1.
FIND THE WANT
CUSTOMER DISCOVERY

2.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Hi, I’m Liz.

3.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack

4.
Grow what
you eat.

5.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
KNOW THE USER
MAKE THEM HAPPY
What I do:

6.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
KNOW THE USER | Data, research, user testing.
Pursue a substantiated understanding of the way a
person uses, lives with and perceives the experience
we create.
MAKE THEM HAPPY
What I do:

7.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
What I do:
KNOW THE USER
MAKE THEM HAPPY | Product design, management.
Work across disciplines + departments to make that
experience entirely positive.

8.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Three years ago, Grove was just
a really complicated idea
we weren’t sure anyone
wanted.

9.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
“Am I building
something
people want?”

10.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Probably not 😬

11.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
And that’s totally fine. Start testing and
revising your hypothesis now.

12.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Product
market fit
takes time.

13.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Where can you create value?

14.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Customer validation also proves
your idea is worthy of investment.
Where can you create value?

15.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack

16.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
TEST THE PROBLEM
TEST THE SOLUTION
Customer Discovery

17.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
TEST THE PROBLEM | User research, market research.
Test your understanding of the customer’s needs.
TEST THE SOLUTION
Customer Discovery

18.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Customer Discovery:
TEST THE PROBLEM
TEST THE SOLUTION | Prototyping, user testing.
Test that your solution solves the customer’s need that
you identified.

19.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
It’s a cycle.

20.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Methods for
Customer Discovery
PART ONE: TEST THE PROBLEM

21.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Before you
write a line of
code.

22.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
What problem are
you solving?
?

23.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
1 | Leave the Building
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
3 | Listen, Listen, Listen
4 | Sell the Product You Don’t Have
5 | Poach from Competitors

24.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Leave the
building.
REMEMBER THIS #1
Thanks to: Steve Blank

25.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
1 | Leave the Building
OBJECTIVES
Test my value proposition (am I building a thing
people care about?)
Identify pain points + opportunities in my
assumed market segment.

26.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Things you need:
1. A list of questions.
2. A hypothesis you’re willing to change.
1 | Leave the Building

27.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Things you don’t need:
1. Understanding of the customer’s problem.
2. Existing customers.
1 | Leave the Building

28.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
At ModCloth, we talk to people when we first
have an idea. At this phase, our goal is to
understand customers’ current problems
around this idea and how they deal with an
issue we’re trying to solve.
MODCLOTH
1 | Leave the Building

29.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Google’s answer for the complexity of AdWords
was to hire 2,000 account managers to help people
use the platform. Pratt said one of the main reasons
for user confusion is that the terminology used by
the various platforms is wildly different.
ADHAWK

30.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Rica Elysée founded Boston Naturals, a meet-up
group for women of color. There, she realized many
had the same issues with their salons —
overbookings, late or canceled appointments or
just a general disappointment with how their hair
turned out.
BEAUTYLYNK

31.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Parker is second-generation pharmacist who grew
up behind the counter of his father’s mom-and-pop
drug store in Concord, N.H. Whenever he went out to
deliver prescriptions, he grew frustrated watching as
customers used Excel spreadsheets and day-of-the-
week pill containers to keep track of their
medications.
PILL PACK

32.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Feel your customer’s pain.
1 | Leave the Building

33.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Leave the
building.
REMEMBER THIS #1
Thanks to: Steve Blank

34.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
My two golden rules of user research:
1. Immersion is better than any other tactic.
2. Ask open-ended questions ONLY.
1 | Leave the Building

35.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
My two golden rules of user research:
1. Immersion is better than any other tactic. If
you're interviewing people outside of the
environment in which they'll be using your
product, you're missing 70% of the
observations you could be making.
2. Ask open-ended questions ONLY.
1 | Leave the Building

36.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
My two golden rules of user research:
1. Immersion is better than any other tactic.
2. Ask open-ended questions ONLY. The
fastest way to ruin insight is to ask a leading
question. Ask who, what, why, when, where,
how. Ask people to walk you through a
scenario in their own words.
1 | Leave the Building

37.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Tips for discovery conversations:
1. Get into research character.
2. Be fascinated.
3. Be neutral and encouraging.
4. Don’t judge or dismiss.
5. Build on the conversation.
6. When in doubt, clarify.
7. Listen, don’t lead.
8. Don’t pitch.
9. Watch body language.
10. Practice!
1 | Leave the Building

38.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
1 | Leave the Building
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
3 | Listen, Listen, Listen
4 | Sell the Product You Don’t Have
5 | Poach from Competitors

39.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
Set up a landing page, collect emails.
Now!

40.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
OBJECTIVES
Test my value proposition (am I solving a
problem people care about?)
Get e-mail addresses (who cares about the
problem I’m solving?)

41.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
Things you need:
1. A URL.
2. A value proposition.
3. A mailing list tool.

42.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
Things you don’t need:
1. A logo.
2. A blog, social media accounts etc.
3. A copywriter, designer, developer etc.

43.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have

44.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have

45.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have

46.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have

47.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Right now, do
one thing well.
REMEMBER THIS #2

48.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
WHAT’S THE ONE THING?
Identify your core value proposition. Go hard on
that one thing.

49.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
GET THE WORD OUT
Post to social media, contact friends + family to
share with their networks, email your own
network, pursue startup promotional sites like
ProductHunt.com and betalist.com.

50.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
PURSUE CONTACT INFO
Landing pages are carefully designed to
optimize for conversion. At an early stage, just a
name + email is super valuable (see next steps).

51.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
WHAT DOES VALIDATION LOOK LIKE?
That depends.

52.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
NOT SEEING USER GROWTH?
Consider backtracking to simplify and dig into
the customer discovery process.

53.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
NOT SEEING USER GROWTH?
Leave the building again. Constantly verify >
adapt > verify > adapt.

54.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
TOOLS
launchrock.com + mailchimp.com

55.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
1 | Leave the Building
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
3 | Listen, Listen, Listen
4 | Sell the Product You Don’t Have
5 | Poach from Competitors

56.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
3 | Listen, Listen, Listen
So, now you have emails!
Contact them immediately and ask if you can
discuss your problem and idea.

57.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
OBJECTIVES
Test my value proposition (am I solving a
problem people care about?)
Find out why people were interested in signing
up for my product or service.
Get direct feedback on our proposed solution.
3 | Listen, Listen, Listen

58.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Things you need:
1. A screener survey.
2. Specific questions.
3 | Listen, Listen, Listen

59.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Things you don’t need:
1. A product.
2. A prototype.
3. Incredible people skills.
3 | Listen, Listen, Listen

60.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
#1: Screener Survey.
You don’t have time to talk to just anyone. A
screener survey identifies:
1. People in your target market.
2. A diversity of perspectives to interview.
3. People eligible to use your product (age etc)
3 | Listen, Listen, Listen

61.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have

62.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have

63.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
#2: Specific Questions.
Use open ended discovery questions to identify
users existing behaviors + motivations around
whatever you’re digging into.
3 | Listen, Listen, Listen

64.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
#2: Specific Questions.
For example, if I was working on a new
thermostat:
1. What kind of home do you live in currently?
2. When temperatures get hot or cold, how do
you stay comfortable in your house.
3. How has that changed in the last 6 months?
4. How did you prepare for your last trip? Walk
me through it.
3 | Listen, Listen, Listen

65.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
1 | Listen, Listen, Listen
Insight: users don’t care about the science.
We thought people would love to learn.

66.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
Insight: users take pride in their space,
and it needs to be beautiful.

67.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
Insight: early adopters are invested in the
entire ecosystem of sustainability.

68.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
Insight: users already garden.
We thought we’d teach non-gardeners to garden.

69.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Thoughts on surveys.
3 | Listen, Listen, Listen

70.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Surveys are great if you want to…
1. Track changes over time — See what
changes before and after a feature launch.
2. Quantify issues seen in user studies — We
know [x] is a problem for some users, but
how many?
3. Measure attitudes, intents, or task success.
Thanks to: Elizabeth Ferrall-Nunge, UX at Twitter
3 | Listen, Listen, Listen

71.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Surveys are not so great if you want to…
1. Discover underlying user needs — users
aren’t great at self-identifying.
2. Understand whether people can successfully
use your product.
3. Uncover user habits and behavior. Again,
people are really bad at self-reporting.
Thanks to: Elizabeth Ferrall-Nunge, UX at Twitter
3 | Listen, Listen, Listen

72.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
My two golden rules of user research:
1. Immersion is better than any other tactic. If
you're interviewing people outside of the
environment in which they'll be using your
product, you're missing 70% of the
observations you could be making.
2. Ask open-ended questions ONLY.
3 | Listen, Listen, Listen

73.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
My two golden rules of user research:
1. Immersion is better than any other tactic.
2. Ask open-ended questions ONLY. The
fastest way to ruin insight is to ask a leading
question. Ask who, what, why, when, where,
how. Ask people to walk you through a
scenario in their own words.
3 | Listen, Listen, Listen

74.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Some insight is better than none, but beware
your solution bias when writing surveys.
Something we’ve definitely done wrong at
Grove (and I’ve now seen many times).
3 | Listen, Listen, Listen

75.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Survey Tips:
1. Avoid leading questions.
2. Avoid agree/ disagree statements.
3. Beware photos + visual design.
4. Avoid comparison questions.
5. Randomize answer order.
6. Keep it short.
7. Avoid “nice-to-know” questions.
Thanks to: Elizabeth Ferrall-Nunge, UX at Twitter
3 | Listen, Listen, Listen

76.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
1 | Leave the Building
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
3 | Listen, Listen, Listen
4 | Sell the Product You Don’t Have
5 | Poach from Competitors

77.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Will
customers
pay for this?

78.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
4 | Sell the Product You Don’t Have
Things you need:
1. A prototype or product concept.
2. A way to accept payment.

79.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Things you don’t need:
1. An actual product.
2. A final price point.
3. Sales people.
4 | Sell the Product You Don’t Have

80.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have

81.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
Empty Wooden Box

82.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
Empty Wooden Box
Artificially Planted

83.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
Empty Wooden Box
Artificially Planted
No Idea How Much to Charge

84.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Result:
Sold three units at $800+.
4 | Sell the Product You Don’t Have

85.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Result:
Sold three units at $800+.
(The final product sold for $2400).
4 | Sell the Product You Don’t Have

86.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
It’s not validation if there are no stakes.
It’s okay to sell a non-existent product. Make sure
you can reimburse the user! But go for the real
sale, in which the user thinks they’ve traded cold
hard cash for your product or service.
4 | Sell the Product You Don’t Have

87.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
After selling?
We refined our roadmap and let our customers
know, giving them to chance to opt-out if they
didn’t want to wait 8 months.
4 | Sell the Product You Don’t Have

88.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
After selling?
We refined our roadmap and let our customers
know, giving them to chance to opt-out if they
didn’t want to wait 8 months.
4 | Sell the Product You Don’t Have

89.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Do things that
don’t scale.
REMEMBER THIS #3

90.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Optimize for learning.
That means doing everything in your power
to prove a hypothesis before building in
response to it.
4 | Sell the Product You Don’t Have

91.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Looks
automatic.

92.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Super not
automatic.

93.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Super informative!

94.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Optimize for
learning.
REMEMBER THIS #4

95.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
1 | Leave the Building
2 | Pitch the Product You Don’t Have
3 | Listen, Listen, Listen
4 | Sell the Product You Don’t Have
5 | Poach from Competitors

96.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Talk to their users.
What do users love?
What do users want, and not get?
5 | Poach from Competitors

97.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
AirBnB got started by “what would people user
if AirBnB didn’t exist? — Craigslist, where their
users were already looking for apartment
rentals.
5 | Poach from Competitors

98.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
They scraped apartment data and put it on
their own site, then pitched those apartment
owners on using AirBnB as well.
5 | Poach from Competitors

99.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
We started testing all of our (few) competitors
products at home + at the office.
5 | Poach from Competitors

100.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Analyze the competitive landscape.
Your users certainly are. What’s your specific
segment you can address better than anyone?
5 | Poach from Competitors

101.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack

102.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Criteria A
Criteria B
Criteria 2Criteria 1

103.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Low Yield
High Yield
AutomatedDIY
5 | Poach from Competitors

104.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack

105.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
“Am I building
something
people want?”

106.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
“and will
pay for?”

107.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Confirm that yes,
you are — or pivot.
5 | Poach from Competitors

108.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Fast.
5 | Poach from Competitors

109.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
Listen more
than you talk.
REMEMBER THIS #5

110.
liz@grovelabs.io | @lizco Liz Cormack
liz.j.cormack@gmail.com
@lizco
Get in touch!