Too many discovery efforts fail silently. Teams run interviews, ship features, and sprint ahead – only to realize months later that nothing moved the business.
Why? Because most discovery is just activity. Not alignment.
To change that, we partnered with David Pereira, a product leader & product coach who’s made a name for calling out “fake discovery” and showing teams how to course-correct with ruthless clarity.
In this article, we will break down his Discovery Health Check framework a fast, no-BS system to help product teams uncover what’s really holding them back before the next feature hits delivery.
“We need to start with the end in mind — and figure out what to do to get there. Most teams ask how to use a tool better, instead of asking how to uncover ideas actually worth pursuing.” — David Pereira
Let’s be real: discovery is broken in a lot of teams.
Discovery is the process of researching, understanding user problems, and validating ideas before building solutions.
The discovery phase is essential for ensuring that teams focus on real customer/user needs and avoid building unwanted features.
David calls this the Harsh Reality of product development — where PMs operate in fear, follow decisions, and deliver outputs without insight.
As David says:
“We need to start with the end in mind — and figure out what to do to get there. Most teams ask how to use a tool better, instead of asking how to uncover ideas actually worth pursuing.”
| Harsh Reality | Promised Land |
|---|---|
| Decision follower | Decision maker |
| No product vision | Vision-driven |
| Bets on features | Discovers ideas worth pursuing |
| Please the business | Partners with the business |
| Ships outputs | Drives outcomes |
| Talks to the business | Talks to users |
The product manager should plays a crucial role in leading the product discovery stage, ensuring that product initiatives align with user needs and business goals.
The goal? Become a value-driven PM.
Someone who sets direction, fosters collaboration, and leads the team toward meaningful product bets.
David’s framework is built around three brutally honest assessments.
They’re simple, fast, and shockingly effective at revealing what’s broken and what to fix.
Regular health checks help product discovery teams maintain alignment and adaptability, while strong team participation ensures that insights from all members are integrated throughout the product development journey.
| Health Check | What It Reveals | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Product Team Check | Misalignment on goals, ownership, priorities that ensures the product discovery team is aligned for a smooth product development journey | Retro or async survey |
| BS Management Check | Dysfunctional habits and blockers | Survey |
| Customer & Market Check | Gaps in user signals and missed opportunities | Workshop or survey |
Let’s walk through each one.
Before you run another interview, ask your team:
Use a quick async board (like Miro or FigJam) or a 30-minute retro to uncover where alignment is missing.
Alignment is especially important in a cross-functional team, where diverse expertise must collaborate effectively to reduce uncertainty and identify valuable problems and solutions. Often, you’ll find that everyone’s working hard … on different things.
David flags this as one of the most common red flags in product teams:
“If I hear a team talking only about what they’re doing — not what they’re learning — that’s a red flag. I want to hear: ‘We ran this experiment, we learned that, so we changed direction.”
Pro tip: A shared definition of discovery success is more important than speed. Clarity compounds.
Ready to use template: Product Team Health Check from Usersnap & David
This is David’s most infamous tool – and for good reason.
The Bullshit Management Check is a self-assessment that reveals how your company’s internal culture might be quietly suffocating discovery.
Ask your team: which of these dysfunctions are “almost always” present?
Embracing continuous learning is essential to overcoming these cultural blockers and fostering a healthier discovery environment.
If this list hurts — good. You’re not alone.
“More features won’t guarantee more value. Playing the outcome game is harder — it forces you to measure, reflect, and iterate. That’s uncomfortable, but necessary.” — David Pereira
The point isn’t to shame anyone, but to surface the blockers that quietly kill discovery.
Ready to use template: BS Management Health Check from Usersnap & David
Most teams look at competitors and either blindly mimic their features or dismiss them entirely.
Instead, run a Competitive Mapping Workshop:
Analyzing the competitive landscape and conducting competitive research helps you identify gaps and opportunities in the market. When comparing your product to competitors, it’s also crucial to understand your target audience to ensure your product addresses their real needs.
Use this to shift your focus from competitive fear to opportunity creation.
As David bluntly puts it:
“You can never be a better shadow if all you do is copy competitors. You need to understand what your customers need — and then deliver where others fall short.”
Ready to use template: Competitive Mapping from Usersnap & David
Ready to use template: Customer Health Survey from Usersnap & David
You don’t need a massive initiative to run these checks. Just one focused week:
| Day | Activity |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | Run Product Team Health Check (retro or async) |
| Day 2 | Launch Bullshit Management Check survey |
| Day 3 | Host Competitive Mapping Workshop |
| Day 4 | Synthesize insights and define the next discovery theme |
| Day 5 | Synthesize insights and define next discovery theme |
Repeat quarterly — and you’ll never drift far from what matters.
By making this 5-day plan a regular practice, you’re embracing continuous discovery an ongoing, iterative approach that keeps your product aligned with evolving user needs and market changes.
Discovery doesn’t end when you ship. It ends when your team learns — together.
Make learning a habit by asking weekly:
A product discovery coach can help teams build these habits of learning and improvement, guiding them to continuously reflect and grow together.
This makes discovery an ongoing team sport, not a one-off solo mission.
When your team completes the Discovery Health Checks, you’ll gain:
From there, move into product delivery with:
This is how you bridge discovery and delivery, not by separating them, but by connecting them through evidence, not opinion. A structured delivery process ensures that insights from discovery inform the delivery phase, leading to more effective and user-centered products.
Want to get started today? Grab our free tools:
Use our templates to capture user stories, refine feature ideas, and prioritize the most valuable features throughout your product discovery and development process.
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