The Anthropologist's Lens on SaaS Product Discovery
Learn How Empathy and Deep User Insights Can Transform Your Approach to SaaS Product Discovery and Innovation.
“The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.” — Marcel Proust
The role of an anthropologist, as described by Tom Kelley in The Ten Faces of Innovation, offers a unique lens that ties closely to the process of product discovery in SaaS. Kelley's depiction of anthropologists in innovation highlights their unique ability to observe, empathize, and uncover deep insights into human behavior, which is remarkably similar to the process of product discovery in the SaaS industry.
What is the Role of an Anthropologist?
Traditionally, anthropologists study human societies, cultures, and their development. They immerse themselves in communities, often living among the people they study to observe their daily lives, rituals, and interactions. This immersive approach allows anthropologists to gather rich, qualitative data and develop a deep understanding of the cultural and social dynamics that shape human behavior. They use methods such as participant observation, ethnographic fieldwork, and in-depth interviews to gather insights that are not easily accessible through quantitative research alone.
In the context of product discovery, especially for Software as a Service (SaaS) products, the anthropologist's approach provides a foundational methodology for understanding customer needs, solving their problems, and building products they love. Product discovery involves continuous iteration and collaboration among cross-functional teams, and it's essential for product success.
The Role of the Anthropologist in Product Discovery
Kelley explains that anthropologists at IDEO practice a Zen-like "beginner's mind," observing with an open and unbiased perspective. They embrace human behavior with all its surprises and draw inferences by listening to their intuition. This process helps them reframe problems in new ways, informed by their insights from the field, and can spark breakthrough solutions.
“Far from being some fluffy esoteric process of questionable value, the Anthropologist role is the single biggest source of innovation at IDEO. Like most of our client companies, we have lots of great problem-solvers. But you have to know what problem to solve. And people filling the Anthropologist role can be extremely good at reframing a problem in a new way informed by their insights from the field so that the right solution can spark a breakthrough.”
— Tom Kelley, IDEO
Applying this to SaaS product discovery, the first phase involves immersing oneself in user feedback, creating journey maps, and conducting user interviews to understand users' problems and needs. This is akin to the anthropologist’s deep observation and empathetic engagement with their subjects.
Continuous Discovery and Empathy
Product discovery should be a continuous process throughout the product development cycle. It requires empathy for customers and a deep understanding of their problems. This continuous discovery involves ongoing customer feedback, allowing teams to validate assumptions, innovate, prioritize features, and reduce risk.
The Opportunity Solution Tree framework, developed by Teresa Torres, is a powerful tool for structuring continuous product discovery. It offers a clear, visual method for mapping out paths from desired outcomes to specific, actionable solutions. This approach ensures that teams stay focused on the problem space and develop solutions that are deeply rooted in actual user needs.
Components of the Opportunity Solution Tree
Desired Outcome: The foundation of the Opportunity Solution Tree is a clear and quantifiable desired outcome. This outcome represents the goal that the team aims to achieve, such as improving user satisfaction, increasing engagement, or boosting conversion rates. The desired outcome serves as the anchor for the entire framework, guiding the exploration of opportunities and solutions.
Opportunities: Opportunities are potential areas where improvements can be made to achieve the desired outcome. These are identified through user research, observations, and feedback. Opportunities represent unmet needs, pain points, or desires of the users. By focusing on opportunities, teams can ensure they address real problems that users face, rather than jumping to solutions prematurely.
Solutions: Once opportunities are identified, the next step is to brainstorm and develop multiple potential solutions for each opportunity. These solutions are then tested and validated through experiments and user feedback. The key here is to explore a wide range of solutions and iteratively refine them based on user insights.
Experiments: Experiments are designed to test the viability of the solutions. This involves creating prototypes, conducting A/B tests, and gathering user feedback. The purpose of these experiments is to validate assumptions and ensure that the solutions effectively address the identified opportunities.
Applying the Anthropologist’s Methodology
An anthropologist’s approach can significantly enhance the use of the Opportunity Solution Tree by bringing deep user insights and empathy into the process. Here’s how:
Grounded Research: Anthropologists start with extensive fieldwork, observing users in their natural environments. This deep immersion helps uncover the real-world context of user behaviors and needs, providing a rich foundation for identifying opportunities.
Empathetic Understanding: By practicing empathy and engaging directly with users, anthropologists gain a nuanced understanding of user experiences. This helps in framing opportunities that are truly reflective of user needs and pain points.
Reframing Problems: Anthropologists are skilled at reframing problems based on their observations. They can look beyond the obvious issues and identify underlying problems that might not be immediately apparent. This leads to more innovative and effective solutions.
Iterative Validation: Just as anthropologists continuously engage with their subjects, product teams should iteratively test and refine their solutions. Continuous user feedback ensures that the solutions remain aligned with user needs and can adapt to evolving contexts.
Practical Applications in SaaS
In practice, the anthropologist’s approach can be seen in various product discovery activities such as creating customer personas, analyzing feedback, and user story mapping. For example, Patrice Martin from IDEO demonstrates how spending time with users in their natural environments can reveal insights that structured interviews might miss. This method allows for a richer, more nuanced understanding of user behavior and needs.
“Anthropologists draw inferences by listening to their intuition. They seek out epiphanies through a sense of ‘Vuja De.’ Everyone knows that feeling of déjà vu—a strong sense that you have seen or experienced something before even if you never really have. Vuja De is the opposite—a sense of seeing something for the first time even if you have actually witnessed it many times before.” — Tom Kelley, IDEO
Similarly, in SaaS product discovery, observing users in their natural environment—whether through usability testing, user interviews, or field observations—can uncover unmet needs and pain points that might not be apparent through traditional research methods. This empathetic approach helps in developing products that truly resonate with users and address their real problems.
Example 1: Enhancing Customer Support with GenAI
A product manager with an anthropologist's mindset embedded in a SaaS company offering customer support software observes that users frequently struggle with finding quick and accurate solutions to their issues. This insight leads to the identification of an opportunity to enhance the support experience. The team brainstorms several solutions, including integrating a GenAI-powered virtual assistant that can provide real-time, context-aware responses to user queries. The anthropologist-minded product manager helps conduct user feedback sessions, showing that the GenAI assistant not only improves response times but also increases user satisfaction by offering personalized support. Experiments validate these findings, leading to the successful implementation of the virtual assistant, reducing the burden on human agents and significantly improving the user experience.
Example 2: Improving Onboarding with GenAI
In a SaaS platform designed for remote collaboration, a product designer with an anthropologist's mindset notes that new users often feel overwhelmed during the onboarding process. This observation highlights an opportunity to streamline onboarding. The team explores solutions such as an interactive GenAI onboarding guide that personalizes the onboarding experience based on user behavior and preferences. Through experiments, the anthropologist-minded designer gathers feedback from new users, revealing that the GenAI guide helps users feel more confident and reduces the time taken to become proficient with the platform. This continuous iteration based on real-world user feedback ensures that the onboarding process remains effective and engaging.
Example 3: Usability Testing for Enhanced Accessibility
During usability testing of a new feature in a health monitoring SaaS app, a UX researcher with an anthropologist's mindset observes that older users find the navigation confusing and the text too small to read. This insight highlights an opportunity to improve the app’s accessibility. The team explores solutions such as implementing larger buttons, voice command options, and customizable text sizes. They conduct experiments to test these changes, significantly enhance the user experience, making the app more usable for a broader audience. The iterative testing ensures that the solutions are well-received and effective in real-world scenarios. By continuously engaging with users and refining the design based on their feedback, the anthropologist-minded UX researcher ensures that the app meets the diverse needs of its users.
Example 4: Optimizing Workflow Management
In a workflow management SaaS platform, a product owner with an anthropologist's mindset observes that users struggle with complex task dependencies and project timelines. This leads to the identification of an opportunity to simplify workflow visualization. The team brainstorms solutions like an intuitive drag-and-drop interface and AI-powered task suggestions that predict and recommend optimal task sequences based on historical data. By conducting user feedback sessions, the anthropologist-minded product owner gathers insights that refine these solutions. Experiments validate that the new interface and AI suggestions help users manage their workflows more efficiently, reducing the time spent on planning and increasing overall productivity.
These examples illustrate how embedding an anthropologist's mindset in the product discovery process can drive meaningful improvements in SaaS products. By deeply understanding user needs and continuously iterating on solutions, teams can create products that are both user-centered and highly effective. Integrating GenAI technologies further enhances these solutions, ensuring they are adaptive and capable of providing personalized experiences.
The Impact of Continuous Discovery
Continuous product discovery ensures that the product development process remains aligned with evolving customer needs and market conditions. It fosters a culture of learning and adaptation, which is crucial for the success of SaaS products. By continuously engaging with customers, teams can refine their products, enhance user experiences, and ultimately drive greater value for both the users and the business.
The anthropologist's lens offers invaluable insights for SaaS product discovery. By adopting a beginner’s mind, embracing human behavior, and engaging in continuous discovery, product teams can uncover deep insights into user needs and create products that truly resonate with their audience. This empathetic and iterative approach not only helps in building successful products but also ensures that they continue to evolve and improve over time, staying relevant in a dynamic market.
Disclaimer: The views and insights presented in this blog are derived from information sourced from various public domains on the internet and the author's research on the topic. They do not reflect any proprietary information associated with the company where the author is currently employed or has been employed in the past. The content is purely informative and intended for educational purposes, with no connection to confidential or sensitive company data.