ABCD
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Discovery TypeTacticDescriptionUse case
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Zero-contact discoveryCheck support ticketsFilter yesterday’s Zendesk/intercom tickets for the word “X,” copy the top ten, highlight the common problems. AI is becoming super helpful in analyzing support tickets.Need data within minutes and no meetings
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Zero-contact discoveryCrunch your numbersGraph feature usage for the last 30 days, circle sharp drops and unexplained spikes.Post-launch health check of a feature
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Zero-contact discoveryCompetitor tear-downsSign up for the closest competitor, click every button, map each screen, note where their choices differ from yours. Gaps appear in minutes, not weeks.Planning roadmap gaps against rivals
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Zero-contact discoveryReview miningScrape App/Play Stores, and G2 reviews. Sort by the extreme stars. Zero- and one-star ranks point to problems you might share.Validating pain points in the wider market
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Low-contact discoveryMicro “Lazy” pollsInsert a single-question Typeform inside the empty state of your feature. Ten clicks later you have some signals.Quick directional feedback inside the product
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Low-contact discoveryFake-door testShip a disabled button labeled with the future feature, measure click-through for a week. This is like a demand forecast for an unshipped feature.Test demand before investing engineering effort
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Low-contact discoveryPre-recorded Zoom call snippetsSearch “pricing objection” in Zoom/Gong recordings, watch five minutes. Listening to raw objections is much better than reading second-hand summaries every time.Get qualitative insight with zero scheduling
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Low-contact discoveryDog-food sprintForce the whole squad to use the feature all week. Bugs that once felt theoretical will find you by midweek.Harden a feature before public beta
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Low-contact discoverySession replay watch-partyPlay ten Hotjar/FullStory recordings, pause at every rage-click. Watching frustration with your team brings empathy to your whole team.Build shared empathy for real user friction
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High-contact discovery45min Customer interviewRecruit three target users for 45m-1hr calls. Ask five open questions, show no slides, stay silent after each question. You will surface the important motives in under an hour.Surface deep motives and jobs-to-be-done
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High-contact discoveryCustomer advisory SlackShare a Figma mockup in a private Slack channel and ask “Would you pay for this?” Instant thumbs-up or down with zero friction.Iterate quickly on design direction
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Embedded discoveryShadow your customersSpend a day in the customer’s office, do their job shoulder to shoulder. Pain points becomes clear to everyone; you will never debate priority again.Entering a vertical/domain you don’t yet understand
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