I spent my first year as a PM doing usability tests & A/B tests for...

I spent my first year as a PM doing usability tests & A/B tests for EVERYTHING because that's what was easiest and the company knew how to do.

Total waste of time.

Until I learned: Different contexts need different discovery methods.

After helping dozens of PMs with this, here's what actually works:

1/ First, drop the idea that there's a "right" way to do discovery.

Veterans know: The best method is the one that:
• Gets you actionable insights
• Works within your constraints
• Influences decisions

Everything else is just dogma.

2/ The Context Matrix:

3/ Common trap: "But I don't have access to customers!"

Reality check: You always have data sources:
• Support tickets
• Sales calls
• Usage metrics
• Internal experts
• Similar products

The key is combining multiple sources to triangulate insights.

4/ For product leaders: If your PM says "we need customer interviews," ask:
- What decision needs making?
- What evidence could change it?
- How can we get that evidence quickly?

Outcomes over methods 🤝

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5/ The speed vs. confidence trade-off:

Fastest → Riskiest
• Competitor analysis
• Internal interviews
• Analytics review
• Customer interviews
• Extended observation

Pick based on:
• Decision importance
• Risk tolerance
• Time constraints

6/ "But stakeholders won't trust [discovery method]!"

Veteran move: Frame discovery around their incentives:

Sales → "Help us close more deals"
Eng → "Reduce rework"
Execs → "De-risk investment"

I've collected proven discovery techniques in prodmgmt.world so you don’t have to worry 😎

7/ Common objection: "We don't have time for proper discovery"

Truth: You're doing discovery whether you plan it or not.

The choice is between:
• Cheap lessons now
• Expensive lessons later

8/ For product leaders: Create space for discovery by:

• Blocking "discovery time"
• Coching through discovery framing
• Celebrating when discovery prevents waste

Show the team it's valued.

9/ The 80/20 rule of product discovery:

You need:
• Clear decision to inform
• 2-3 data sources
• Way to validate findings
• Plan to share insights

You don't need:
• Perfect methodology
• Huge sample size
• Statistical significance
• Consensus from everyone

10/ Remember: The goal isn't perfect information.

It's having enough confidence to make better decisions than your competitors.

Start small, learn fast, adjust as needed.

Would love to hear what discovery methods work best in your context 🎯