THE PROBLEM-FIRST METHOD

Dias presents a comprehensive guide to product development.

“Stop building solutions in search of a problem,” writes Dias in his nonfiction debut. “Start with the problem. Stay with it. Let it do the heavy lifting.” Drawing on a decade of experience building digital products and solving problems as they crop up, the author lays out a series of frameworks and checklists designed to help his target audience of fellow product builders avoid losing sight of their main focus—he aims to help builders “recognize when they’ve drifted from the problem, and [help] them find their way back before it’s too late.” Dias anchors his advice in what he calls the Feature Alignment Document, a “structured artifact” that focuses builders and their teams on the problem itself rather than distractions. His system includes a 10-Question Problem Validation, which asks builders things like, Who has this problem? How painful is it for them? Can you measure the pain your customers are feeling? How much time and money will be required to fix it? The author intends for the FAD to provide a calming moment, a deep breath “before the dopamine hit of prototypes and code.” Dias keeps the chapters fast-paced, filled with examples (including those drawn from his own experiences in the biomedical field) and bullet points to break down a very large amount of information into clear, memorable prose that will be accessible even to non-specialists. (Lay readers may not absorb all the technical matters he occasionally details, but they’ll still benefit from his general thoughts on “building with discipline” in any field.) The author reminds readers that the most expensive mistake in product development isn’t building the wrong solution—it’s solving the wrong problem. Test your critical assumptions before you set off on building a solution, he counsels, which is advice with far more general applications. (“Naming assumptions doesn’t make them true,” he asserts. “It makes them testable.”) Dias’ framework is bracingly cleareyed and straightforward, and his writing style makes it easy to understand and implement.

A smart and companionable overview of problem-solving in the product-building field.