The final step in the research process is about prioritizing jobs and developing a product roadmap.

—

Product Roadmaps

Now that you’ve understood the desired outcomes from your customer’s perspectives, you must decide on which of these your product/service will serve. The premise behind this thought is that “not all jobs are created equal”.

The desired outcome of this stage is to prioritize the outcomes using your own set of prioritization criteria. You’ll decide that some outcomes will be addressed immediately, and some in the long-term. You might even find that some will not be addressed at all. By developing your roadmap, you’re able to focus in on a specific part of your customer’s problem that you believe you can successfully and profitably serve.

A few frameworks I recommend include:

1. Weighted Decision Matrix
2. Kano Model
3. Outcome-Driven Innovation

Weighted Decision Matrix

A weighted decision matrix is a simple framework where you score your alternatives against a success criteria; such as cost, performance, durability; and pick the alternative that best satisfies the chosen criteria.

Kano Model

The kano model, developed by Professor Noriaki Kano, helps you evaluate the Investment Required to Deliver an Outcome (x-axis) against the Impact on your Customer’s Satisfaction (y-axis).  Outcomes are categorized into:

• Linear Satisfiers. The more they are met, the happier/unhappier the customer is.
• Delighters. Unexpected needs that yield exponential returns on customer satisfaction
• Basic Expectations. Risk of high dissatisfaction if unmet.

Outcome-Driven Innovation (ODI)

The ODI framework helps identify the biggest opportunity by you evaluate the degree to which your outcomes satisfy an important & under-served need. The scoring equation is the following:

Opportunity = Importance + (Importance-Satisfaction)

For more on the topic!

• Ultimate Guide to Product Prioritization
• Lean Product Management

—

I hope the frameworks I’ve shared guide you along the task of prioritizing customer outcomes and laying them our along a Product Roadmap. In the next post, I’ll recap and put all of these concepts together!