One of the most common questions that arises in conversations with friends working in medical device companies is, “How can I find the time to conduct thorough product discovery and still deliver the product on time?”
This question reflects the growing urgency in the medical device industry, where regulatory compliance demands more time and resources, pushing organizations to find ways to accelerate time to market. As a result, the temptation to cut corners, such as rushing product discovery, is very common.
However, there’s a paradox at play here: prioritizing building the product “right” (i.e., adhering to regulations) often overshadows the equally crucial need to build the “right” product (i.e., one that meets customer needs).
Before diving into the importance of product discovery, let’s examine two stories that highlight the risks of neglecting this critical process.
The Story of Quibi and CNN+
Quibi was launched in April 2020 and shuttered by October of the same year—just six months after its debut. The app offered a mobile-optimized streaming service, aiming to compete with industry giants like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney Plus. Despite raising $2 billion prior to its launch, Quibi failed. Why?
According to a The Verge article, the main issue was “a lack of insight into consumer behaviour, wants, and needs.” The author pointed out that “its entire thesis was wrong,” and “Quibi didn’t work because no one at Quibi knew what it should be, what people wanted, or how people used their phones.”
While the user experience of the app was decent, the core problem was that Quibi’s concept didn’t address any real customer pain points. The executives failed to recognize that people had already been consuming short-form content on their phones for free for years, and Quibi offered no compelling reason for them to pay for a similar service.
CNN+ suffered a similar fate. Launched on March 29, 2022, and shut down by April 28, 2022, CNN+ lasted only about a month. Described by the management as “the evolution of video news” and a new era for CNN, it failed to resonate with consumers despite substantial investment and strategic guidance from McKinsey.
The core issue was that CNN+ didn’t solve a clear customer problem. By 2022, consumers were already showing a preference for comprehensive streaming services rather than subscribing to multiple niche services. Like Quibi, CNN+ was launched without sufficient product discovery to validate its concept and market fit.
These two high-profile failures underscore the risks of bypassing essential product management principles, such as product discovery.
What is Product Discovery?
Product discovery is the process of thoroughly investigating and understanding customer problems before developing a product. It’s not just a phase in product development. It’s a mindset that ensures you’re building products that solve real, meaningful problems for your customers.
The goals of product discovery include:
- Defining your target audience
- Understanding the context in which your product will be used
- Identifying unmet needs, pain points, and Jobs To Be Done
- Assessing how significant the problem is and whether it’s worth solving
- Mapping the complete customer journey and identifying barriers to adoption
- Validating your solutions before and during the development process
Why is Product Discovery Important?
Product discovery enables teams to develop a deep understanding of their customers, uncovering their main pain points and, consequently, the best solutions. It is a crucial component of successful product development.
By interviewing and observing users and allowing them to guide the development process, your product strategy will deliver more value to the customer and ultimately have a higher chance of success.
The Benefits of Product Discovery
Despite the widely accepted importance of product discovery, the pressure to accelerate development often leads to compromises. However, skipping or rushing this process can have significant downsides. Here are some key benefits of thorough product discovery:
Better Product-Market Fit
Product discovery helps you create solutions that genuinely address customer needs. As the stories of Quibi and CNN+ illustrate, even substantial investments can’t save a product that doesn’t solve a real problem.
Saving Time
While skipping product discovery might seem like a time-saver initially, it often leads to costly rework later in the development process. Product discovery validates your ideas early, ensuring you invest your time and money wisely and ultimately shortening your development cycle.
Increased Product Value
For new products, product discovery provides opportunities to increase value by exploring the product from multiple perspectives. Incorporating user feedback and analyzing competitors allow you to refine your offering to better meet customer expectations and outperform alternatives.
Fostering Innovation
Starting with a clear understanding of customer needs encourages user-driven innovation. Product discovery aligns your team around these needs and challenges assumptions, leading to more innovative solutions that resonate with users.
Final Thoughts
In the medical device industry, thorough product discovery is critical for understanding the market, saving costs, increasing product value, hitting development timelines, and most importantly, avoiding costly product failures. As the examples above show, skipping product discovery can increase the risk of significant failure, even when large investments are made.
Have you ever felt pressured to rush through product discovery? Share your experiences in the comments below! If you’re interested in more discussions on this topic, feel free to subscribe and connect with me on LinkedIn.