Product Challenge Brief

Tell me what you’re building and where you’re stuck.

Building a new product? Improving an existing one? Debating what matters most to customers?

Sometimes the hardest part isn’t building the product. It’s knowing whether you’ve understood the problem well enough.

Let’s spend 20 minutes talking about what you’re working on.

Within 48 hours, I’ll send you a free, one-page Product Challenge Brief with my initial perspective on what your team might be missing and where to start.

Get a Product Challenge Brief

What you’ll receive

The challenge

A clear summary of what your team is trying to figure out and why it’s difficult.

Assumptions worth challenging

Questions or blind spots that could be influencing the team’s current direction.

Customer perspectives worth exploring

The kinds of people whose experiences could reveal something important.

Where I’d start

An initial recommendation for what to investigate and how to move forward.

Example Product Challenge Brief

What a finished brief looks like.

Illustrative example. Fictional company and scenario.

Product Challenge Brief

Company:: Northstar Equipment
Product:: Portable warehouse label printer

The challenge

Northstar is developing its next-generation portable label printer. The team is debating whether to prioritize faster printing, longer battery life, or a redesigned interface.

Surveys favor battery life. Usage data shows frequent interrupted printing sessions. The team isn’t sure either tells the full story.

What I’d challenge

Are printing interruptions caused by the printer itself or the surrounding workflow?
Are purchasing managers and everyday operators prioritizing the same things?
Have experienced workers developed workarounds that nobody thinks to report?

Who I’d involve

Experienced operators, new operators, and warehouse supervisors.

Where I’d start

Observe operators during actual labeling tasks. Explore what happens before and after printing, what interrupts the work, and how operators compensate for product limitations.

Have product builders participate directly and compare their discoveries with the existing data.

Initial recommendation

“Don’t choose between battery life, speed, and interface changes yet. First, understand what interrupts the work. The biggest opportunity may be outside the three features currently under debate.”

What happens next?

Tell me about your challenge.
Book a 20-minute conversation. No formal presentation or prepared problem statement required.
We’ll explore what’s making it difficult.
We’ll discuss what you’re building, what you’ve learned, and where uncertainty remains.
Get your Product Challenge Brief.
Within 48 hours, receive a free, personalized one-page document outlining my initial perspective and recommended starting point.

Product Challenge Conversation with Jake

20 minutes. Two things to think about before we talk:

What are you building or improving?
Where are you stuck or uncertain about what customers need?

Get a Product Challenge Brief

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