Why There’s No Single “Right” Way to Do Discovery: Part 1

Teresa Torres and Hope Gurion, both discovery coaches, argue that there is no single correct way to do product discovery, because every company, team, and customer base differs. Instead of prescribing one method, they focus on underlying principles that teams should move toward and then co-create methods that fit their context. This first webinar in a series covers three principles: building a collaborative decision-making model with a product trio, externalizing thinking through visual artifacts, and focusing on product outcomes rather than outputs. The guidance matters because it helps teams avoid rigid, one-size-fits-all discovery playbooks while still building shared understanding and better decisions.

01Key takeaways

• Focus on the underlying principles of good discovery rather than searching for one canonical method.
• Keep decision-making teams small but ensure product, design, and engineering perspectives are represented.
• Make decisions from the same data set, and define decision criteria clearly so teams can align.
• Externalize your thinking with whiteboards, journey maps, or opportunity solution trees to surface hidden differences in understanding.
• Assign teams product outcomes they can influence, then translate business outcomes into human behavior changes the product can drive.
• When seeking buy-in for discovery, frame it as de-risking investment and bring new customer evidence that leaders lack.

02Key sections

Why there is no single right way

Teams often seek a definitive discovery framework after past product failures, but the coaches say each team should own and iterate on its own practices. Principles matter more than any specific method.

Principle 1: The product trio

Decisions should be made collaboratively by a product manager, design lead, and tech lead, each covering viability, usability, and feasibility. Decision-making should be kept small, distinguishing decision-makers from contributors.

Principle 2: Externalizing your thinking

Visualizing ideas through maps, trees, prototypes, and whiteboards reduces information asymmetry and frees working memory. Shared, tangible artifacts make alignment easier than debate alone.

Principle 3: Focusing on outcomes

Distinguish business outcomes, product outcomes, and traction metrics, and assign teams product outcomes they can influence. This preserves room for discovery while avoiding output-driven roadmaps.

Handling organizational constraints

Q&A addresses teams without dedicated designers, consensus versus majority decisions, and convincing executives. Advice centers on timeboxing, shared data, instrumenting products, and framing discovery as de-risking investment.

03From the post

“A few months ago, fellow Product Talk coach Hope Gurion and I sat down to discuss why there’s no single right way to do discovery. In this first conversation in the series, we discussed three guiding principles of continuous discovery: building a collaborative decision-making model with the product”

04Frameworks mentioned

Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.