Decoding Customer-Centric Products for the Next Generation

Last week, I gave another lecture at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) about one of my favorite topics: Customer-Centric Products.

For almost ten years now, I’ve rarely missed the opportunity to interact quarterly with TIM students (Technology and Information) and share with them the intricacies of product success based on my many failures and sparse successes.

Yes, I’ve failed a lot!

It’s somewhat comforting to know that I’m not alone, as most products developed eventually fail.

That’s also why I cherish the few products where we got it right. It makes sharing the mechanics of these successes even more imperative.

I like to start the conversation with a live poll on people’s favorite products in the past year.

When I asked this question a few years ago, students’ answers invariably revolved around gaming products—consoles, online communities, and game titles.

I often got their favorite devices too, like the latest iPhone, drones, or e-bikes.

This time, it was different. Guess what was the most cited?

Chat-GPT and other related AI tools. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised about it!

As we got into the heart of the matter, I helped the students deconstruct the fundamentals that successful product teams follow.

It all starts with knowing your target audience inside and out. So, we dived into how to get deep customer insights and used this opportunity to debunk major myths in customer research.

Then, we reviewed how to ensure a solid vision for the business and eventually connect the dots through execution.

Here’s an extreme summary:

Deep Customer Insights

A profound understanding of customer needs and behaviors lies at the heart of customer-centric product development. 

While quantitative research provides valuable data on trends, correlations, or market sizing, qualitative research offers deeper insights into why things happen. 

The catch? You must be willing to talk directly to customers, ask open-ended questions, and practice empathy to understand their perspectives truly.

It’s not overly complicated or expensive. We discussed some techniques for helping you identify and prioritize the customer problems you should be uniquely positioned to solve.

But, primarily in product management, you must be on a mission to understand what’s on your customers’ minds.

Strong Business Vision

A clear business vision serves as the North Star for product development efforts. It defines the company’s goals and aspirations. 

Unfortunately, many companies consider this an all-inclusive statement that is too diluted to make any sense.

The fundamentals are much simpler. I like to ask this straightforward question. When you were a child, who did you want to be when you grew up?

Astronaut, teacher, jet pilot?

Whatever your answer is, you’ve just articulated your vision!

The same goes for a business vision. It should have a clear time horizon, be bold yet credible, and not be created in an executive ivory tower vacuum. You’ll be spot on if it reflects the company’s values and long-term goals without trying to solve every problem.

Aligning Strategy with Vision

Once you know what’s at the top of your customers’ minds and your vision is established, you can connect the dots and focus on product creation.

The process involves product discovery to identify potential solutions, strategy formulation to connect product initiatives to business outcomes, and execution to develop and deliver the product to market.

I remind students that throughout this process, “the product teams’ task is to discover a valuable, usable, feasible, and viable solution,” as Marty Cagan demonstrates in his book Empowered.

We then use real-life examples illustrating the different steps of such product development execution.