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Continuous Discovery

What is continuous discovery?

Continuous discovery is the practice of regularly learning from users (and data) so product decisions are informed by evidence, not assumptions. Instead of a single “discovery phase” at the start, you build an ongoing habit: weekly or bi-weekly contact with users, shared learning, and tight loops between discovery and decisions.

Use it when: you want to reduce the risk of building the wrong thing and keep the team aligned with real user needs as they change. It’s especially valuable when you’re iterating on a live product.

Copy/paste checklist (weekly habit)

  • [ ] Cadence: At least one “touch” with users per week (interview, test, or behavioural review).
  • [ ] Who: Product, design, and (where possible) engineering involved in discovery, not only research.
  • [ ] Output: Insights and decisions captured and shared (e.g. opportunity solution tree, insight repo, or short summaries).
  • [ ] Tied to decisions: Every discovery activity links to a product or design decision (what we’re building, prioritising, or deprioritising).

Why continuous discovery matters

  • Reduces building the wrong thing by testing assumptions and observing behaviour regularly.
  • Keeps the team aligned on who users are and what they need as the market and product evolve.
  • Makes “we should talk to users” a default, not a one-off project.
  • Informs roadmaps and prioritisation with evidence.

What good continuous discovery includes

Checklist

  • [ ] Regular cadence – e.g. weekly interviews or tests; don’t let months pass with no user contact.
  • [ ] Shared ownership – product and design (and often engineering) participate, not only researchers.
  • [ ] Outcome-focused – discovery is tied to outcomes (e.g. activation, retention), not just “interesting findings”.
  • [ ] Documented – insights and decisions are recorded and findable so the organisation learns over time.
  • [ ] Safe to say “we were wrong” – discovery that changes direction is valued, not punished.

Common formats

  • Weekly user interviews: 5–6 interviews per week (Teresa Torres-style) with people who match your target users. Focus on their context, problems, and behaviour.
  • Opportunity solution tree: Map from outcome → opportunities → solutions; use discovery to test and prune. Keeps discovery tied to outcomes.
  • Assumption testing: List assumptions behind a feature or bet; design small experiments (interviews, tests, data) to validate or invalidate.

Examples

Example (the realistic one)

The product team commits to “5 user interviews per week.” They recruit from a panel and from in-product prompts. Each week they pick one or two product questions (e.g. “Why do people drop off at step 2?” or “Would they use a mobile app?”). They run interviews, capture themes, and update an opportunity solution tree. In the weekly product sync, they review what they learned and adjust the roadmap or backlog accordingly. Discovery is in the calendar, not ad hoc.

Common pitfalls

  • No cadence: discovery only when someone remembers. → Do this instead: put recurring time in the calendar (e.g. “discovery Thursday”); protect it.
  • Research in a silo: only researchers talk to users; product and design don’t. → Do this instead: rotate who runs or observes sessions so the deciders hear users directly.
  • No link to decisions: lots of notes, no impact on what you build. → Do this instead: every round of discovery should inform at least one decision (build, don’t build, prioritise, deprioritise).
  • Only happy users: you only talk to engaged or satisfied users. → Do this instead: include churned, at-risk, or never-converted users to understand failure modes.
  • Continuous discovery vs user research: user research is the discipline and methods; continuous discovery is the habit of doing it regularly and tying it to decisions.
  • Continuous discovery vs experimentation: experimentation (e.g. A/B testing) tests solutions; discovery often focuses on problems and opportunities. Use both: discovery to form hypotheses, experimentation to test them at scale.
  • Continuous discovery vs design thinking: design thinking is a process; continuous discovery is an ongoing practice that can feed into it (e.g. Empathise and Test).

Next step

Commit to one recurring slot (e.g. “5 interviews per week” or “1 test per sprint”) and link the next round to one product decision. If you’re new to methods, start with User research and Usability testing.

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