Most customers have more than one problem that needs a solution. The team probably cannot solve all their problems, so decisions need to be made.

Finding the problems to spend time and effort on, that will deliver value to customers, is important.

Without a definition of the problem to be solved, the solution may not deliver the expected outcomes. Articulating the problem(s) for a shared understanding, and clarifying the value proposition to solve the problem, requires asking:

• “Is there a problem worth solving?”
• “Does everyone involved understand the problem?”
• “What alternatives are in place to accommodate the solution?”

Validating the problem leads to better ideas, better designs, and better solutions.

How POA Helps Validate the Problem

Even when the team has seen, heard, and felt the customer's challenges, stating a problem can be difficult. To accurately prioritize the problem, the team must refine the backlog, plan the MVP, and maximize value.

To frame the right problem to solve, POA Practitioners need to carefully analyze the problem using:

• Various problem identification and analysis techniques, and
• The knowledge acquired about the customers.

POA Techniques to Validate the Problem

Agile Extension Techniques
•  Persona: Assess the traits and motivations to derive the needs of archetype personas.

BABOK® Guide Techniques

• Benchmarking and Market Analysis: Compare solutions and products in the same context to identify missing aspects.
• Root Cause Analysis: Determine underlying causes that create customer pain points and friction in customer experience.

Other Techniques

• Problem Definition and Analysis: Use the following to validate and prioritize customer problems.
  • Cynefin Framework: Provide a frame of reference for the problem and potential decisions associated with identifying a solution.
  • Problem Framing: Assess the problem using techniques such as the 4Ws, which help the team collaboratively reflect, synthesize, and articulate the problem.
  • Problem Scenarios & Alternatives: Identify the nuances of the problems and alternate scenarios.

Case Study: Validate Problem - Bank

Background Dhiren was the founder of a new start-up based out of India. He trusted the ABC bank for all his banking needs. He was a techie who had thought of a great business idea but found starting up a business presented a lot of regulatory hoops to jump through. One of his pet peeves was the amount of paperwork he needed to complete with the bank as a business owner. Challenge Dhiren expressed his dissatisfaction to the relationship manager of ABC bank several times. He held several savings accounts with the bank, but for every new service, he was required to go to the bank to complete an enormous amount of paperwork. For a simple business account opening, he had to spend a lot of time at the bank. ABC bank's IT team employed Vivek as a Product Owner for its regulatory- and compliance-related products. This feedback bubbled up to Vivek to act on. Actions Vivek related to the feedback from Dhiren since he faced similar red tape in the past and understood that the index for ease of doing business in India is not the best. Vivek wanted to improve the customer experience for Dhiren. He interviewed Dhiren and created a persona. The problems Dhiren faced included: Regulatory challenges of doing business and setting up new entities, and The corresponding paperwork the bank required. Vivek dug deeper and applied root cause analysis techniques to understand what the real problem was. Dhiren acknowledged that the regulatory landscape could not be changed overnight and that it was there to safeguard businesses like banks against fraud. What really irked Dhiren was the amount of time he had to spend at the bank to simply open a business account or mitigate an overdraft. Outcome After thorough investigation, and collaborative brainstorming by applying the 4Ws approach to problem framing with the product team, Vivek found that the real problem was a lack of reuse of basic customer information across business units (e.g., corporate vs. retail) to reduce the amount of information repeatedly requested from customers. The bank processes, although compliant with regulations, could be digitized to reduce the in-person visits required by the customers. Lessons Learned Most practitioners have a rough idea about the problem from customer experience and feedback, but the problem needs to be carefully validated and articulated to get to the real problem. POA techniques that synthesize the real problem include: Root cause analysis, Problem framing, and Reshaping. Challenging regulatory and business environment can be impractical to solve. It may also require systemic changes. A collaborative effort by the team, while framing problems, creates shared understanding.

Integrating learnings is the place and time where information and theories mix. Some of the information may be relevant, and some may appear to be disparate. Analytics and data reasoning are identified and pursued to feed validations, vision, and value proposition. An established "intelligent learning environment" (ILE) welcomes questioning and expects corroboration.

Intelligent learning depends on a series of:

• Questions,
• Answers,
• Hypothesizing,
• Experiments, and
• Feedback.

It creates a learning culture and environment that enables faster customer- driven learning.

An integrated learning environment includes:

• A problem-solving situation, and
• One or more approaches assist and monitor the learning.

Intelligent learning can drive an integrated product design environment that includes:

• Problem-solving questions that will help design situational approaches.
• Considerations for new products or services:
  • Customer - How do Product Owners know if customers want the product or service? Do they have the right target market?
  • Technical - How do Product Owners know if they can do it?
  • Business Strategic - How do Product Owners know if they should move on it? How do they know if they have got it right?
• Considerations for subsequent iterations:
  • Customer - How can Product Owners make products and services better for customers? What will retain customers?
  • Technical - How much more can Product Owners do? How much more do they need to do?
  • Business Strategic - Is the product/service meeting or exceeding the expected business goals and objectives? Are Product Owners measuring what matters? (See "5. Measure What Matters.")
• Approaches that assist and monitor the learning include:
  • Considerations for new products or services:
    • Hypothesize to discretely test ideas integrating evidence to prove or disprove assumptions.
    • Experiment to reduce risk and generate valuable insights.
  • Incorporate Predictive and Prescriptive Analytics and Modelling to consider what may happen using historical data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.
• Considerations for subsequent iterations:
  • Hypothesize based on feedback loops and customer input.
  • Experiment through iteration reviews and demonstrations.
  • Use the metrics developed through "Measure What Matters" to guide analytic decisions.

How POA Helps Integrated Learning

The team applies POA by:

• Guiding what to analyze,
• Questioning what data to pursue, and/or
• Provoking what experimentation to try.

POA Practitioners:

• Pursue the activities to cultivate customer intimacy and articulate their problems,
• Guide ideas for solutions,
• Use intelligent learning to differentiate between ideas that may float or sink.
• Initiate a culture that facilitates the integration of customer-driven intelligent learning.

They use:

• Business data analytics,
• Hypothesis testing with experimentation, and
• Information that feeds the:
  • Business Model Canvas,
  • Value Proposition, and
  • Product Vision statement.

This information becomes the foundation of “Measure What Matters”:

• Facilitate the approach to “Learn Fast”, and
• Drive to “Obsess About Value”.

POA Techniques for Integrated Learning

Agile Extension Techniques

• Backlog Refinement: Collect and reflect the customer perspective by elaborating PBIs from a user viewpoint and the outcome customers are likely to receive.
• Kano Analysis: Differentiate product characteristics and qualities that will help determine valuable product features.
• Purpose Alignment Model: Tie customer learning to value, derived from customers and the business.
• Real Options: Determine the timing and flow of product features that provide value.

BABOK® Guide Techniques

• Business Model Canvas: Determine the value proposition and the components that sustain the value of a product.

Other Techniques

• Hypothesize Ideas: Formulate ideas and analyze decisions based on facts available, about the business environment. These facts can be collaboratively discussed for clarity.
• Experimentation: Test a theory or product prototypes to generate feedback.

Case Study: Differentiate Product - Bank

Background Vivek, the Product Owner in the regulatory and compliance unit of the bank, was called in to investigate and strategize a new product to reduce customer visits to the bank. The ABC bank leadership wanted to: Improve the customer experience, and Maintain their track record and brand as the most flexible and future- ready private bank. Challenge Although Vivek was instrumental in identifying the original problem, he did not know if that problem was faced by all the customer segments, or only a few. He formulated an approach so he could receive quick feedback. Action Vivek explored several market research studies to understand what the competitors were doing but did not find any new information. He concluded that this must be a new and unique problem that ABC bank may solve first. He designed a survey for primary market research and employed data analysis. He learned that the problem was consistent for "urban customers who were educated and comfortable with digital.” He validated using a purpose alignment model. The problem needed to be addressed since the solution could be a differentiator and was critical to the mission. Twenty percent of the customer base had a similar persona. Outcome Convinced of the value of solving the problem, Vivek and the product team identified different customer processes across different product lines that were candidates for automation and digitization. The regulatory requirement for completing Know Your Customer (KYC) processes required the most facetime for customers for each business service. After several focus group sessions with customers and experimentation, an e-KYC product was developed that could be a game-changer for customers who could complete most of the regulatory KYC process from home. Lessons Learned The learning process for any product is usually iterative, which follows a cycle of hypothesis to evidence to new features. To integrate intelligent learning, POA Practitioners must employ several analysis techniques, to gather proof points that enable good decisions for creating a differentiated product.

The team have:

• Asked a lot of questions and discovered answers,
• Integrated analytics,
• Identified trends and preferences.

Evaluation ensures that:

• The right questions have been asked,
• Misunderstandings are exposed, and
• Targeted insights are revealed.

Targeted insights result in product evolution based on:

• Deeper customer understanding, and
• Intelligent learning.

Ideas are tested and evaluated, seeking the differentiators that evolve to better product design, to thrill customers.

How POA Helps Product Evaluation & Evolution

"What have we missed?" is asked as part of the evaluation. Slicing and dicing valuable pieces of customer information positions the team to build the:

• Product vision,
• Product backlog,
• Product roadmap, and
• Minimal Viable Product (MVP).

The outcomes of integrating learnings guide the team to decisions on how to move forward. The answers to these questions encompass the next moves for the team, leading to evaluating and evolving.

Question	Action if the answer is Yes
Is the product of value to the customer as-is?	Move forward as planned.
Is the product of value to the customer with modifications?	Change the way we are looking at this product and change the approach.
Is the product falling short of providing the value?	Do not move forward as is.

POA Techniques for Product Evaluation & Evolution

Agile Extension Techniques

• Kano Analysis: Differentiate product characteristics and qualities that help determine valuable product features.
• Purpose Alignment Model: Tie customer learning to value, derived by customers and the business.
• Real Options: Determine the timing and flow of product features that provide value.

BABOK® Guide Techniques

• Business Model Canvas: Determine the value proposition and the components that sustain the value of a product.

Other Techniques

• Experimentation: Test a theory or product prototypes to generate feedback.
• Human-Centred Design for Products: Ensure product is evolved and co- created with continuous feedback and input from customers.
• Hypothesize Ideas: Formulate ideas and analyze decisions based on facts available, about the business environment that can be collaboratively discussed for clarity.
• Product-Market Fit: Ensure that product value proposition is well-aligned with market expectations and customer needs.
• Value Proposition Canvas: Ensure the features of the products are aligned to what is valuable to customers and evaluate product-market fit.

Case Study: Identifying What a Product Owner Can Do - Cell Phone Manufacturer

Background One successful year for the e-KYC product of ABC bank sparked a lot of interest from a competitor who successfully built their own e-KYC workflows to digitize the experience of their most valued customer. Then the COVID-19 pandemic came, restricting the free movement of people globally. Challenge ABC bank leadership knew that there needed to be transformative change in response to new variables and a drastically changing business environment. Leadership understood the e-KYC must remain a differentiator and that the target segment was no longer the same. Action Vivek, the PO, realized that most of the competitors have launched their own products around e-KYC offerings, and due to COVID-19 most of the bank customers need to go through the same e-KYC process, which is no longer a differentiator for ABC bank. Vivek thought about the changes to the target customers that needed to be made so that transformation could take place. After collecting customer feedback from surveys and focus groups, Vivek formulated the hypothesis: e-KYC was not sufficient and needed to cater to a different persona (e.g., people with low income, with limited education, and from a rural area). The KYC process needed to be simplified and explained to customers who required easier steps. Vivek was surprised to learn that his initial assumptions about telecom infrastructure in rural populations were incorrect and most of the country had a good infrastructure to support video communications through mobile. Outcome Vivek suggested a hybrid approach for KYC to simplify the digitization and gain customer acceptance. The approach involved video KYC for most customers. The process was simplified and explained by experts, in the local languages, through video calls or recorded sessions. Features were integrated with a country-wide digital citizen ID program that allowed biometric verification of identity and address. Lessons Learned Most products follow the product lifecycle. Due to external or internal forces, the product needs to evolve to reflect the changing expectations of customers. Teams must use their toolset to evolve the product as long as it can provide value to the customer.