Product Discovery tools
Ultimate guide, 2024
Product Discovery tools
Ultimate guide, 2024
Generative AI is leading us into a golden age of Product Discovery tooling.
The AI revolution making it easy to generate ever increasing amounts of qualitative data, but it’s also making it easier to make sense of that data.
There have never been more choices available as you build your Product Discovery toolkit.
As a result, finding and evaluating Discovery products can be challenging.
We have tried to capture all of the relevant categories within Product Discovery to build a list of tools for you to evaluate.
Generative AI is leading us into a golden age of Product Discovery tooling.
The AI revolution making it easy to generate ever increasing amounts of qualitative data, but it’s also making it easier to make sense of that data.
There have never been more choices available as you build your Product Discovery toolkit.
As a result, finding and evaluating Discovery products can be challenging.
We have tried to capture all of the relevant categories within Product Discovery to build a list of tools for you to evaluate.
1
1
User research
repositories
User research
repositories
PURPOSE
PURPOSE
Be the single source of truth for all of your customer research.
Be the single source-of-truth for all of your customer research.
CONSIDERATIONS
CONSIDERATIONS
User Research repositories are typically used by mid-market and enterprise companies with established User Research teams. Overkill for product teams that want to do their own customer research.
User Research repositories are typically used by mid-market and enterprise companies with established User Research teams. Overkill for product teams that want to do their own customer research.
FEATURES
FEATURES
Store and organize interviews
Video transcription
Interview tagging, manual
Report generation
Store and organize interviews
Video transcription
Interview tagging, manual
Report generation
ALTERNATIVES
ALTERNATIVES
2
2
AI-notetakers
AI-notetakers
PURPOSE
PURPOSE
AI-notetakers are becoming ubiquitous during customer interactions. Products in this category attend your meetings, generate transcripts and summaries, and perform simple follow-up tasks like writing a follow-up email.
Be the single source-of-truth for all of your customer research.
CONSIDERATIONS
CONSIDERATIONS
Some AI-notetakers have a bot that attends the call, while others are "bot-less". The nice thing about a bot is that you don’t have to worry about consent since it’s obvious that an AI-notetaker is attending the call. Some people worry that the presence of an AI-notetaker will make the other attendees share less information.
Other factors to consider when evaluating an AI-notetaker is the quality of the transcription, the integrations available, and the quality of the summaries generated after the fact.
Some AI-notetakers have a bot that attends the call, while others are "bot-less". The nice thing about a bot is that you don’t have to worry about consent since it’s obvious that an AI-notetaker is attending the call. Some people worry that the presence of an AI-notetaker will make the other attendees share less information.
Other factors to consider when evaluating an AI-notetaker is the quality of the transcription, the integrations available, and the quality of the summaries generated after the fact.
FEATURES
FEATURES
Interview bot attends meeting
Generates transcripts and summaries
Writes follow up emails
Integrates with internal messaging tools to share updates
Interview bot attends meeting
Generates transcripts and summaries
Writes follow up emails
Integrates with internal messaging tools to share updates
OPTIONS
OPTIONS
3
3
Product feedback
aggregators
Product feedback
aggregators
PURPOSE
PURPOSE
Aggregates customer feedback from various sources (ie support emails, Slack, Hubspot, sales call transcripts, user interviews, etc) and identifies common product issues and feature requests.
Be the single source-of-truth for all of your customer research.
CONSIDERATIONS
CONSIDERATIONS
This category of products only becomes useful once you generate too much product feedback to process manually. You’ll need to be generating hundreds of pieces of user feedback per month to justify investing in a solution.
This category of products only becomes useful once you generate too much product feedback to process manually. You’ll need to be generating hundreds of pieces of user feedback per month to justify investing in a solution.
FEATURES
FEATURES
Connect multiple data sources
Reports on common feature requests, product issues
Automatically distribute reports to team (via Slack, etc)
Some products offer sentiment analysis
Connect multiple data sources
Reports on common feature requests, product issues
Automatically distribute reports to team (via Slack, etc)
Some products offer sentiment analysis
OPTIONS
OPTIONS
4
4
Roadmap management
Roadmap
management
PURPOSE
PURPOSE
Ten years ago, roadmaps were primarily managed as backlog items in issue tracking tools. Since then, roadmapping has become a dedicated product category. Nowadays, many product roadmapping tools offer features that support collecting user feedback and can sometimes act as a CRM for product teams.
Be the single source-of-truth for all of your customer research.
CONSIDERATIONS
CONSIDERATIONS
Roadmapping platforms become relevant as a company matures and hires multiple product managers. Therefore, products in this category aren’t relevant for many pre-seed and seed-stage startups. You should ensure that the roadmapping tool you choose integrates with your issue tracking software as well as your CRM.
Roadmapping platforms become relevant as a company matures and hires multiple product managers. Therefore, products in this category aren’t relevant for many pre-seed and seed-stage startups. You should ensure that the roadmapping tool you choose integrates with your issue tracking software as well as your CRM.
FEATURES
Collect, store and organize user feedback from a variety of sources (via manual entry and integrations with support tools, engagement platforms and team chat)
Write and organize Product Requirement Documents (PRDs)
Track OKRs (objectives and key results)
Prioritize roadmap
Build reports to communicate your roadmap
Notify customers of features that they have requested
Integrations with issue tracking tools
Collect, store and organize user feedback from a variety of sources (via manual entry and integrations with support tools, engagement platforms and team chat)
Write and organize Product Requirement Documents (PRDs)
Track OKRs (objectives and key results)
Prioritize roadmap
Build reports to communicate your roadmap
Notify customers of features that they have requested
Integrations with issue tracking tools
OPTIONS
OPTIONS
5
5
AI-Moderated interviews
AI-moderated
interviews
PURPOSE
PURPOSE
A new category of products is emerging that uses AI to lead user interviews on your behalf. Many of these products rely on a chat interface to perform the interview. These tools are largely considered experimental, and we haven’t seen a product that can replicate the same level of quality that a trained researcher or PM can generate. However, it’s only a matter of time before these products mature.
Be the single source-of-truth for all of your customer research.
CONSIDERATIONS
CONSIDERATIONS
The main question to consider is if products in this category can generate the quality level you need to make significant product decisions. It’s also important to ensure the AI can stay on a particular subject and avoid hallucinations. This product category is still experimental and well-suited for companies with teams who have the bandwidth to test and evaluate innovative products.
The main question to consider is if products in this category can generate the quality level you need to make significant product decisions. It’s also important to ensure the AI can stay on a particular subject and avoid hallucinations. This product category is still experimental and well-suited for companies with teams who have the bandwidth to test and evaluate innovative products.
FEATURES
FEATURES
Create an interview guide
Usually integrates with panel companies (ex: userinterviews.com)
Analyze interview results
Generate reports on insights
Create an interview guide
Usually integrates with panel companies (ex: userinterviews.com)
Analyze interview results
Generate reports on insights
OPTIONS
OPTIONS
6
6
Interview analysis tools
Interview analysis
tools
PURPOSE
PURPOSE
This category of tools seeks to support and augment the existing customer research interview workflow. These tools typically extract insights from user research interviews and look for patterns between multiple interviews. Tools in this category are well-suited for product teams have limited or no dedicated User Research support.
Be the single source-of-truth for all of your customer research.
CONSIDERATIONS
CONSIDERATIONS
Certain tools in this category lean more towards summarizing interviews while others attempt to perform a deeper level of analysis. Tools in this category are susceptible to hallucination, so look for tools that attribute insights back to a direct customer quote.
Certain tools in this category lean more towards summarizing interviews while others attempt to perform a deeper level of analysis. Tools in this category are susceptible to hallucination, so look for tools that attribute insights back to a direct customer quote.
FEATURES
FEATURES
Extract insights from customer interviews
Identify themes across as et of customer interviews
Some products integrate with meeting software like Zoom, Meet etc.
Extract insights from customer interviews
Identify themes across as et of customer interviews
Some products integrate with meeting software like Zoom, Meet etc.
OPTIONS
OPTIONS
7
7
User testing and interviews
User testing and
interviews
PURPOSE
PURPOSE
User research platforms streamline the collection and analysis of user feedback for product teams. These tools enable direct engagement with target audiences through usability tests, interviews, and surveys, allowing for quick identification of user needs and behavior. This approach not only accelerates the product development process but also ensures decisions are based on real user insights, leading to more user-centric solutions.
Be the single source-of-truth for all of your customer research.
CONSIDERATIONS
CONSIDERATIONS
User Research platforms are a mature market that is in the midst of significant change. Incumbents like userinterview.com and usertesting.com are favored by mature product organizations, and tend to focus on traditional research workflows, facilitated by PMs and UXRs. Smaller product teams and newer companies may skip over this generation of product entirely in favor of AI-moderated user research.
User Research platforms are a mature market that is in the midst of significant change. Incumbents like userinterview.com and usertesting.com are favored by mature product organizations, and tend to focus on traditional research workflows, facilitated by PMs and UXRs. Smaller product teams and newer companies may skip over this generation of product entirely in favor of AI-moderated user research.
FEATURES
FEATURES
Recruiting tools to build panels of user interview subjects
Design and build different kinds of user tests, including live
interviews, usability tests, surveys and moreGenerate reports, transcripts, insights and highlight reels
Recruiting tools to build panels of user interview subjects
Design and build different kinds of user tests, including live
interviews, usability tests, surveys and moreGenerate reports, transcripts, insights and highlight reels
MARKET LEADER
MARKET LEADER
OPTIONS
OPTIONS
8
8
In-product surveys
In-product surveys
PURPOSE
PURPOSE
In-product surveys are integrated into software products and designed to gather specific feedback from users about their experience. These surveys can appear at strategic points within the user's journey, such as after completing a task, during initial setup, or at the time of closing the product. They benefit from high response rates and generate hyper-specific usability insights because because of the integrated nature of the experience.
Be the single source-of-truth for all of your customer research.
CONSIDERATIONS
CONSIDERATIONS
How difficult is it to integrate the tool with our own product?
Customization and flexibility – both in terms of appearance and functionality. This also encompasses the rules engine and the ability to segment users.
Data analysis and reporting capabilities:
Are we able to generate insights and answer the questions quickly?
Does the product integrate with other tools that our team uses?
How difficult is it to integrate the tool with our own product?
Customization and flexibility – both in terms of appearance and functionality. This also encompasses the rules engine and the ability to segment users.
Data analysis and reporting capabilities:
Are we able to generate insights and answer the questions quickly?
Does the product integrate with other tools that our team uses?
FEATURES
FEATURES
Authoring tools: build multiple types of questions (multiple choice, free text, rating scales, etc)
Rules engine: triggers surveys based on conditional logic or user actions
Visual customization to ensure the surveys match the look and feel of the host product
Analytics and reporting to derive insights from the survey responses
Some new products in the category integrate AI into the authoring tool and analysis features
Authoring tools: build multiple types of questions (multiple choice, free text, rating scales, etc)
Rules engine: triggers surveys based on conditional logic or user actions
Visual customization to ensure the surveys match the look and feel of the host product
Analytics and reporting to derive insights from the survey responses
Some new products in the category integrate AI into the authoring tool and analysis features
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Copyright 2024 FForward. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2024 FForward. All rights reserved.