Drawer 02 · 536 notes · 32 people · 2005–2026

Discovery & customer research

Customer interviews, opportunity mapping, validation, and jobs to be done

Q:
Answers from Discovery & customer research notes, cited
SVPG · Marty CaganDec 11, 2014

Shared Learning

Dec 11, 2014

Marty Cagan argues that a common and avoidable form of waste in product teams is when one member, often a user researcher, learns something important about customers but the rest of the team doesn't absorb it. Findings…

SVPG · Marty CaganSep 8, 2009

Product Discovery vs. Product Optimization

Sep 8, 2009 · 4 min

Cagan argues that product teams need two distinct disciplines: Product Discovery, which uses prototyping and user testing to find new valuable, usable, feasible solutions, and Product Optimization, which improves an…

SVPG · Marty CaganMay 31, 2018

Skateboards vs. Cars Revisited

May 31, 2018 · 6 min

Marty Cagan revisits Henrik Kniberg's skateboard-versus-car MVP article and argues it describes what engineering-only teams can do, not what true cross-functional product teams should do. He contends that a skilled…

Product Talk · Teresa TorresNov 21, 2011

What Product Assumptions Are You Making?

Nov 21, 2011 · 6 min

“When a team sets out to develop a product, they generate a series of hypotheses. In my experience, good teams are explicit about these hypotheses and test them before they invest too much time into a particular product plan. However, more often than not, I see that development teams are”

Product Talk · Teresa TorresNov 4, 2011

Turning Big Ideas Into Great Products

Nov 4, 2011 · 3 min

Teresa Torres argues that many startups treat product management as little more than turning feedback into a feature list, and that the discipline remains underdeveloped. She notes that teams know valuable research…

SVPG · Marty CaganOct 24, 2012

Continuous Discovery

Oct 24, 2012 · 3 min

Marty Cagan describes a growing trend where product teams move from batch-style phases to continuous practices in both delivery and discovery. He traces how continuous integration, testing, and deployment have spread…

Product Talk · Teresa TorresAug 3, 2026

Ch. 9: Identifying Hidden Assumptions

Aug 3, 2026 · 5 min

This reading-guide post kicks off a monthly book club around Teresa Torres's Continuous Discovery Habits, focusing on Chapter 9, which covers identifying hidden assumptions. The chapter argues that teams should test the…

SVPG · Marty CaganSep 28, 2018

Product Discovery at Apple

Sep 28, 2018 · 4 min

Marty Cagan reviews Ken Kocienda's memoir Creative Selection, told from the perspective of an engineer who spent about 15 years at Apple and served as tech lead for key efforts, most notably the original iPhone…

SVPG · Marty CaganFeb 13, 2021

Prototype of the Day

Feb 13, 2021 · 3 min

Marty Cagan describes a common remote-work problem in product discovery: teams drift back into passing static artifacts between product manager, designer, and engineers instead of collaborating closely. His proposed fix…