Co-create your Product RoadMap through User Group Meetings!

What is it, do you think, that makes you product stand out? One of the best ways to find that out is by simply asking your customers. And that’s what we did.

Mid-September 2015, we went to Harvard Medical School to sit down with a group of experienced users of our product DISQOVER. The goal: find out what they like about DISQOVER and what they believe is needed next. In short: we asked a group of 9 experienced and very active users of DISQOVER - mainly researchers and data scientists - to co-create our product roadmap.

Here’s how we approached our user group meeting:

• Firstly, we set the scene: we explained the users where we are today, what the latest features of our product are and what’s next in the pipeline.
• Then, we asked each participant to write down on a post-it her/his top 4 functionalities and top 4 databases that (s)he would like to see in DISQOVER.
• Next, everyone posted her/his ideas on a wall. We clustered like-minded ideas and concepts to examine further what could be put into development.
• To finish of the meeting, we asked the attendees 1) whether the session was valuable to them and 2) whether they would recommend DISQOVER to other potential users.

“With the addition of cell lines, antibodies etc. I would also be inclined to recommend to researchers in R&D” Corporate Strategy Expert

“Yes, other R&D institutes and large organizations can use this, like MIT labs, Harvard etc.” MD

This feedback has now been added to our product roadmap. We’re still reviewing some timelines, but overall priorities have been set:

Tips for user group meetings

User group meetings are a great tool to generate business insights. Here are some general insights we took away from this session:

• Chose experienced users: bring together a group of diverse but very experienced users. That way, you quickly get pinpointed requests. It’s better to avoid very generic requests that could be interpreted in various ways.
• Create the right setting and clearly guide people. Tell participants exactly what it is you expect from them, and in what format. Stay focused and don’t stray from your objective.
• Provide feedback back: facilitate interaction, join in the discussion and afterwards, send the resulting feedback to the users. That’s very important. Give them an overview of the ideas that were covered and what your next step will be. Even if it is not explicitly decided yet, underline that as well. People can handle a postponed decision as long the reason behind it is clearly explained.
• Take the actions on board: user group feedback is not arbitrary; you have to be willing to take at least some of it on board. If not, you might as well not hold user group meetings.
• Don’t jump in blindly: make sure you already have a good understanding of the concerns of your users. If you’re completely surprised by some of the suggestions, than you haven’t been in touch with your users well enough. The outcome should not be a complete overhaul of your product, but rather incremental updates.

What’s next?

This first user group meeting delivered great insights that help us build our product roadmap. But at the same time, it’s also reassuring that the exercise did not uncover any major discrepancies between us and our customers. This tells us that we’re on the same frequency and level as our users.

We are now actively using this to build our product roadmap. After all, when people take the time to provide you with feedback, it’s only right to thank them by taking their comments on board. We’re also reviewing whether we can hold more regular user group meetings using a webinar-like format. That way, we can have an even broader and more diverse user group. Look out for future sessions on this blog and our website.

Was it Henry Ford who said…

And yes, I know, if Henry Ford had asked his potential customers what product development they wanted, they probably would have said ‘faster horses’. But, jokes aside, I believe that with DISQOVER, we’re already passed that stage. We are changing the way search is happening and that is already quite disruptive. What we need now, is not the next new big disruption. No, we now need to develop our product further to meet the key requirements of our key target groups even better. And that’s done through little steps, not big leaps.