This is one of a series of blog posts exploring what product thinking is, why it matters, and how to develop it in your organization. 

Product thinking should be central to any UX design team. It helps make sure you’re keeping an eye on [what makes your product useful](https://drawbackwards.com/blog/what-is-product-thinking-and-why-does-it-matter "what makes your product useful") by clearly [identifying the core problem your users need to solve](https://drawbackwards.com/blog/identifying-the-user-and-their-problem-to-be-solved "identifying the core problem your users need to solve").

Once that problem has been identified, it’s time to dig a little deeper into the specific jobs that your customers or users are hiring your product to do. This is the key to bridging the gap between the product’s purpose (what makes it useful) and its functionality (how it’s useful).

## Start with the “why.”

Every product needs a clear vision. This is why your product exists. It’s why your team exists and why you’re doing what you’re doing. Clearly identifying the problems that the product addresses tells what your product exists to do, but why it does that is a different question altogether.

Good product thinking clearly articulates the reasons for your product. Why is now the right time to build this? Why do customers need your product? Why are they motivated to choose your product over other solutions?

Having a clear vision of the reason behind your product can help you more clearly define the specific jobs you want your customer to hire the product to do. 

Using a [Jobs-to-be-Done approach](https://24ways.org/2017/jobs-to-be-done-in-your-ux-toolbox/ "Jobs-to-be-Done approach") to this question helps you dig deeper than the task or activity and into the core of why customers want to use your product - to make their lives better. They’re “hiring” your product to help them get past a specific challenge and to an ideal state that lies on the other side of that obstacle.

The more clearly you can define that job to be done, the better you address the real “why” behind your product.

## Identify how you’re going to help get the job done.
What makes products meaningful is when they provide a solution that perfectly fits a problem. Your ability to fit the solution to the problem is what will determine the user’s overall experience.

In addition to answering what problem you’re solving, for whom you’re doing it, and why you’re doing it, good product thinking also identifies __how__ you’ll help users accomplish their specific jobs and goals. 

This is where the rubber meets the road. You have to define the features that will have the most impact on helping solve the problem. It’s challenging, to be sure, but it’s what will make your product work. It’s hard enough to design good features and visuals, but it’s even harder to design the right thing for the right job.

As difficult as this can be, it can also be empowering. When you develop a culture that values product thinking, you empower everybody in your organization to question new feature requests. 

Product thinking enables you to ask the right questions, build the right features, and more efficiently steer away from random one-off feature requests that don’t contribute to the larger problem you’re trying to solve.

Everybody, not just the product manager, needs to be asking “Is this the right tool for the job? Does it fit into the product? Does it solve a real problem?” If the answer is no, or you’re not sure, then it’s time to go back and ask more questions before bloating your product with more features that may or may not help get the job done.

## We’ll help you get the job done right.
Our whole focus at Drawbackwards is helping clients deliver real value as efficiently as possible. We know how much time and money can get lost in chasing solutions that don’t work. We’ll help you connect your solution to your user’s real problems and define how best to get the job done.

[Let’s talk](https://drawbackwards.com/contact "Let’s talk") about where your product is and where you’d like it to go.


What is product thinking and why does it matter?

Product Thinking: Uncovering the jobs to be done

*This is one of a series of blog posts exploring what product thinking is, why it matters, and how to develop it in your organization.*

> “Some people say give the customers what they want, but that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do.” - Steve Jobs

In a previous post, we covered what [product thinking is and why it matters](https://drawbackwards.com/blog/what-is-product-thinking-and-why-does-it-matter).  Like everything in good UX design, product thinking starts with the user.

Specifically, product thinking starts with the core question, “What makes your product useful?”

This seems like a fairly straightforward question, but the answers can be complicated. It’s easy to get caught up in what features make people comfortable with your product. If you focus too much on features, you can lose sight of the larger purpose those features are meant to solve.

To avoid that, we like to draw backwards and get a 360-degree view of the problem we’re trying to solve by researching and exploring to answer some core questions.

## What problem are you trying to solve?

At the root level, product thinking is about solving problems. No matter how your product evolves in its features or look and feel, to be successful over the long haul it needs to solve a core problem for your customers. This problem needs to be real and easy to define and understand.

You need the discipline to not chase white rabbits and build fancy features just for the sake of having them. Each feature needs to contribute to solving that larger problem. This is how your product becomes not just comfortable but truly meaningful for customers - because it solves (and, ideally, anticipates) a core problem that they have in their life.

If the problem is too vague or not based on lived experience, then the product will feel irrelevant no matter how nice it looks and feels. If the product is oriented to the wrong problem, nobody will choose to buy or use the product. 

A clear definition of the problem is more important than the solution itself because broken solutions can be fixed and adjusted. But if you’re chasing the wrong problem, no solution will be able to fix it.

## Whose problem are you trying to solve?

It’s not quite enough to identify the problem. That problem needs to be felt, experienced and faced by a real person. It’s up to you to know who that person is as thoroughly as possible.

This means getting into the heads of your core target customers and users and empathizing with their needs around the problem. This isn’t a one-time effort. It’s an ongoing process that gradually peels back the layers of who your core customers are and what they really need.

We like to rely on [archetypes more than personas](https://smashingideas.com/behavioral-archetypes/). There are always going to be demographic details that help you segment your audience for marketing purposes. But in order to build a product that solves real problems, the behaviors, attitudes, and environments of your customers are more important than demographic data points about things like gender and age.

Everybody on the design team needs to have a clear and evolving picture in their head of the person on the other end of the product. Without this, you end up with features that stand a 50/50 chance of being successful.

## How can I be sure I’m attacking the right problem?

This is the tricky part. It’s almost always a good idea to start with simple conversations. Talk to your core customers and users and understand what they believe about the problem they need your product to solve. But that is almost never enough.

Most people don’t know what they want until they see it. They have a hard time articulating their own needs. They often even misunderstand their own actions. 

True innovation comes from watching people’s behavior and identifying the subconscious motivations that drive that behavior. Don’t just trust what somebody tells you they do. Watch them do it. You’ll be amazed how often they clearly contradict themselves with their behavior.

The hard truth is that you’ll never be 100% sure that you’re addressing the right problem for the right person. But you can get more and more confident the more you research and understand the need underlying the core problem. The more you empathize with customers and users, the more you’ll learn, and the more confidence you’ll have that you’re solving a real problem for real people.

## Draw backwards to identify the right problems for the right people.

Clients often come to us with what they think is a clear understanding of the problem they’re trying to solve only to have us help them realize they’ve been chasing the wrong problem. 

We have more than 20 years of experience and a proven process that helps you get a 360-degree view of the problem, the people who have that problem, and the solutions that will help them.

[Let’s start a conversation](https://drawbackwards.com/contact) about how we can help you do the same.

Product Thinking: Identifying the user and their problem to be solved

We know that customer experience is central to any product. We know the [seven dimensions](https://drawbackwards.com/blog/7-cx-dimensions "Seven Dimensions") that are central to customer experience, and we know what qualifies as good customer experience is [ultimately in the eyes of the beholder](https://drawbackwards.com/blog/what-is-customer-experience-really "In the Eyes of the Beholder") - your customers.

But the road to good customer experience can be full of potholes. How do you navigate such a treacherous path? One key way is through product thinking.

## What is product thinking?

Product thinking answers the question, “What makes your product useful?” 

People buy products to solve real problems. Product thinking helps you identify what those problems are and how your product solves them. 

By employing product thinking, we see the product as a whole rather than just focusing on the features of the product. We try to solve the problems of our customers with meaningful solutions that deliver delight and real value.

## How is product thinking different from design thinking?

[Design thinking](https://drawbackwards.com/approach "Design Thinking") asks what features will make your product as useful as possible. It’s a cyclical process that helps continuously answer detailed questions about how people need the product to look, feel, and work. But without the product, there are no features to design.

Product thinking can deliver a more holistic view of a product than design thinking. It’s the big picture of why your product exists in the first place. It’s the common purpose behind all of your combined actions as an organization. It’s the reason you’re doing the work you do. 

In design thinking we create a lot of maps. Empathy maps and journey maps help us orient ourselves to where we are in the product development process and where we need to go next.

Maps are useful to show you where you’re going and how to get there. Product thinking is like the globe that gives you a model of the entire world that you’re mapping.

Product and design thinking are in constant communication with each other. To mix metaphors, product thinking steers the ship while design thinking is in the engine room giving feedback to the captain about what’s working or not to keep the ship moving in the right direction. 

## Product thinking is not just for product managers

It’s easy to assume that maintaining a strategic and holistic perspective on your product is only the responsibility of the product manager and business leaders. But that’s not enough.

In order for a product to be successful, everybody on the team must hone their product thinking skills. It’s nearly impossible to build great products without everybody having an understanding of what the product means to customers and why it exists in the first place.

> This means that product thinking is a mindset that needs to be cultivated and reinforced. It’s a culture of customer experience that motivates every decision. 

Everybody in the organization needs this mindset and commitment to stand on a common purpose. That’s because everybody in the organization in some way shapes the customer experience.

Like most things in business, leaders are often responsible for deciding on and setting the vision and purpose. Product thinking is the connective tissue that ties that bigger vision to the detailed decisions produced by design thinking.

## Why does product thinking matter and how do I do it?

Product thinking is central to good UX design because it prevents us from building things that nobody wants. The point of product thinking is to make sure we’re focusing on the full user experience, not just a collection of nice features.

Without product thinking, it can be easy to get lost in creating good design and experiences and forget the core reason that customers hired your product in the first place.

Here are three basic steps to help make sure you’re thinking in terms of product first and features second:

1. __Identify the customer and their problem to be solved.__ You need to be sure you’re solving a real problem that real people need to solve. 
2. __Uncover the jobs the product is hired to do.__ You need to know why you’re building the product and how it’s going to solve the core needs of your customers.
3. __Identify the desired outcomes.__ At the end of the day, you need a vision of what you want to achieve with the product and features that will help you achieve that vision.

## Let’s help you improve your product thinking.

Drawbackwards is uniquely positioned to help your organization define a common purpose because we’ve worked on all three levels of product development, from strategy and vision, to product thinking, to design thinking.

[Let’s talk](https://drawbackwards.com/contact "Let's talk") about what’s missing from your strategy and how we can help.

# Product Thinking: Identifying your desired outcomes

*This is one of a series of blog posts exploring what product thinking is, why it matters, and how to develop it in your organization.*

You understand the [power of product thinking](https://drawbackwards.com/blog/what-is-product-thinking-and-why-does-it-matter) and you’ve taken steps to [identify your customers’ problems](https://drawbackwards.com/blog/identifying-the-user-and-their-problem-to-be-solved) and how to help them [accomplish their key jobs](https://drawbackwards.com/blog/product-thinking-uncovering-jobs-to-be-done). How do you know when your product is successful? 

The last piece of product thinking focuses on the outputs. It answers the question of what you want to achieve (your goals) and what you’re doing to achieve it (the features you intend to build).

## Set your goals to measure success.

Too many projects start with a vague vision and sense of what’s trying to be achieved and no real definition of success. How can you know if you’ve gotten where you’re going if you haven’t set a destination?

A simple statement defining success can go a long way to helping everybody in the organization maintain a product thinking mindset. Agree from the outset what you’re looking for to indicate that you’ve been successful.

This could be a specific business metric like increased revenue, decreased operating expenses, or some other financial KPI. It could be a user or customer experience metric like reduced customer service calls, increased customer satisfaction, or an influx of new users. It could also be a qualitative or anecdotal sense that you’re moving in the right direction in making the lives of your customers easier.

Whatever your definition of success, set it as a team, post it on a wall, and remind everybody constantly of what you’re driving towards. Thinking in terms of product success will also help you determine the success of the features you build. Is this contributing to the overall success of the product? What do we need to see in this feature that will demonstrate that it is successful in itself? 

These are core questions to answer at the beginning, middle, and end of any product development life cycle.

## Determine your path to success.

If there’s one reason to focus on bringing a product thinking mindset to your projects, it’s to bridge the gap between strategy and execution. It’s great to have a big vision for the product and an overall sense of direction and what success looks like. You also need to make it all happen.

Many product teams (often unintentionally) start with great ideas for cool features and go in search of an audience for those features. That’s like buying a bunch of awesome gadgets and gear and then looking for a mountain to climb. You might make it up the mountain eventually, but you’ll likely find that your backpack was much heavier than it needed to be and half the tools you brought were useless for the type of mountain you chose to climb.

Only after you’ve determined the purpose of the product and how success will be defined do you actually choose the features that are worth building. This will save you countless hours and budget building the wrong things for the wrong people.

A product thinking mindset doesn’t ignore the importance of a well-designed feature, interface or visual design. It optimizes the effort to create all of those by targeting what has the best chance of succeeding within the context of the larger problem you’re trying to solve.

Nobody ever gets it 100% right 100% of the time. But with a product thinking approach, in balance with design thinking and a solid overall vision and business strategy, you’ll increase your chances of building the right product at the right time with the right amount of effort.

## Looking for a guide? We’re here to help.

Design thinking is in our DNA. It’s what we do every day to help clients create smart, useful features and designs that add value to their products. At the same time, we never lose sight of the bigger picture. We instill product thinking in every project we tackle and we know how to guide teams big and small through the process of creating products that solve real problems for real people.

If you’re feeling a little lost in your product strategy, [let’s talk about how we can help get you back on track](https://drawbackwards.com/contact).

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What is product thinking and why does it matter?