Product workshops may consist of different components, depending on the stage of the product development and other factors. Check its definition and benefits, plus our workshop ideas that could help your team maximize the product value.
In the age of digital products prevalence, the aesthetically pleasing interface and good performance are no longer significant assets but a standard. In order to successfully introduce the application to the market, you need to pursue a deep understanding of its users. And, at the same time – define the reasons why you even created this product in the first place.
Refining the project is much easier with the appropriate methodologies and tools applied during the product workshop. But what does this term really mean? How does the product discovery workshop differ from, for instance, the ideation workshop? And in which situations should you reach out for it?
What is product discovery?
Product discovery is the initial phase of digital product development that, together with product delivery, contributes to the application development lifecycle. It’s the first step to creating MVP (Minimum Viable Product) that will later turn into a full-blown app. It aims at generating solutions that refer to the user’s needs, and as a result – fulfill the specified goals.
That’s the clou of product discovery which originates in the change of mindset that took place in the early 00s. In that period, through the development of Agile and Lean methodologies as well as User Experience design and Design Thinking, the focus of product design switched to the user. At the same time, user-related data became one of the most precious assets.
Why would you need a product discovery workshop?
Just like in many other industries, the trends matter in IT. Sometimes, however, they overshadow the user-oriented design. That’s why one of the fundamental aspects of the product discovery phase is the selection of functionalities that actually make a difference.
This way, the team can resist the temptation to implement the cool features just because they’re cool. Even the best designers may forget that less is more in tech. An extensive spectrum of functionalities may lower the app’s usability, affecting the user experience.
Product discovery allows confronting the visions of team members with users’ expectations. Thanks to that, the project remains down to earth what translates into increased security and cost-effectiveness. After the discovery phase finishes, you should be able to answer these three fundamental questions:
- How and in what way does my product fulfill the market’s demand?
- Which problems does my product solve?
- How much will it cost (and is it worth it?)
Who should take part in such a workshop? The usual squad consists of the product owner, UX designer, tech lead, and project manager, but this configuration can be slightly different depending on the project.
As you can read in the article Product Workshop 7 steps to reduce costs and minimize risk during product development (source), following this path can be valuable in such areas as:
- Faster delivered solution
- Cost reduction
- Risk minimization
What is a product workshop?
Product workshops can mean different things, depending on what exactly you’ll be working on. The term refers to the whole development lifecycle. Product discovery workshop takes place in the conceptualization phase, but there are others that refer to the following stages – like UX design and prototyping workshop.
Meanwhile, the ideation workshop may be carried out at any stage of the product development process. Its purpose is to generate new ideas that could solve issues encountered on the particular development stage – like team misalignment or client’s complaints.
What can your team learn during the product discovery workshop?
Depending on your needs and the specifics of your project, the workshop can take different directions. Are you looking for product workshop ideas that could bring additional value to your team? The essential elements of each workshop include the definition of:
- Product goals
- Unique Value Proposition
- Product users personas
- Essential functionalities
To make the most out of the product workshop, think of sneaking in such topics as:
- applying Agile, Scrum, and Lean methodologies into the project management
- user research and its application in the discovery process
- team cross-functionality as a way to achieve increased efficiency in product development
- working with the product roadmap and product backlog (if working with Scrum)
Note that a lot depends on the specifics of your project, the size of your team, and other variables.
How to manage a product innovation workshop? From this website you can download a PDF that expands the issues mentioned above and plan a tailor-made experience for your team.
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