day 98: the role of serendipity in product discovery.

Shajedul Karim
2 replies
don't underestimate the "happy accident" in your product journey. sometimes the non-obvious connections bring the most value. like reading an unrelated book and finding your next feature idea. or a casual conversation turning into a partnership. it's easy to tunnel vision on analytics and user feedback. but don't ignore the unexpected sources of wisdom. ever noticed how some of your best ideas don't come from your industry? borrowing from unrelated fields can be enlightening. serendipity isn't pure luck, it's luck meeting preparation. be curious. explore without a direct purpose, but with an open mind. bottom line: widen your net of experiences. read, converse, venture outside your comfort zone. let serendipity work its magic. who knows? the next random article, podcast, or conversation could be the missing puzzle piece for your product.

Replies

Daniela Uemura
I find really useful to explore beyond the project's barriers and I have a good feeling for that subjective and expansive phase of the project. Like you said, that's mostly where innovation comes from. But I also do find tricky when a "happy accident" happens post the exploration/ideation phase and we have to measure if it is worth or feasible to go back and apply that innovative idea to our projects on a later phase.