Discovering a new product can be tough.

It’s easy to get lost, especially when you’re unsure who your potential customers are.

Below, you can find a 4-step process I've refined over the years:

Step 1: Explore the Market

Start with a basic product and market idea.

Explore the market by:

• Interviewing customers

• Observing what customers do in their environment

• Social listening (social media, forums)

• Considering problems you might have personally experienced

In the next iterations, consider:

• SEO and SEM reporting (e.g., Moz, SEMrush, Similarweb)

• Research institutions (e.g., Gartner, Forrester, Statista)

• Analyzing public data (e.g., financial statements, government data)

Step 2: Define Specific Market Segments and Needs

Organize your knowledge around:

• Customer needs

• How important those needs are

• How satisfied customers are with what they have

• Market segments (clusters of customers with similar needs)

Revisit exploration to gather and organize information about:

• Market constraints (e.g., geographic)

• Market sizing (TAM, SAM, SOM) and trends

• Industry analysis (e.g., Porter's 5 Forces)

• Value proposition (the Value Curve)

Step 3: Brainstorm Solution

Brainstorm and identify assumptions related to:

• High-level concept

• Feature set

• UX

• Channels

• Pricing

• Positioning and messaging

Start with a high-level concept and a market engagement hypothesis, often expressed as the XYZ Hypothesis.

In the next iterations, delve into:

• Detailed features

• Additional channels

• Assumptions for each feature, using tools like Strategyzer Test and Learning cards and a User Story Map

Step 4: Validate Your Assumptions

Experiment to validate your assumptions, starting with simple representations of the product, such as:

• Online ads campaign

• A landing page: fake door, waiting list, preorder

• Explainer videos

Collect "Your Own Data" and "Skin-in-the-Game" points.

Before implementation, revisit ideation to think deeply about specific features and identify assumptions related to:

• Value and usability

• Feasibility

• Viability

Test them by experimenting (user prototypes and tools like Maze and spikes)

For B2B products, it might be a good idea to:

• Create brochures and detailed sales materials (e.g., clickable prototypes)

• Perform sales presentations

• Sign the first contracts

The next steps

Once implementation begins, continue exploring both the problem and solution spaces. It’s impossible to plan and validate everything in advance.

Consider implementing your first product as a:

• The Wizard of Oz (some activities performed manually)

• Concierge (users are aware, unlike in The Wizard of Oz)

Free resources

In the comments, you will find free resources:

• Jobs-to-be-Done ebook

• Opportunity score formula

• Value Curve Template

• Porter's 5 forces template

• XYZ Hypothesis

• Your Own Data

• Skin-in-the-Game points

• Strategyzer cards

• User Story Map template

• Pretotypes library

• Experiments library

Hope that helps!