BCS, The Chartered Institute for ITPublished by BCS

Product Discovery
Thinking.

Stop shipping product slop. Discover ideas your customers actually want.

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“A highly practical guide for building products with AI — without losing the human touch.”

Jamie Bartlett

Bestselling author of How to Talk to AI (And How Not To)

Inside the book

We are fuelling the failure economy.

Welcome to the Failure Economy — Google Glass, Amazon Fire Phone, iPod Hi-Fi, Crystal Pepsi and Quibi piled up under a 'No Market Need' flag
80%

of features in the average software product are rarely or never used. Discovery is how you build the other 20%.

Source: Pendo

$29.5B

wasted globally each year on software features that customers don't want or never use.

Source: Pendo, Feature Adoption Report

70%

of digital transformations fail to deliver the business outcomes they set out to achieve.

Source: McKinsey & Company

Product discovery thinking is…

“the discipline of learning relentlessly about people, problems and possibilities, so we can make better decisions before committing valuable time, money and effort to a solution.”

Why this book

When AI can build almost anything, human judgement becomes the most valuable skill.

The definitive guide for anyone responsible for shaping what gets built. It shows you how to embed discovery into your existing sprints, roadmaps and reviews — whatever process or framework you already follow — drawing on behavioural science, real practitioner stories and insights from more than 200 experts.

The discovery journey

Three parts that build on each other.

Part I

Understanding product discovery

Why good people end up building the wrong things — and the foundations that stop it happening.

  • Welcome to the Failure Economy
  • Recognise the modes of discovery
  • Turn uncertainty into manageable risk
  • Break the Five Curses of Product Risk
  • Make it safe to fail
Part II

Practising product discovery

The FEATR funnel, plus the practical tools and mindset shifts for every stage of the work.

  • Find problems worth solving
  • Explore the needs behind the problem
  • Generate and assess creative ideas
  • Test hypotheses and learn from results
  • Run time-boxed discovery events
  • Make discovery an ongoing practice
Part III

Mastering product discovery

The human skills that matter most now that AI has made the building part easy.

  • Read stakeholders and navigate the politics
  • Facilitate trust, empathy and sharper thinking
  • Ask powerful questions
  • Present ideas with impact
  • Build a discovery culture

Who it's for

Product discovery is a capability, not a job title. Written for Product Managers, Business Analysts, Product Owners, UX practitioners, Engineers, Forward Deployed Engineers and Founders — and for anyone with an idea and a laptop who cares more about outcomes than output.

I want to know more.

Get fresh product discovery thinking in your inbox.

Sneak peek

Full of beautiful hand drawn visuals.

Endorsements

What readers are saying.

A refreshingly honest guide to discovery. It reshaped how I think about risk, ideas and the messy politics of product work.

Harpal Lidder

VP, IIBA Toronto & Business Analyst, MiWay

Proves that moving beyond copy-paste frameworks is key to deeply understanding client problems and delivering bespoke outcomes.

Jahanger Hussain

Director of Product Solutions, Decoded

Engaging storytelling and powerful real-life examples — discover how to leverage your human skills as the robots take over.

Todd Cherches

CEO, BigBlueGumball & Author of VisuaLeadership

A book that should be on every IT professional's shelf — a reminder that technology is a means to solve problems, not an end in itself.

Daniele Gianni

Enterprise Architecture & Project Management, EU Agency

An insightful, highly practical guide to the mindset and culture behind valuable product discovery. One you'll return to throughout your career.

Annie Birchall

Lead Product Manager, Methods, an Alten Company

Built on the three key factors to creating great products: people, problems and possibilities.

Rishad Tobaccowala

Author of Rethinking Work, ex-Chief Strategist, Publicis Groupe

Refreshing honesty is what finally makes it land. Evidence-based decisions are one thing; having the backbone to say no is another.

Annie Moss-Quate

Founder, Product Assembly

I can't think of a better person to lead a product discovery journey than Paddy — a perfect product package.

Ben Walder

Author of The Visual Agile Coach Playbook

Arriving at exactly the right time — a highly recommended read for product teams, business partners and leaders.

James McConnell

BCS Accredited Trainer, Duco Digital Training

Fantastic — accessible, well researched and full of relatable examples. Discovery and creativity still need structure and discipline.

Christina Lovelock

Tech Author & Director, Catch 22 Consulting

Paddy turns discovery into a practical toolkit any product role can use immediately — a genuine playbook, not just theory.

Erivan de Sena Ramos

Business Analysis Lead, Esri Australia

As AI accelerates output, the real risk is building the wrong things faster. This book proves the value of asking better questions first.

Vincent Mirabelli

Principal Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group

Clear, practical and very human — turns product discovery from a buzzword into a daily practice.

Iurii Gomon

Founder, The Passionate Business Analyst

A rare book that combines strategic thinking with practical action — an outstanding work of deep thinking, expertise and craftsmanship.

Boby Jose

Author of Test Automation: A Manager's Guide

A refreshingly honest guide to discovery. It reshaped how I think about risk, ideas and the messy politics of product work.

Harpal Lidder

VP, IIBA Toronto & Business Analyst, MiWay

Proves that moving beyond copy-paste frameworks is key to deeply understanding client problems and delivering bespoke outcomes.

Jahanger Hussain

Director of Product Solutions, Decoded

Engaging storytelling and powerful real-life examples — discover how to leverage your human skills as the robots take over.

Todd Cherches

CEO, BigBlueGumball & Author of VisuaLeadership

A book that should be on every IT professional's shelf — a reminder that technology is a means to solve problems, not an end in itself.

Daniele Gianni

Enterprise Architecture & Project Management, EU Agency

An insightful, highly practical guide to the mindset and culture behind valuable product discovery. One you'll return to throughout your career.

Annie Birchall

Lead Product Manager, Methods, an Alten Company

Built on the three key factors to creating great products: people, problems and possibilities.

Rishad Tobaccowala

Author of Rethinking Work, ex-Chief Strategist, Publicis Groupe

Refreshing honesty is what finally makes it land. Evidence-based decisions are one thing; having the backbone to say no is another.

Annie Moss-Quate

Founder, Product Assembly

I can't think of a better person to lead a product discovery journey than Paddy — a perfect product package.

Ben Walder

Author of The Visual Agile Coach Playbook

Arriving at exactly the right time — a highly recommended read for product teams, business partners and leaders.

James McConnell

BCS Accredited Trainer, Duco Digital Training

Fantastic — accessible, well researched and full of relatable examples. Discovery and creativity still need structure and discipline.

Christina Lovelock

Tech Author & Director, Catch 22 Consulting

Paddy turns discovery into a practical toolkit any product role can use immediately — a genuine playbook, not just theory.

Erivan de Sena Ramos

Business Analysis Lead, Esri Australia

As AI accelerates output, the real risk is building the wrong things faster. This book proves the value of asking better questions first.

Vincent Mirabelli

Principal Research Director, Info-Tech Research Group

Clear, practical and very human — turns product discovery from a buzzword into a daily practice.

Iurii Gomon

Founder, The Passionate Business Analyst

A rare book that combines strategic thinking with practical action — an outstanding work of deep thinking, expertise and craftsmanship.

Boby Jose

Author of Test Automation: A Manager's Guide

Paddy Dhanda

About the author

Hi, I'm Paddy.

Paddy Dhanda has led Product Management and Agile practices at one of Europe's largest technology training providers, shaping human and AI-powered product skills for some of the world's best-known brands. Previously, he spent two decades as a practitioner across sectors, including banking, telecoms and consulting.

Paddy is an international keynote speaker, podcast host and guest lecturer on the University of Birmingham MBA programme, where he helps inspire the next generation of product leaders.

Paddy Dhanda (he/him)

Director of Product & Agile Practices · Author, Keynote Speaker & Podcast Host

In the wild

A few of my pics.

Tap any photo to see it full size.

Speaking & workshops

Book me for your keynote.

I help product leaders and teams discover better ideas in the age of AI — on stage, in the room, or remotely.

  • Conference keynotes

    Thought-provoking talks on AI, product discovery and human creativity.

  • Leadership workshops

    Hands-on sessions for product, design and engineering teams.

  • In-house training

    Bespoke programmes tailored to your team's challenges and stack.

Paddy Dhanda — keynote speaker portrait

Get in touch

Tell me about your event

Share a few details and I'll come back to you within a couple of working days.

Product Discovery Thinking — book cover by Paddy Dhanda

Start building things people actually want.

  • 20+ practical frameworks you can use straight away
  • Two decades of lessons, plus insights from 200+ experts
  • Beautifully illustrated throughout by Grant Wright

Published by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT

Connect with me

My links.

© 2026 Paddy Dhanda

Published by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT