Customer-Centric Product Strategy

• Customer-Centric Product Strategy

  Demonstrated

  Across both cases she built her reasoning from the user outward. Presented with a request from leadership, she looked for the problem behind it before discussing the solution and proposed talking to users. She segmented by the job people hire the product for, and when choosing where to grow, tied the decision to the company's goal, proposed sizing each segment and looking at unmet needs, and considered how marketing as well as product would reach the new audience. Asked to defend the choice to the CEO, she appealed to the shared goals, stayed open rather than defensive, and suggested revisiting the goals if they no longer fit. That is customer-centric strategy end to end.

• JTBD

  Demonstrated

  States the principle plainly: users ask for a solution and rarely name the problem, so the problem comes first. She segments by what people come to the product to do rather than by demographics, and looks at which jobs each audience already has served and which are still open.

• Product Discovery

  Demonstrated

  Proposed talking to users at the start, and worked through the problems behind a request, the segments it might matter to, and an analytical estimate of its value. She sizes opportunities with behavioural data. Her research questions still lean toward the hypothetical; asking about past behaviour would make her findings stronger.

• Prioritization

  Demonstrated

  Chose between two strategic options on their contribution to the company's goal, backed the choice with segment sizing and unmet needs, and defended it to leadership by pointing to the goals while staying open to revising them.

We worked through two cases: a feature request coming from leadership, and a strategic choice about where to grow. You explained your thinking openly, which made it easy to follow how you reach a decision. What stood out: - You start from the problem. Faced with a requested feature, you moved straight to the problem behind it. In your words: "the users always say, I want this, but they don't say the problem." - You don't build blindly. "If I have to make it, I would not blindly make it what they asked me for." You were ready to propose a different, cheaper solution if it served the need better. - You segment by job. You set demographics aside and grouped users by what they open the product to do, and we agreed this is the segmentation that matters most for strategy. - You follow the problem past the obvious answer. Reasoning from the user's frustration, you arrived at a much broader opportunity than the original request. - You tie choices to goals. In the strategic trade-off you picked the option that contributes most to the company's goal and said so immediately. - You size before you commit. You proposed estimating each segment, looking at which needs are already met and which are not, and how to serve each audience better. - You see beyond the product. You took on board that growth can come from marketing as well as product: some audiences already fit what exists and just need to hear about it. - You defend with reasons, not ego. Asked to justify your choice to the CEO, you pointed to the shared goals, stayed open, and suggested revisiting the goals themselves if they no longer fit. - You take feedback well. You responded to questions and remarks quickly and adjusted your thinking. Where to grow next: - Stay in the problem a little longer. At one point you moved into planning the solution, and a few questions brought you back to the problem, the segments and the value. Make that return automatic: problem, who has it, how much it is worth, then solution. - Talk to users before internal estimates. Your instinct on a new request includes the team, cost and finance early. Hearing from users first often changes what is worth estimating at all. - Research what people did, not what they would do. Questions like "would you use this if we had it?" invite polite yeses. Ask about the last time they faced the problem and what it cost them.

- Read "The Mom Test" by Rob Fitzpatrick. A short, practical guide to asking about real past behaviour instead of hypothetical future use. - Read "Continuous Discovery Habits" by Teresa Torres. It shows how to keep regular contact with users and link what you learn to outcomes and solutions, which fits your daily work with internal users well. - Read "Escaping the Build Trap" by Melissa Perri. It is about moving from requested features to outcomes, and helps with stakeholders who arrive with ready-made solutions. - Read "Good Strategy Bad Strategy" by Richard Rumelt. It gives a clear structure for strategy: a diagnosis, a guiding choice, and coherent actions. - Practise interviewing in a safe setting. Ask a colleague to play a user who answers vaguely, and practise bringing the conversation back to one concrete past occasion.