When building a product with multiple funding customers and stakeholders, use a structured workshop process. Present a proposal, clarify questions, gather reactions, amend, and then vote. This formal process forces alignment and achieves consensus, even with competing interests.
For large-scale B2B products, validate demand by signing customers who not only commit to buying but also pre-fund development. This model secures capital, guarantees early adopters, and ensures the product is built with direct, committed customer input from the very beginning.
Contrary to typical agile discovery, projects in high-stakes environments benefit from starting with extremely strict processes and documentation. This establishes a compliant foundation. Flexibility can be introduced later, once core requirements and constraints are fully mastered, rather than starting loose and adding rigor.
For products targeting specialized professionals like pilots, credibility is paramount. The most effective way to ensure product-market fit and user adoption is to hire an actual end-user (like a pilot) onto the product team. They can co-create concepts, validate language, and champion the product to their peers.
The stated goal of replacing a paper process often masks the true, transformative benefit. For Swiss AviationSoftware, digitizing the cockpit log wasn't just about saving paper; it enabled real-time data transmission that allowed ground crews to proactively prepare for maintenance hours before a plane landed, dramatically improving efficiency.
Standard validation isn't enough for mission-critical products. Go beyond lab testing and 'triple validate' in the wild. This means simulating extreme conditions: poor connectivity, difficult physical environments (cold, sun glare), and users under stress or who haven't been trained. Focus on breaking the product, not just confirming the happy path.