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Continuous Discovery Habits: Discover Products that Create Customer Value and Business Value
"If you haven't had the good fortune to be coached by a strong leader or product coach, this book can help fill that gap and set you on the path to success."
- Marty Cagan
How do you know that you are making a product or service that your customers want? How do you ensure that you are improving it over time? How do you guarantee that your team is creating value for your customers in a way that creates value for your business?
In this book, you'll learn a structured and sustainable approach to continuous discovery that will help you answer each of these questions, giving you the confidence to act while also preparing you to be wrong. You'll learn to balance action with doubt so that you can get started without being blindsided by what you don't get right.
If you want to discover products that customers love-that also deliver business results-this book is for you.
- Marty Cagan
How do you know that you are making a product or service that your customers want? How do you ensure that you are improving it over time? How do you guarantee that your team is creating value for your customers in a way that creates value for your business?
In this book, you'll learn a structured and sustainable approach to continuous discovery that will help you answer each of these questions, giving you the confidence to act while also preparing you to be wrong. You'll learn to balance action with doubt so that you can get started without being blindsided by what you don't get right.
If you want to discover products that customers love-that also deliver business results-this book is for you.
237 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 302 reviews
October 31, 2021
There are many books about discovery techniques as "Sprint", "Testing Business Ideas", "The Lean Product Playbook", "The Mom Test", etc. But there is any which covers the discovery approach as a whole from an organizational, strategic perspective. "Continuous Discovery Habits" fills this gap. Teresa Torres teaches how to THINK about discovery and ACT on a daily basis.
The book is very practical. The author introduces into discovery framework and gives a lot of advice which is based on scientific research, real cases, and tons of experience. Every piece of advice is easy to understand and implement. I liked the language - the author avoids abstract words and complicated sentences. The goal is clear - to teach how to do discovery in the simplest way it's possible.
The book also motivates a lot. In the last chapter Teresa Torres writes that she had the same challenges as every product manager and tells a secret how she overcame those obstacles. After the read, you really believe you can start doing discovery no matter what! I really feel that Teresa is a good person and she really wants to help product managers build better products and therefore change the world to a better place.
To be honest, I expected more content (there are 200+ pages with large print) but Teresa is very specific and writes in a Marty Cagan style a bit ;) She's not screwing around on a reader! Many times I felt that one page taught me more than fifty pages of another book.
"Continuous Discovery Habits" is a must-read for Product Managers. I think it's the best product book I've ever read.
The book is very practical. The author introduces into discovery framework and gives a lot of advice which is based on scientific research, real cases, and tons of experience. Every piece of advice is easy to understand and implement. I liked the language - the author avoids abstract words and complicated sentences. The goal is clear - to teach how to do discovery in the simplest way it's possible.
The book also motivates a lot. In the last chapter Teresa Torres writes that she had the same challenges as every product manager and tells a secret how she overcame those obstacles. After the read, you really believe you can start doing discovery no matter what! I really feel that Teresa is a good person and she really wants to help product managers build better products and therefore change the world to a better place.
To be honest, I expected more content (there are 200+ pages with large print) but Teresa is very specific and writes in a Marty Cagan style a bit ;) She's not screwing around on a reader! Many times I felt that one page taught me more than fifty pages of another book.
"Continuous Discovery Habits" is a must-read for Product Managers. I think it's the best product book I've ever read.
July 20, 2021
This is an excellent book I definitely recommend to read for anyone building products.
The book focuses on the question "what to build", which can be daunting looking at the universe of possible options. Teresa Torres provides practical and concrete methodologies to clarify a problem and structure the opportunity space. Several concepts will be familiar to those already following her blog. However there is tremendously value she provides by strongly articulating the goal of each method and at which stage of the discovery cycle to use them.
All important aspects of the product discovery process are mentioned, including measuring success and impact on the business outcome. The examples provided are concrete and help with assimilating the content.
I am happy to add this book to my 'product must-read list'.
The book focuses on the question "what to build", which can be daunting looking at the universe of possible options. Teresa Torres provides practical and concrete methodologies to clarify a problem and structure the opportunity space. Several concepts will be familiar to those already following her blog. However there is tremendously value she provides by strongly articulating the goal of each method and at which stage of the discovery cycle to use them.
All important aspects of the product discovery process are mentioned, including measuring success and impact on the business outcome. The examples provided are concrete and help with assimilating the content.
I am happy to add this book to my 'product must-read list'.
January 4, 2023
A very practical guide that really focuses on building discovery habits in the true meaning of the word. Although I have been practising most of the principles mentioned here, it has always been sort of scattered and unstructured, at least when compared to this guide. There were so many places when I thought yes, this totally makes sense, this will make my work much more efficient.
Overall, one of the most useful books I have read.
Overall, one of the most useful books I have read.
April 16, 2022
Fabulous Fabulous Fabulous
I was on the fence on whether this book would be good when I picked this book. I've read a bunch of books on Agile, Lean, UX, Product and Execution. I wasn't sure there would be much in this book that would be new. Was I surprised!
The book is not just a 50,000 words to say do continuous user research. It tells you the details on how to from planning to execution to incorporating it in the process. I highly recommend this book to founders, PMs, designers and researchers. A must read.
I was on the fence on whether this book would be good when I picked this book. I've read a bunch of books on Agile, Lean, UX, Product and Execution. I wasn't sure there would be much in this book that would be new. Was I surprised!
The book is not just a 50,000 words to say do continuous user research. It tells you the details on how to from planning to execution to incorporating it in the process. I highly recommend this book to founders, PMs, designers and researchers. A must read.
May 30, 2021
This is one of the best product books I’ve read! Next to Inspired & Empowered it should be a must read for every product manager. It brings you into action with hands on tips and provides a framework from strategy to execution of product discovery. Thank you, Teresa!
July 23, 2021
Perhaps the Best Book about Product Management I’ve Ever Read
I love Teresa’s approach because it’s practical, action-oriented, and effective. She boils the uncertainty-laden process of product discovery down to actionable routines that really do make a difference, and aren’t simply busy-work habits for the sake of looking productive. Her framework for discovery leans in on the natural curiosity that good product people have, gives them strategies for turning that curiosity into visual models of opportunities, and then methods for effectively evaluating those opportunities against each other. I’ve integrated her strategies into my own work after 10+ years in product management, and my work is certainty the better for it. Highly recommended.
I love Teresa’s approach because it’s practical, action-oriented, and effective. She boils the uncertainty-laden process of product discovery down to actionable routines that really do make a difference, and aren’t simply busy-work habits for the sake of looking productive. Her framework for discovery leans in on the natural curiosity that good product people have, gives them strategies for turning that curiosity into visual models of opportunities, and then methods for effectively evaluating those opportunities against each other. I’ve integrated her strategies into my own work after 10+ years in product management, and my work is certainty the better for it. Highly recommended.
May 26, 2021
It is an exceptional book, if you need to look at your entire product decision process and find a rationale that is user-centered, mitigates risks, and at the same time brings business results, this book will help you for sure.
March 13, 2022
This book is a great companion for anyone working on digital products and helps guide the discovery journey.
It has practical examples and gives you all the information you need to start tomorrow.
Do you think “But that will never work here!”? Think again! It also gives you some tips on how to start small and find ways of building continuous discovery habits in any kind of situation. Yes, even in situations where you have a list of features to deliver.
It’s about making your own discovery luck if you will :)
It has practical examples and gives you all the information you need to start tomorrow.
Do you think “But that will never work here!”? Think again! It also gives you some tips on how to start small and find ways of building continuous discovery habits in any kind of situation. Yes, even in situations where you have a list of features to deliver.
It’s about making your own discovery luck if you will :)
July 27, 2022
Teresa shows how we can learn early and often, explaining how we can start with the outcomes that our customers businesses want to achieve, and offering valuable tools to test assumptions against these outcomes.
The book teaches you how to start with a clear outcome, interview to discover opportunities, and assumption test to quickly evaluate solutions, being both evidence-based (with a lot of theory and eight years helping hundreds of product teams) and actionable. While reading, you will also get detailed exercises you can put into practice tomorrow.
The book teaches you how to start with a clear outcome, interview to discover opportunities, and assumption test to quickly evaluate solutions, being both evidence-based (with a lot of theory and eight years helping hundreds of product teams) and actionable. While reading, you will also get detailed exercises you can put into practice tomorrow.
September 8, 2021
Excellent book covering product discovery the way other authors cover product delivery. Often times in product management books, discovery is sort of hand waves away. This provides a playbook (or habits) to use.
Lots of material pulled from other books that will be on a product manager's bookshelf, but pulled together in a coherent way.
Lots of material pulled from other books that will be on a product manager's bookshelf, but pulled together in a coherent way.
April 10, 2023
Great book about product discovery. Tiny bit too much about the concepts and with examples that are too high level.
A few takeaways:
* prioritise opportunities, not solution ideas
* test assumptions, not ideas
* brainstorm ideas individually, evaluate them in groups
* don't fight ideological battles
* many teams aren't allowed to do product discovery, however, all teams can start small
A few takeaways:
* prioritise opportunities, not solution ideas
* test assumptions, not ideas
* brainstorm ideas individually, evaluate them in groups
* don't fight ideological battles
* many teams aren't allowed to do product discovery, however, all teams can start small
June 22, 2021
It's one of the best Product Management books I've read recently. It distills the best Innovation frameworks into actionable steps for any Product team, regardless of maturity. Pick it up when you're looking for a new read!
June 11, 2021
A great book on discovery habits. I was able to immediately apply a lot of things at work. Thanks Teresa for this engaging and actionable book!
December 13, 2023
first ~75 pages probably not necessary but became one of the best books on product/interviewing/discovery I've read.
September 26, 2021
My favorite Product Discovery book so far! Easy to read and connect to. A lot of examples to keep you thinking about how to apply the tools Teresa shares. I would recommend to any one looking to be closer to their customers and find the “real” opportunities
January 8, 2022
Amazing read! Really great coverage on product discovery techniques and easily applicable to ones own work in product. Our team already used a lot of the artifacts from this book! Great!
January 23, 2022
Great book. I consider it mandatory reading for any product professional.
June 13, 2023
Wonderfully optimistic and an inspiration for new PMs, but for seasoned practitioners, there's a lot in here that has either aged quickly or is not reflective of real life on the front lines of leading a product team. The advocation of Product 'Trios' that doesn't include a data analyst or data scientist is one such example. Teresa seems to have ignored this discline completely. Given the book was written in 2020, long after data scientists became a norm, I was surprised at this omission. I believe a lot of it comes down to the recency bias from spending time in consultancy and training with companies who haven't developed strong R&D practices yet, rather than recalibrating and updating understanding with organisations who have and are doing it well.
The author frequently quotes Cagan, another practitioner who hasn't been close to the front lines for a long time, and is also something of an idealist. His writings also accidentally causes dismay and disillusionment in those who realise that PM utopia isn't possible anywhere where resources aren't boundless, once they are in the thick of it.
The author frequently quotes Cagan, another practitioner who hasn't been close to the front lines for a long time, and is also something of an idealist. His writings also accidentally causes dismay and disillusionment in those who realise that PM utopia isn't possible anywhere where resources aren't boundless, once they are in the thick of it.
January 19, 2022
What doesn't change, isn't solid - while whole discovery process, its methods and tips in this book by Teresa Torres aren't the only "one right way" of doing things, it is an idea of a continuous habit that creates a "solid core" of the book, because the habit has a power to fix many things by its repeatability. It's like Groundhog Day or Live Die Repeat movies. :-)
The book contains very practical step-by-step guide of how you can do product discovery, how to cooperate with a team, how to manage stakeholders and how to mitigate a risk.
I would recommend this book to all product managers, designers and techs that work in an agile hamster wheel of delivery because this continuous discovery process fits nicely in their routines. I would also recommend it to researchers as their field, from my experience, doesn't fit into agile cycles so well and the book contains practical guide of how they could fit better.
The book contains very practical step-by-step guide of how you can do product discovery, how to cooperate with a team, how to manage stakeholders and how to mitigate a risk.
I would recommend this book to all product managers, designers and techs that work in an agile hamster wheel of delivery because this continuous discovery process fits nicely in their routines. I would also recommend it to researchers as their field, from my experience, doesn't fit into agile cycles so well and the book contains practical guide of how they could fit better.
March 30, 2022
Maybe because I am new to the product management world, coming from a CX background ... but I was not inspired by the book and feel that some technical terminologies were misused (like experience map) ... nevertheless I learned good things and I will re-read it again after spending more time with product management (to fair) in my rating ... no one knows I might change it to 5/5,
August 24, 2022
As someone who is new to the PM world and works in a company still developing the product practice, I have found this book INVALUABLE.
It’s incredibly practical and forces you to think critically about everything you do in product.
I’ve already started implementing the practices and see myself regularly coming back to re-read the book!
It’s incredibly practical and forces you to think critically about everything you do in product.
I’ve already started implementing the practices and see myself regularly coming back to re-read the book!
August 1, 2023
I think this book had a lot of good information, but it felt very unclear the whole time. A lot of “do this, but not too much.” I also found it hard to apply to my work, but I hope I can someday!! I technically gave this 2.75 stars 3
November 26, 2021
Miért nem került a kezembe ez a könyv pályám egy korábbi szakaszában, amikor - a mostanihoz hasonlóan - kifejezetten fontos lett volna a kétszázvalahány oldalba sűrített tömény okosság? Nos, a válasz egyszerű: ez egy új könyv, 2021-ben (azaz idén) adták ki, esélyem se lett volna korábban hozzájutni. Szépen bele is simul azoknak az újgenerációs terméktervezéssel és -menedzsmenttel foglalkozó műveknek a sorába, amelyben olyan remek kiadványok találhatók, mint az Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love és az Outcomes Over Output: Why customer behavior is the key metric for business success.
Menet közben is jegyzeteltem, de valószínűleg újra elolvasom, és egyből alkalmazom is a technikáit egy jelenlegi projektben. Alapmű.
Menet közben is jegyzeteltem, de valószínűleg újra elolvasom, és egyből alkalmazom is a technikáit egy jelenlegi projektben. Alapmű.
August 26, 2023
This book is an absolute Bible on the topic of product discovery.
Most of it is spent on detailing Teresa's framework, which is incredibly well presented and justified. Each chapter is a step of the framework and is very well tied to the previous and the next ones, offering also a Common Anti-Patterns section at the end of each chapter.
The last portion of the book is spent on what I think this type of books never get to: pragmatically showing you won't be able to do it all in one go and arguing for small iterative steps implementing this framework in your company.
Very powerful book from a very intelligent author, it definitely made me grow on this topic!
Most of it is spent on detailing Teresa's framework, which is incredibly well presented and justified. Each chapter is a step of the framework and is very well tied to the previous and the next ones, offering also a Common Anti-Patterns section at the end of each chapter.
The last portion of the book is spent on what I think this type of books never get to: pragmatically showing you won't be able to do it all in one go and arguing for small iterative steps implementing this framework in your company.
Very powerful book from a very intelligent author, it definitely made me grow on this topic!
January 9, 2022
Continuous Discovery Habits is an excellent book giving the right mix of theory & practice, and grounded in real life companies not idealism. Getting product discovery right is a crucial part of any well-functioning product organisation but hard to get right. Teresa has written a practical book with clear guidance and valuable insights on visualising your work. I recommend this to anyone trying to up their game.
March 16, 2022
Probably one of the best product books I have ever read. It's straight to the bone, full of templates that you can start using immediately and gives many tips on how to actually bring them into your company. Methodologies are backed with examples and each chapter is clear and distinctive.
A must read for everyone who's interested in building great products. 👍
A must read for everyone who's interested in building great products. 👍
March 26, 2023
Highly recommend this book to everyone working on product!
As a Product Designer, I found this book full of insights and tips on how to have better control over the chaos that sometimes the discovery phase might be due to it's nature, to embrace it as is, and learn a little bit better how to navigate the space and communicate with stakeholders.
As a Product Designer, I found this book full of insights and tips on how to have better control over the chaos that sometimes the discovery phase might be due to it's nature, to embrace it as is, and learn a little bit better how to navigate the space and communicate with stakeholders.
February 5, 2022
An interesting book for building common vocabulary within and between teams. It presents problem solving and critical thinking with a set of terms used by product teams, with the same underlying reasoning as tradicional methods.
I'd recommend it for teams with different backgrounds, and therefore different vocabularies, to improve communication efficiency; or for people wanting to explore problem solving and product discovery
I'd recommend it for teams with different backgrounds, and therefore different vocabularies, to improve communication efficiency; or for people wanting to explore problem solving and product discovery
April 8, 2024
The method itself is fine. Reading the book is like watching paint dry. Cut the fluff and this could be fit into 30-40 pages and it wouldn't miss anything important. The "anti-patterns" stuff was great.
March 15, 2022
This book is really great and I greatly recommend it. Some takeaways include - even 5 minutes with customers is good enough, and product discovery is not about discovering the truth, but about mitigating risk that our companies cannot bear.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 302 reviews