Challenge

​In July of 2020, I was hired by Twilio to spearhead a complex product concept.  The idea was for a secure app that companies could use for workers who were "deskless", that is, workers who didn't sit a desk with a computer but were out in the field or on the retail floor.  Very shortly after I started, the PM who came up with the concept resigned and I was tasked with taking over the product discovery, determining the correct market segment and defining both the user base and helping to design the product.

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Method

In my initial approach, I was paired with a designer and set to work on some guerilla recruiting of people who fit the definition of deskless workers.  We established a baseline for what they would like to see in an app for securely communicating with customers of theirs.  We started an initial round of designs.

We also recruited a large number of people who qualified as "deskless workers" to complete a survey on ideas and opinions on what they would need/want in this type of app.  We recruited from the set responses for follow up interviews to go in depth on the details.

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Twilio Leadership decided that they wanted to announce the product at Signal 2020 in October.  That put the team into high gear to get a working app ready for that announcement.  I was put in charge of creating a beta participant sign up and in screening potential customers to see if they would be good partners for this beta project.  I identified the characteristics  that would be needed in a successful customer and conducted interviews along with my Director of PM.  In the meantime, I also conducted usability testing of designs with potential users and made improvements based on that feedback.  

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Impact

My research helped to define the product, identify customers, launch the beta and have the product go successfully to GA in the spring of 2021.​

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Research Highlights:

• Surveys

• Guerilla recruiting

• Interviews

• Usability testing

• Beta program definition

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