“Make your customer the hero of your stories.” – Ann Handley

Introduction

In a customer-driven market, where needs and choices are constantly evolving, it can be exciting for a team to build a user experience or a product that is continuously evolving. At times, the never-ending process can be daunting as there is a constant need to do more as opposed to reaching a predetermined end. Prioritization is a crucial part of product management as it helps teams focus their efforts and motivation on what lies ahead by creating a shared investment of morale in the importance of the goals and work that lie ahead.

There are several frameworks and sets of criteria that have emerged to support prioritization. While these frameworks are unique in their own way, some elements are taken into consideration by all of these frameworks.

Product Experiments  

With all the data that is constantly pouring in, the product design team has a lot on its plate. To pick and choose out of the demands and feedback, evaluate the opportunity costs in different scenarios, and determine the next steps is no mean feat. An excellent place to start the process of prioritization is product experimentation.  

Smaller agile cycles provide a solid structure for experiments before and after the product release. The use of agile is not just a professional practice but an acquired mindset that is tolerant and resilient towards measured risk. Internalizing the agile process and mindset helps teams make changes at various stages of development in a path to production that has dependable automated testing at these different stages. A vast number of companies now structure their software and product DNA in a manner that allows for agility and iterations. Not only does this save time and other resources, but it also makes the longevity of the product a default feature.

User interviews

Often, there can be a difference between what consumers think they want and what they really need. With an overload of data coming your way, it can be tempting to go by what consumers are saying they want. Peeling the layers of demand through improved interactions is vital to get to the needs that consumers are often unaware of.  Often, these are the needs that lead to the development of products that transform consumer experiences substantially.

A well-crafted user interview can be a straightforward and effective means of understanding the real need. From street interviews of unprepared consumers to structured interviews of loyal customers, there are many ways in which user interviews can be carried out. Identifying missing links of information that can make actionable decisions helps in identifying whom to interview and what setting would be most conducive. Sometimes, the effort is to develop a user persona which requires a more in-depth, personal conversation. The need of the hour may be a simple test of a product’s usability and a layman’s inclination to purchase it. There is a user-interview for every kind of data.

Ethnography

Contrary to popular belief, ethnographic studies can provide as much quantitative data as qualitative data. The tools of ethnographic research are useful in putting large amounts of data in context to decode how human behavior varies in different cultures and situations.

This method, which focuses more on user behavior, can offer insights into the impact a product may have on a user’s experience. Several observations regarding cultural norms and habits—which do not typically fall under some user interviews—can also be made, which can have a considerable impact on the design of the product. Many studies also allow organizations to make active observations of users to identify a need while a product is being used. A key feature of ethnography is that it can evolve and adapt to zoom in on areas that are emerging to be more meaningful.

Most importantly, ethnography can humanize the user experience. While it will still have the quantitative elements of being measured in metrics, there will be a humane side of the experience which cannot be captured in metrics but remains to be of value.

Persona definition

One may not be able to determine an arbitrary person’s responses to a product or gauge a random person’s need. However, it is far easier to determine what a friend or a family member would like to have and find useful and usable. In fact, often, product ideas are born out of perceived necessities in the immediate environment that is limiting one’s experience. This is the gap that persona definition helps bridge.

By defining the life and personality of a prospective user, designers can engage with the user on a personal level where the creativity flows most naturally. By tapping into the need to connect with another human, the product designers are able to connect with users through this persona and build a product for a familiar person whose needs can be defined with more confidence along with his or her tastes and preference in mind. A pit to avoid here, however, is to avoid details that have little to no bearing on the product being designed. The devil lies in the details, in this case. There may be a risk of the approach not being taken seriously if the relevance and the scope of the approach are not justified.

Empathy mapping

Empathy mapping is essentially a snapshot of any of the more elaborate methods used to delve into user needs. In essence, an empathy map is simply a graphic organizer that highlights the most important aspects of the user’s need and desired experience that is to be taken into consideration in the process of user-centric design. By design, the empathy map converts the beliefs, challenges, and needs of a defined persona into actionable and metrics of basic experience that the product can provide.

Psychological theories, such as the famous Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, have valuable additions to make to the synthesis of the user’s needs based on the empathy map that indicates what the user says, does, thinks, and feels.

Conclusion

While the investment in terms of human resources, time, and other resources in the designing of a product or experience is extremely high, the pressure associated with the process can be high as well. The steps to product prioritization can ensure that the team does not lose sight of the priorities of what lies ahead, thereby maintaining both motivation and productivity.

Product prioritization is the very first stage of Labscove’s framework. The practices and approaches discussed here constitute the foundational stage of practices in the process of application transformation to achieve digital transformation effectively. Labscove’s particular interest lies in supporting the digital transformation of banks and other financial institutions that bring forth an abundance of opportunity and challenge in the space of user-centered design and omnichannel presence.