Within the entire product design, development and iteration process, developing a new product is quite distinct from refining the existing features of a product.
The process of product development and management (as the above example signifies) is not a simple one. It involves many steps and stages that are involved in creating and managing a product.
But there is always one constant in the product development lifecycle, user needs keep changing and evolving. It is your job as a product manager to ensure that you are always abreast of the changing user needs and expectations across different stages of the product development lifecycle. Hence, there is a need to consistently perform user research at different stages.
What 0 to 1 and 1 to n means
0 to 1 is when you radically build something new from the ground up and take it to the first version, and 1 to n is when you keep incrementally improving up on that first version.
There are many steps involved in the product development process. These steps are broadly categorised into two stages:
- The 0→1 stage involves building a new product and coming up with the first version.
- The 1→n stage denotes incremental changes — addition or removal of features — in an existing product.
| 0→1 Stage | 1→n Stage |
|---|---|
| - The 0→1 stage means building a new product from the ground up and coming up with radical new ideas to create the first version | - The 1→n stage means iterating upon an existing product — adding or removing features and making incremental changes |
| - In the 0→1 stage, user research is done for validation of your product idea and getting feedback on the ideas. | - In the 1→n stage, the objective of user research is to get feedback on the features of a product. |
Book recommendation: Zero to One - This book written by prominent investor and entrepreneur Peter Thiel explores how organisations develop across the 0-1 stage and the 1-n stage, what challenges are involved and what can be done to overcome these challenges. It is a wonderful guide for the budding entrepreneur in you.
Now that you have differentiated between market research and user research, let’s re-focus on user research. In the next segment, you will learn about the first two steps in conducting effective user research: defining your hypotheses and objectives.