User Insights for Product Decisions
Learn to make key product decisions based on a deeper understanding of customers.
As a product leader, you will spend the rest of your career making decisions based on user feedback. To make great decisions, just talking to users isn't enough.
First, you must carefully define the business decision and understand the evidence needed to make that decision. Then use research methods from this program to gather evidence and synthesize insights into a compelling storyline that guides the organization to the right choices. This is not an intro-to-research course. It's about using research to make great decisions and drive innovation.
To join User Insights for Product Decisions you need to be a Reforge Member.
Built By Top Executives
Behzod Sirjani
EIR & Program Partner at Reforge, Founder of Yet Another Studio and Partner at HmntyCntrd, formerly Slack, Meta
Behzod is an Executive in Residence and Program Partner at Reforge, where he built and leads the User Insights for Product Decisions program. Outside of Reforge, he runs Yet Another Studio and is a partner at HmntyCntrd, working with organizations to develop intentional practices of learning and more human-centered leaders. Previously, Behzod led Research Operations at Slack and was a Senior UX Researcher at Meta.
What you get as a Reforge Member
Reforge membership combines cohort-based programs with a year-round experience to help you learn, execute, and scale yourself and your company. Participation in User Insights for Product Decisions and access to the content and community of all programs are included.
On-Demand
Access content from all programs
Step-by-step projects to help you execute
Content releases, events, and updates
Connect with peers solving similar problems
Cohort Based Programs
4 or 6 weeks, part-time, virtual, and intense
Built and led by executives
Application focused
Live case studies with a cohort of peers
User Insights for Product Decisions Program Format
Deep Learning Guided By A Leading Executive
Each week you will go through 2 to 3 hours of self-paced material covering actionable frameworks and proven systems for B2B & B2C companies that were created by leading executives. The topics this program covers are:
week 1: defining your decision
Customer Insights is all about making product decisions. We’ll start by defining and scoping the product decision, identifying the type of evidence you need, and planning your research approach.
Week 2: Interviews
No matter the decision, you’ll probably need to talk to users. But how to talk to users to get the right evidence can vary widely depending on the product decision you need to make. You will learn the different methods of talking to users, how it maps to different types of product, and how to execute interviews in a thoughtful and unbiased manner.
Week 3: Design Research
The second most common method of gathering evidence for product decisions is through design research. You will learn the different design research methods, how they map to different product decisions, and then how to execute each with depth and precision.
Week 4: SynthesiS and decision-making
Once you gather a lot of raw evidence, you need to synthesize it into a compelling storyline that helps facilitate the product decision. You will learn different synthesis techniques, how to document evidence and insights, and then communicate them across functions.
Live Case Studies Each Week
Each week, you will go deeper by attending a live online session via Zoom where we will walk through a real-life scenario applying the concepts you learned.
Hear how industry leaders from companies like Slack, Patreon, Uber, and more have addressed similar challenges.
Former Reforge guests include:
Adam Fishman CPO at Imperfect Foods Angel Steger Dir Product Design at Facebook
Melissa Tan ex-VP Product Growth at Ro, Dropbox Mike Duboe ex-Head of Growth at Stitch Fix
Alessandra Sales VP of Growth at ipsy
Ludo Antonov Head of Growth Engineering at Lyft Dun Wang CPO at Calm Crystal Widjaja ex-SVP Growth + BI at Gojek Joanna Lord ex-CMO at Skyscanner, ClassPass David Bakey ex-VP Consumer at Harry’s David Burson Head of Product Growth at Canva
Darius Contractor Head of Growth at Airtable
Bela Stepanova VP of Product at Iterable
Nate Moch VP of Product Teams at Zillow
Heidi Gibson Sr. Director of Product Management at GoDaddy
Connect With Peers Solving Similar Problems
Every week there will be optional opportunities to connect with peers in the cohort solving similar problems to you. Join a small group to discuss applying the concepts, attend/host a community deep-dive session on a special topic, or discuss questions within the forum and Slack.
Apply the Concepts
Translate the frameworks to your company with active, hands-on exercises, worksheets, and weekly micro-projects. Expect to spend about 2 hours a week on active learning.
A plan for Action
Build a plan that you can take back to your company. Start small, achieve results, and amplify your impact.
Become A Member To Join User Insights for Product Decisions
To join the User Insights for Product Decisions you need to be a Reforge Member. To participate in our upcoming cohort apply today.
Membership includes participation in a cohort-based program and ongoing access to content from all programs, deep-dive sessions, and a community of vetted peers to help you execute what you learn.
Who this program is for.
This program was built for:
Reforge members who build and launch new products: product managers, engineers, designers, data analysts, and more:
✓ 3+ Years of Professional Experience
✓ Product Role
✓ Strong Initiative
✗ Entry Level
✗ Career Switching
✗ CEO or Founder
In addition to participating in User Insights for Product Decisions, get access to everything you need to execute…
Your growth doesn’t stop with the cohort, it just begins. When you join as a Reforge Member, in addition to participating in User Insights for Product Decisions, you will get on-demand access to everything you need to execute.
Access All Program Content
Your career doesn’t follow the schedule of a course. Access content across all programs when you need it:
Cross-Functional Growth Programs
Growth Series, Advanced Growth Strategy, Retention + Engagement, Monetization + Pricing, Experimentation + Testing
Product Management Programs
Product Management Foundations, Mastering Product Management, Product Strategy, Product Leadership, Scaling Product Delivery, Data for Product Managers, Finding Product/Market Fit
Marketing & Engineering Programs
Marketing Strategy, Growth Marketing, Engineering Management, Technical Strategy, Brand Marketing, Marketing Leadership
Step-by-Step Projects
Go from learning to execution with step-by-step projects to guide implementation.
Content releases, events, and updates
New projects, cases, and examples across topics in Product, Growth, and Marketing
Deep dive sessions
Throughout the year, Reforge partners host live sessions to examine critical topics and coach community members through their most difficult issues
"Reforge was the most valuable educational experience of my life. It’s like a mini MBA that I’ll use for the rest of my career."
Brandon Smith, Product Manager, Kiva
Reforge 2019
“You learn so much useful and applicable information at Reforge. I can definitely see myself referring back to lessons when I need to tackle growth projects at work. I would recommend any of my friends or colleagues to take a Reforge program if they want to deepen and broaden their knowledge of growth.”
Adrienne Liu, Product Manager, Spotify
Reforge 2020