step 3: Collaborate on the right path forward Once you understand the root of the request, you’re in a much stronger position to propose a better solution or bring a well-informed case to your product team, if needed. —— Our job as CSMs is not just to collect feedback. It’s to interpret it. To ask follow-up questions. To uncover the why behind the what. One of my favorite lines from a recent post by Sagan Schultz, MD, MBA at Linear says it perfectly (link in comments): “The most valuable skill in product development lies in understanding what remains unsaid, beyond the explicit feedback.” The same applies to CS. Great relationships are built not by reacting to what’s said - but by listening closely enough to hear what isn’t.

Your Product Managers are talking to customers. So why isn’t your product getting better? A few years ago, I was on a team where our boss had a rule: 🗣️ “Everyone must talk to at least one customer each week.” So we did. Calls were scheduled. Conversations happened. Boxes were checked. But nothing changed. No real insights. No real impact. Because talking to customers isn’t the goal. Learning the right things is. When discovery lacks purpose, it leads to wasted effort, misaligned strategy, and poor business decisions: ❌ Features get built that no one actually needs. ❌ Roadmaps get shaped by the loudest voices, not the right customers. ❌ Teams collect insights… but fail to act on them. How Do You Fix It? ✅ Talk to the Right People Not every customer insight is useful. Prioritize: -> Decision-makers AND end-users – You need both perspectives. -> Customers who represent your core market – Not just the loudest complainers. -> Direct conversations – Avoid proxy insights that create blind spots. 👉 Actionable Step: Before each interview, ask: “Is this customer representative of the next 100 we want to win?” If not, rethink who you’re talking to. ✅ Ask the Right Questions A great question challenges assumptions. A bad one reinforces them. -> Stop asking: “Would you use this?” -> Start asking: “How do you solve this today?” -> Show AI prototypes and iterate in real-time – Faster than long discovery cycles. -> If shipping something is faster than researching it—just build it. 👉 Actionable Step: Replace one of your upcoming interview questions with: “What workarounds have you created to solve this problem?” This reveals real pain points. ✅ Don’t Let Insights Die in a Doc Discovery isn’t about collecting insights. It’s about acting on them. -> Validate across multiple customers before making decisions. -> Share findings with your team—don’t keep them locked in Notion. -> Close the loop—show customers how their feedback shaped the product. 👉 Actionable Step: Every two weeks, review customer insights with your team to decipher key patterns and identify what changes should be applied. If there’s no clear action, you’re just collecting data—not driving change. Final Thought Great discovery doesn’t just inform product decisions—it shapes business strategy. Done right, it helps teams build what matters, align with real customer needs, and drive meaningful outcomes. 👉 Be honest—are your customer conversations actually making a difference? If not, what’s missing? -- 👋 I'm Ron Yang, a product leader and advisor. Follow me for insights on product leadership + strategy.