At the Core of a Product is User Problems, Not Features
Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How.
My version: Who, Why, Where, When, What, then How.
Who is our target audience?
Why are they coming to our product?
Where are they accessing our product?
When are they accessing our product?
What do they need from our product to achieve their goal?
How does our product achieve this goal?
I’ve been revisiting these questions recently as I build Let’s Solve Problems Together. Through answering these questions, I created my three service offerings.
Who is the target audience?
Any company needing help with data and/or marketing systems.
Why are they coming to Let’s Solve Problems Together?
Large enterprise is looking for outside help to align teams and departments. I tongue-in-cheek call this the corporate therapy offering.
Medium enterprise in growth mode looking for help scaling their systems and operations.
Small businesses or startups looking for help setting their foundation of systems and operations.
Where are they accessing Let’s Solve Problems Together?
Remote
Hybrid
In-office (not a good fit for my business right now, but I’d be open to it for the right project)
When are they accessing Let’s Solve Problems Together?
Ideally limited to regular business hours, but I will respond after-hours and weekends as needed.
What do they need from Let’s Solve Problems Together to achieve their goal?
Systems and operations recommendation and execution plan
Systems and operations launched
Systems and operations scaled
How does our product achieve this goal?
Defined-Scope Projects: a fixed problem to solve with pre-defined project deliverables and timeline.
Interim Program Leadership: cross-functional program management with pre-defined schedule expectations, project deliverables, and timeline.
Fractional Executive: ongoing engagements with pre-defined schedule expectations, goals, and company mission.
The How is the least important part in building Let’s Solve Problems Together. There are many ways to solve these problems, so each contract will be bespoke to the client and goal. In many ways, that’s a much easier product set to build than a digital product built for large consumer audiences. Here is the Who, Why, Where, When, What, then How I’ve been working through for the Pantry app.
Who is Pantry’s target audience?
People who meal plan weekly and invest in logging their meals.
Why are they coming to our product?
They are looking for a better way to experiment with a variety of recipes while using their ingredients before they expire.
Where are they accessing our product?
Grocery store
Farmers market
Kitchen
Couch
When are they accessing our product?
Food shopping
Cooking
Eating
Meal planning
What do they need from our product to achieve their goal?
A weekly meal plan that meets their dietary needs
A weekly meal plan that uses ingredients or pre-cooked foods (aka leftovers) before they expire
A weekly meal plan that provides variety of recipes
How does our product achieve this goal?
Give user ability to add all their available ingredients, with amounts and use-by dates
Give user ability to add recipes
Give user ability to set dietary preferences
Generate a weekly meal plan based on the user inputs
Generate a grocery list with only the ingredients not already in the pantry
Reduce ingredient amounts when user logs a meal cooked
With the core product built, I’ve started digging into the needs of audience segments, for example:
Who is the target audience?
First time users of Pantry
Why are they coming to our product?
They need to learn about what is Pantry
They need to learn how to get setup and started
They need to learn how to use Pantry ongoing to achieve their goal of reducing food waste while exploring recipes
Where are they accessing our product?
Anywhere
When are they accessing our product?
At time of product discovery
What do they need from our product to achieve their goal?
Marketing pages to explain what is Pantry
First time user tutorials on how to get setup and started
Early tenure user tutorials on how to use Pantry ongoing
How does our product achieve this goal?
I’m still working on that…
Who, Why, Where, When, What, then How. Answer the 5 W’s before you start problem solving, otherwise you might not solve the right problem.