Approve the build?
Twelve interviews, zero findings
The situation
Three weeks of discovery on an approvals concept wrap up with a synthesis memo to product-team@ and leadership@. Twelve interviews with ops leads. Headline: strong validation, recommend we build.
Ravi Deshmukh · Product: “Full notes are in the shared drive. Happy to walk anyone through them, but I think the picture is clear.”
The memo says: 'Headline: strong validation. Recommend we build.' Before you reply, open one part of it; then say what happens next.
What you can see
E01 · Themes
Approvals are painful (11/12): 'bottleneck', 'chaotic', 'frustrating', 'black hole'. Strong interest in automation (10/12): ten reacted positively to the concept when walked through the mockups; several asked when it would be available. Mobile matters (7/12), unprompted in three cases. Integration is table stakes (9/12), though the specific tools varied a lot.
E02 · Quotes and rating
'Honestly, if you had this today I'd use it.' 'This is exactly the kind of thing we've been looking for.' 'The approval chain is a nightmare. Anything that fixes it, I'm interested.' 'I could see this saving us a lot of time.' Concept rating after seeing three mockups: average 4.2, nine of twelve gave a 4 or 5. Nothing in the memo on what anyone currently spends, uses or has built for approvals, and no commitments were asked for.
E03 · Recommendation and risks
Move to build, targeting professional services and SaaS for v1 with manufacturing as a fast-follow; scope is the approval chain plus mobile approve/reject, integrations deferred to v2. Risks listed: manufacturing may be a weaker segment (three of the four lowest ratings), integration scope unclear, two participants asked about pricing and were deflected.
Step 1 of 2
What do you open before replying?
Your first choice is kept. Changing your mind later counts as a retry.