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By getting someone to describe a product in their own words, I’m looking for what stands out to them about the product. I want to understand how they conceive of the product in the context of their own work, and the way they understand the product’s underlying model. Answering this question also sheds light on a person’s expectations (or aspirations) for the product.
This is one of those questions that no one is safe from. Ask users, teammates, and stakeholders and prepare to be blown away by the range of answers. Users are perhaps the most important, to undersand how you can better align the product with their expectations. But asking others involved in the creation of the product lets you know whether the team is aligned on what they’re building.
Framing the question with “in your own words” gets folks to be deliberate about their response. It prevents them from regurgitating marketing speak, even going so far as to interpret the request as using plain language. Therefore, give them time to formulate their response. They may stumble and revise, layering one description over another. It’s all useful, and there’s no need to encourage them to be succinct.
Give the user a chance to experience the product before asking them this question. That is, if you’re working on a new or unfamiliar product, don’t expect them to have an answer at their fingertips until they’ve experienced it, at least for a bit. Asking this at the end of a concept testing session gives you a good summary of their impressions of the product.
Flavors of this question come up during team and stakeholder meetings when I worry we’ve lost the thread of the product design. Perhaps we’ve been so far into the details we haven’t poked our heads up to make sure we’re all in the same place. Perhaps we’ve gotten distracted by outside factors I’m worried we haven’t said “no” when we needed to.
Pick out one of the distinctive words they used to describe the product and ask them to elaborate. Or, highlight the way they framed the product and ask about why they chose that particular angle or perspective.
How would you explain this product in your own words?
Using “explain” instead of “describe” implies the product has a level of complexity and a learning curve. Asking someone to explain encourages them to use simpler, plainer language.
If you were to describe this product to a friend or colleague, what would you say?
Putting another character into the story takes some of the pressure off the respondant, and allows them to imagine an audience. It may be easier for them to describe the product by imagining someone else – an impartial interlocutor – as the one engaged.
How would you describe this feature in your own words?
Of course, if your work involves just a feature, rather than the whole product, you can ask them to describe an individual aspect of the product. Another reason to zoom in on a particular feature is if they are overwhelmed by trying to describe the whole product.