Sample Research Exercises for Product Managers

User research and market research are not academic exercises. They are your primary tools to avoid building features no one wants. The trap is spending months on product development without real market feedback. You end up guessing what users need instead of knowing it.

Most new PMs confuse research with documentation or surveys. The actual job is to generate insights that lead to decisions — what to build, whom to target, how to position your product.

This lesson gives you hands-on exercises that will sharpen your ability to ask the right questions, gather meaningful data, and translate that into actionable product choices.

Why research matters more than ever

India’s startup ecosystem is booming. But the pressure to launch quickly and show traction pushes many teams to skip or shortcut research. The result is wasted effort and missed opportunities.

As Talvinder says, “Countless number of hours, effort, sweat being invested in building features that have no real market insight or backing.” The solution is not to do more research — it is to do smarter research.

You will learn how to prioritize research methods that deliver the biggest impact with the least cost and delay.

Exercise 1: Conducting Lean User Research Interviews

The real world is resource-constrained. Budgets are tight, timelines are short, and you rarely have access to hundreds of users.

Lean user research means focusing your effort where it counts. Instead of broad surveys, conduct in-depth interviews with a small but representative sample of users.

Here’s how:

1. Identify 5–7 users who represent your core customer segment. For example, if you are building a fintech app for salaried employees in Bengaluru, find users from that demographic.

2. Prepare a script of open-ended questions that explore their goals, pain points, and current workarounds. Avoid yes/no questions.

3. Conduct 30–45 minute interviews, ideally in person or video call. Record (with permission) and take notes.

4. After each interview, synthesize key insights: What problems did the user highlight? What solutions do they currently use? What unmet needs emerged?

5. Look for patterns across interviews. Which pain points are most common? Which solutions are inadequate?

This focused approach yields rich qualitative insights that guide product decisions.

Exercise 2: Competitive Research to Inform Priorities

Many PMs fall into the trap of chasing “feature parity” with competitors. This reactive approach leads to bloated roadmaps and diluted focus.

Instead, use competitive research to understand where your product can win — not just what features to copy.

Steps to conduct competitive analysis:

• List your direct and indirect competitors. For instance, if you are building an online grocery app, Swiggy, BigBasket, and local kirana apps are relevant.

• Identify their key features, pricing, and positioning. Use their apps, websites, and marketing materials.

• Talk to your users or prospects about their experiences with these competitors. What do they like? What frustrates them?

• Map your own product’s strengths and gaps relative to competitors.

• Prioritize features that address gaps in the market or improve user pain points that competitors ignore.

Talvinder highlights: “Your customer is your only true source of insight that will put you ahead of your competitor.” Competitive research without user input is guesswork.

Exercise 3: Market Research to Validate Assumptions

Market research helps you test hypotheses about your target market size, growth, willingness to pay, and segmentation.

A common failure is building a product for a market that is too small or not ready.

To do effective market research:

• Define your target market precisely. For example, “Tier 2 city salaried women aged 25–35 who use smartphones.”

• Use secondary data sources (industry reports, government stats, NASSCOM publications) to estimate market size and growth.

• Conduct surveys or focus groups with potential customers to test assumptions about pricing, features, and unmet needs.

• Analyze results for actionable signals. Are users willing to pay for your solution? Which segments show higher interest?

This step prevents you from launching products that lack a viable customer base.

Navigating the divide between theory and practice

Talvinder has seen many PMs struggle to balance ideal research practices with business realities.

The actual job is to prioritize research methods that give you the best insights quickly and cheaply.

Lean user research, guerrilla usability testing, and continuous feedback loops integrated into agile sprints are your allies.

Embed research into your product cycle, not as a one-time phase.

From the field: The research mindset

“Developing a research mindset means making user insight a continuous priority. Even small, regular doses of user feedback can steer your product away from costly mistakes.”

Adopt this mindset early. Your product decisions will be stronger and your stakeholders more confident.

Test yourself: The research prioritization challenge

Putting it all together: The research plan

When preparing to do research, create a plan that includes:

• Objective: What decision or hypothesis will this research inform?

• Method: Interviews, surveys, competitive analysis, prototype testing, etc.

• Sample: Who will you talk to or study?

• Timeline: When will you conduct and analyze?

• Deliverables: What insights or artifacts will you produce?

This discipline ensures your research is focused and actionable.

Where to go next

• Build your user research skills: User Research Methods

• Learn to translate insights into strategy: Product Vision and Strategy

• Master competitive analysis frameworks: Competitive Research and Market Analysis

• Integrate research into agile workflows: Agile Product Management

PL alumni now work at Flipkart, Razorpay, Swiggy, PhonePe, and many more leading companies.