What are some ways to show that you are a problem solver in Product Development?
Problem solving is a crucial skill for product development, as it involves identifying, analyzing, and resolving issues that arise during the design, development, and launch of a product. Whether you are a product manager, a product designer, or a product engineer, you need to demonstrate that you can solve problems effectively and creatively to deliver value to your customers and stakeholders. In this article, we will share some ways to show that you are a problem solver in product development.
One way to show that you are a problem solver is to use a framework to guide your process and communicate your approach. A framework is a set of steps, tools, or principles that help you structure your thinking and break down complex problems into manageable parts. For example, you can use the Design Thinking framework to empathize with your users, define their needs, ideate solutions, prototype and test them, and implement them. Or you can use the Lean Startup framework to validate your assumptions, build a minimum viable product (MVP), measure its performance, and learn from feedback. Using a framework can help you avoid jumping to conclusions, focus on the most important aspects, and justify your decisions.
Another way to show that you are a problem solver is to apply critical thinking to your product development challenges. Critical thinking is the ability to analyze information, question assumptions, evaluate evidence, and draw logical conclusions. It helps you avoid biases, fallacies, and errors that can affect your product quality and user satisfaction. For example, you can apply critical thinking to define your problem statement clearly, identify the root causes and effects, generate multiple hypotheses, test them with data and experiments, and refine your solution based on the results. Applying critical thinking can help you solve problems more rationally, objectively, and efficiently.
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Rai Chowdhary
Investor | Business Executive | Change Agent | Performance Improvement
While being a problem solver is good - it is better to be a problem preventer! All problems cannot be foreseen, but being unprepared for the foreseeable or known problems is unacceptable. Product development challenges can come in almost endless shapes and forms. Product performance; Market fit, and yet others related to domain and competition. Below is a general schema that has worked. i) Research, make a list of problems - known and foreseeable ii) Score these for likely hood of occurrence, severity if they occur, detectability, when and where problem will become evident. iv) Create a composite score by multiplying the above v) Prioritize preventive measures based on the composite score.
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Laura Hathway
Fertiliser Formulation Expert and Mentor in #Agriculture #GlobalOperations 🌾 Know the science behind your fertiliser 👩🏼🔬 On a mission to innovate the future of sustainable farming.
Demonstrate the ability to analyse information critically. Question assumptions, evaluate evidence, and draw logical conclusions to enhance product quality and user satisfaction.
A third way to show that you are a problem solver is to collaborate with others who have different perspectives, skills, and experiences. Product development is a team effort, and you need to work well with your colleagues, customers, and partners to solve problems effectively. For example, you can collaborate with others to brainstorm ideas, get feedback, share insights, leverage expertise, and resolve conflicts. Collaborating with others can help you solve problems more creatively, inclusively, and holistically.
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Laura Hathway
Fertiliser Formulation Expert and Mentor in #Agriculture #GlobalOperations 🌾 Know the science behind your fertiliser 👩🏼🔬 On a mission to innovate the future of sustainable farming.
Emphasise the importance of collaboration with colleagues, customers, and external stakeholders. Utilise diverse perspectives, skills, and experiences to creatively and inclusively solve problems.
A fourth way to show that you are a problem solver is to learn from failures and use them as opportunities to improve your product and process. Product development is an iterative and uncertain process, and you will inevitably encounter failures along the way. For example, you may face technical glitches, user complaints, market changes, or budget cuts. Instead of giving up or blaming others, you should learn from failures and use them as inputs to solve problems better. For example, you can learn from failures by conducting root cause analysis, documenting lessons learned, implementing corrective actions, and sharing best practices. Learning from failures can help you solve problems more resiliently, adaptively, and proactively.
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Laura Hathway
Fertiliser Formulation Expert and Mentor in #Agriculture #GlobalOperations 🌾 Know the science behind your fertiliser 👩🏼🔬 On a mission to innovate the future of sustainable farming.
Embrace failures as opportunities for improvement. Conduct root cause analysis, document lessons learned, and implement corrective actions to enhance resilience, adaptability, and proactive problem-solving. Review current systems and ways of working and brainstorm improvements that can be made, look for the small wins to increase a small % and then be strategic for the larger goals.
A fifth way to show that you are a problem solver is to show results that demonstrate the impact and value of your problem-solving efforts. Results are the tangible and measurable outcomes that show how well you solved a problem and met your product goals. For example, you can show results by using metrics, indicators, or feedback that reflect your product performance, user satisfaction, or business growth. Showing results can help you solve problems more effectively, convincingly, and confidently.
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Laura Hathway
Fertiliser Formulation Expert and Mentor in #Agriculture #GlobalOperations 🌾 Know the science behind your fertiliser 👩🏼🔬 On a mission to innovate the future of sustainable farming.
Highlight tangible and measurable outcomes that reflect the impact and value of your problem-solving efforts. Utilise metrics, indicators, and feedback to showcase effective and confident problem resolution.
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Miles Rand
VP of Product | Investor (Real Estate, Startups)
‘Bias to action.’ And ‘Bias to asking why.’ Demonstrating these two things sends a clear message that you can look at context, explore, and then ACT (execute) on it.
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Laura Hathway
Fertiliser Formulation Expert and Mentor in #Agriculture #GlobalOperations 🌾 Know the science behind your fertiliser 👩🏼🔬 On a mission to innovate the future of sustainable farming.
By incorporating these strategies, you position yourself as a dynamic problem solver, capable of addressing challenges with strategic thinking and collaborative solutions.
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