From Wish Lists to Product Driven Outcomes

A Short Guide to Turning Solution Requests into Tangible Business Results

I'm constantly astounded by feature requests like “change the button to X” or “move the button to position Y” that jump straight to solutions without addressing the underlying problem. These pre-packaged fixes—often driven by loud customer demands—are mere cosmetic tweaks that overlook the real challenges our ideal customers face.

At one large multinational organisation I worked with, meetings were dominated by a shopping list requests, typically from Customer Success or Sales. Despite investing millions in shipping these outputs, customer engagement barely budged and revenue targets were consistently missed.

Then, a seasoned product manager with deep experience in continuous discovery and product-led growth challenged the status quo. Rather than accepting another solution request at face value, they introduced a simple framework that mapped every feature request to three critical elements.

Their approach transformed the team’s process from simply checking off a to-do list to engaging in a strategic, iterative process that delivered real, measurable value.

Curious to find out what these three elements are? Read on below! 👇

---

Why Focus on Outcomes over Output?

There are three main reasons why you want to move away from the concept of shipping outputs towards outcomes. Even if you aren’t asked by stakeholders, continually communicate your vision for outcome-led development, for the following reasons:

1. Customer-centric Value:
   While a new dashboard or repositioned button might look impressive, these outputs don’t guarantee that the underlying customer problem is solved. Focusing on outcomes ensures every development effort directly addresses real customer needs.

2. Sustainable Growth and Impact:
   Counting the number of features shipped is a vanity metric. True progress is reflected in revenue growth, cost reduction, and improved customer satisfaction. Shifting from outputs to outcomes creates a roadmap for long-term, sustainable success.

3. Resource Optimisation and Efficiency:
   You may expect an output-driven approach optimises resource allocation, however it often leads to the opposite. Often, teams may be allocating resources and scattered efforts across many features or improvements that have no linkages to business value. By prioritising outcomes, teams can concentrate on projects that deliver tangible impact, ensuring every resource spent directly contributes to strategic business goals.

In a previous LinkedIn post, I provided a quick diagram to inculcate a very simple message: outputs may result into short term shipment speed, but potentially at the expense of driving true business value.

Outputs vs. Outcomes: What would you choose?

---

Three Key Steps to Transition to a Product-Led Growth Motion

There’s plenty of jargon and terminology product managers use that may confuse stakeholders. To pivot from a feature factory to a product-led approach, I argue you could distill your approach down to three key pillars: