Business context
Executives were debating whether a new solution should launch as a standalone product or integrate into the broader portfolio. Differing perspectives and limited alignment created uncertainty and slowed decision-making.
Product decision & approach
I led a discovery and stakeholder-alignment initiative, using interviews, synthesis, and an executive working session to formalize a shared product direction. I then designed a broader distributed sprint to carry the work into validation and execution:
- Contextual research: interviews with stakeholders and industry SMEs.
- Media & publication scan: surfaced emerging narratives and adoption patterns around AI.
- Competitive review: mapped adjacent markets and opportunity spaces.
- Innovation evolution planning: developed a framework for mapping how the product opportunity could evolve from near-term validation toward longer-term integration.
- Distributed sprint design: developed and iteratively tested a flexible workshop model using pre-work, short video primers, and focused sessions designed around leadership availability.
- Research access: leveraged an existing research panel to recruit participants with relevant experience in a highly specialized market.
Outcome & evidence
- Executive alignment on AI as the product focus and on portfolio integration.
- Developed and refined a distributed sprint format that was ready for broader cross-functional execution.
- Demonstrated the value of the company’s existing research panel as a source of targeted customer insight.
- Leveraged ResearchOps infrastructure established through earlier work to make customer participation a repeatable input into product strategy.
Key Learnings
- Evidence reduces debate: contextual research and publication scans grounded executive discussion in external data and customer realities.
- Adapted methods unlock participation: the distributed sprint format was designed around senior leaders’ availability to support participation without stalling momentum.
- Research infrastructure matters: the existing research panel and ResearchOps infrastructure make customer feedback a repeatable input into strategy.