Problem Thinking Approach for Product Managers
Let’s understand through a short case study.
Here is a problem at the local Kirana store.
Kirana Wala is digitally transformed and has started accepting digital payment via UPI, Paytm, Phone pe and Google Pay.
But the real problem is some customers created fake screenshots and manipulated the payment receipts using the Paytm Spoof Application. As a result, these KiranaWalas were losing money due to these fake payment screenshots.
The Kirana Wala is now anxious and worried about receiving payment confirmation as he was used to the habit of receiving cash earlier and now, it is digital money directly in his bank account and with these fake screenshots, he cannot trust the customers unless he receives SMS from his bank.
So, he has to check the SMS notifications from banks when any customers pay him through Paytm or Google pay.
As a result of which, he asks the customer to wait till he confirms the payment after checking the SMS.
The customer is also irritated as he must wait despite making the payment faster. Sometimes, there is a conflict as the customer says that money is debited from my account and the Kirana Wala says that I have not received it in real-time. Sometimes, the server is down or the notification engine is overloaded and hence, the alerts are delivered later in the day.
So, All of these problems are first spotted first by the Product managers in UPI based payments.
The product manager gets into the problem mindset first and understands the anxiety of Kirana Wala, the security aspect of receiving money and the conflict at the store.
The Indian Innovators then created the simple devices like Paytm Soundbox, PayLoud, and Talkitall to solve these problems of UPI based payments.
These devices solve these problems by simply announcing immediately as soon as payment is received.
The device can also announce in the local languages: Hindi, Gujrati, Tamil, etc.
We all know that this device gives peace of mind to Kirana Wala in terms of security from fraudsters and also avoids conflicts with his customers by simply announcing the payment loudly.
Learning:
- A problem thinking Approach is required to build great products.
- Only if the customer problems are understood and identified rightly, the right product and solution can be designed and built to solve those problems.
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