The document discusses various techniques for identifying and testing assumptions in product development, such as story maps and pre-mortems. It emphasizes the importance of understanding customer behavior and feasibility through surveys and research spikes. The content ultimately promotes a structured and sustainable approach to continuous product discovery.

1. Teresa Torres
www.ProductTalk.org
{
@ttorres
Identifying and Testing
Hidden Assumptions

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Story Map Your Top Solutions

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Story Map Your Top Solutions

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Ethical: Is
there any
potential
harm?
Usable:
Can
anyone use
it?
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Viable
Feasible
Desirable
Does
anyone
want it?
Can we
build it?
Should we
build it?
Types of Assumptions

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Story maps help us see our assumptions.

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Story maps help us see our assumptions.

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Story maps help us see our assumptions.

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Pre-mortems help us identify assumptions.
Imagine it’s six months in the future and our solution was an unmitigated disaster, what went wrong?

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Prototype to simulate a specific moment.

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1 question surveys are a great way to
evaluate past behavior.
Have you watched a sporting event in the past week?
Yes
No

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Are your customers already exhibiting the
behavior you want to see?
Are customers searching for sporting events today?

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Research spikes help to evaluate feasibility.

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Define the behavior you expect to see.
3 out of 5
subscribers
choose to watch a
sporting event.

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Define the behavior you expect to see.
Have you watched a sporting event in the past week?
Yes
No At least 25 out of
100 responders
respond yes.

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Define the behavior you expect to see.
Are customers searching for sporting events today?
At least 25 of the
last 500 search
queries are
related to sports.

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Define the behavior you expect to see.
We’ll spend 3 days
querying the sports
leagues APIs and expect
to get appropriate sports
listing data for at least
75% of sporting events in
these categories.

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Define your tests such that you can collect data in
1 or 2 days.

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ContinuousDiscoveryHabits.com
Get the product trio’s guide to a
structured and sustainable approach
to continuous discovery.
“Teresa’s methods inspire rigor similar to a workout
coach—product discovery is a regular, consistent
practice, that's measurable and impactful.”
- Jocelyn Mangan, CEO, HimForHer
"II you haven’t had the good fortune to be coached
by a strong leader or product coach, this book can
help fill that gap and set you on the path to
success."
- Marty Cagan, Partner, Silicon Valley Product Group

23. Teresa Torres
Product Discovery Coach
{
ProductTalk.org
@ttorres
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