Test: Module 02 — User Research and Discovery¶

Instructions: Answer all questions. Write your answers directly below each question. Bonus questions are optional and can raise your score above 100%.

Total Points: 37 pts (Easy: 5 + Medium: 10 + Hard: 12 + Expert: 10) Bonus Available: 5 pts

Section 1: Easy Questions (1 pt each)¶

Q1. What is the primary goal of a user interview in product discovery?

Q2. Name three characteristics that distinguish a "good" discovery interview question from a "bad" one.

Q3. What are the three layers of a Job-to-be-Done? Give a brief example of each.

Q4. What does the root of an opportunity solution tree represent, and what do the first level of branches represent?

Q5. How frequently does Teresa Torres recommend product teams conduct customer interviews in her continuous discovery habits model?

Section 2: Medium Questions (2 pts each)¶

Q6. Explain the difference between a "leading question" and a "hypothetical question" in user research. Give one example of each, and for each, rewrite it as a better alternative.

Q7. A PM says: "We talked to 50 users last year in our annual research project. We have really good data on our users." Critique this statement using the continuous discovery habits framework.

Q8. Explain why "interview your most active users" is insufficient as a user research strategy. What types of users are often missed, and why does that matter?

Q9. A job statement says: "Help me feel confident in my weekly team meeting." Identify whether this is primarily a functional, emotional, or social job, and explain what product implications this distinction has.

Q10. Explain what an "opportunity" is in the opportunity solution tree model. How is it different from a "solution"? How do you distinguish between the two when synthesizing interview findings?

Section 3: Hard Questions (3 pts each)¶

Q11. Scenario: You're a PM at a B2B SaaS company. You've interviewed 6 customers who all say variations of "I want better reporting." Write 3 follow-up questions you would ask to understand the underlying job, and for each, explain what information you're trying to uncover.

Q12. Scenario: A designer on your team says: "I ran 3 user interviews last month and all 3 users loved our proposed redesign. We should move forward." Identify at least three methodological concerns with this research, and explain what better practice looks like.

Q13. Synthesis question: How does the Jobs-to-be-Done framework change what you build compared to traditional "user persona" approaches? Use a specific hypothetical product example to illustrate your answer.

Q14. Debugging scenario: Below is a summary of a "user interview" a PM ran. Identify everything that went wrong in this interview:

Section 4: Expert Questions (5 pts each)¶

Q15. Essay: The Jobs-to-be-Done framework was initially developed for physical products (milkshakes, power drills) but is now widely used for software products. Explain the core insight of JTBD, describe its limitations when applied to software, and describe how continuous discovery habits complement it as a practice. (Minimum 200 words)

Q16. Design question: You are a PM for a productivity app with 50,000 monthly active users. Design a continuous discovery system that requires no more than 4 hours of PM time per week. Include: how you recruit participants, what the weekly cadence looks like, how findings are shared with engineering and design, and how the opportunity solution tree gets maintained. Be specific enough that someone could implement your design. (Minimum 200 words)

Bonus Questions¶

Bonus 1. (+5 pts) The "milkshake study" is one of the most cited examples in product management. Describe a similar "JTBD in the wild" observation from a product or service you use — where the product is clearly being "hired" for a job that is different from its nominal purpose. What does this suggest about who the real competitors are?