The four big product risks

A helpful way to organise discovery is around four types of risk. Every product idea carries some of each. Discovery means identifying them and reducing the biggest ones first.

Value risk

Will customers choose to use or buy this? Value risk is the most common reason ideas fail. People may say an idea sounds good but never change their behaviour to use it.

For company cards: do finance managers at small companies actually want employees to carry company cards, or do they prefer the control of reimbursements?

Usability risk

Can people figure out how to use it? A valuable idea can still fail if the experience is confusing.

For company cards: can employees understand which card to use, how to attach receipts and what happens when a payment is declined?

Feasibility risk

Can we build it with the time, skills, technology and partners we have? This includes performance, integrations and data constraints.

For company cards: can we work with a card issuing partner, meet compliance requirements and sync transactions reliably in real time?

Viability risk

Does it work for the business? This covers costs, legal and compliance issues, sales and marketing fit, support load and the company's strategy.

For company cards: will interchange revenue and subscription upgrades cover partner fees and the extra support? Does legal see any regulatory obstacles in the countries we serve?

Using the risks in practice

For each idea, write two or three questions under each risk. Then ask:

1. Which of these, if the answer were bad, would kill the idea?
2. How much do we already know?
3. What is the cheapest way to find out?

You will often find that one or two risks dominate. If finance managers do not want cards at all, solving usability and feasibility is wasted effort. Start with the risk that could end the idea.

Risks shift over time

Early on, value risk usually dominates. As evidence builds that customers want something, usability and feasibility become more important. Near launch, viability questions such as pricing and support become pressing. Revisit the risks as you learn.

Shared ownership

The product manager is accountable for value and viability, the designer for usability and the engineer for feasibility, but everyone contributes to all four. An engineer may raise a viability concern about operating costs. A designer may notice a value problem in interviews. Encourage the trio to challenge each other across all four.