With Contentsquare, you can analyze your users’ behavior in detail, find out their pain points and identify ways to improve their experience.
Now, let’s take a look at some the important features that make that possible.
Important features
Zone-based heatmaps
Contentsquare’s zone-based heatmaps show you how users interact with every element on your site or app. They show you which features they use the most and where user friction happens in your product.
Customer journey analysis
Contentsquare offers visualizations of your users’ progress through your product from start to finish. This will help you pinpoint where and why they drop off and help you improve your product’s UX.
Session replay
You can replay individual user sessions in your product from beginning to end, and capture everything your users did during the session. This way, you can uncover user pain points and frustrations and identify areas to improve their experience.
Retention analysis
With Contentsquare, you can analyze all user journeys and identify key events at each step. This will help you understand which features drive user engagement and where you can improve their journey.
Contentsquare pros and cons
Pros
Data availability
Comprehensive reports
Clear presentation
Cons
Lacking real-time overview
Complexity
Pricing
Contentsquare has a transparent pricing model based on the monthly number of pageviews on your website or sessions in your mobile app.
In other words, you pay based on the number of users using your product.
But, Figma’s stand-out feature is real-time collaboration – your entire discovery team can work together on your product’s design.
And that’s why Figma is a good choice.
Important features
Real-time collaboration
In Figma, multiple users can work on the same file simultaneously – they can view, comment and edit in real-time.
Version control
Figma automatically saves the version history, so you can track changes and revert to a previous version if you need to.
Developer Handoff
This feature allows engineers to inspect designs, get CSS and other code snippets and download assets directly from Figma which speeds up the development process.
Asset library
Teams using Figma can create a library of shared assets like:
Colors
Fonts
Effects
This way, you’ll ensure consistency and speed up the design process.
Figma pros and cons
Pros
User-friendly interface
Real-time collaboration
Cross-platform compatibility
Cons
Performance issues with large files
Limited offline access
Pricing
Figma has a free Starter plan, limited to 3 Figma or Figjam files without advanced features available in the paid plans.
For example, you can use Google Drive as an easily accessible and centralized repository for all of your discovery materials.
Also, your team can collaborate in real-time with tools like Google Docs, Google Slides, or Google Sheets.
Plus, you can use Google Forms to quickly create surveys to gather user feedback on your product.
And that’s why it can be very useful for your discovery efforts.
Important features
Collaboration and file sharing
Google Workspace’s suite of tools make collaboration during product discovery easy. Your discovery team can collaborate in real time and easily share files and materials – all in one place and in the same format.
Cloud storage
Google Workspace offers ample cloud storage space for all of the documentation and materials your team creates during discovery. And with the huge amount of storage you get on paid plans, you can easily store everything you need in an easily accessible place.
Advanced security features
Workspace includes a number of security features like two-factor authentication, secure data storage, and data loss prevention. This will keep your discovery efforts secure and private.
Google Workspace pros and cons
Pros
Convenience
Real-time collaboration
Wide range of tools
Cons
Internet dependence
Pricing for higher-tier plans
Pricing
While many of the tools in Google Workspace are available for free to individual users, they’re limited in functionality and aren’t suited for commercial use.
But, they also offer a range of paid plans geared towards different-sized businesses.
While it’s most well-known feature are their heatmaps, Hotjar is a platform offering 3 distinct products:
Observe – heatmaps and recordings
Ask – feedback collection and surveys
Engage – user interviews
So, you can use Hotjar not only to understand your users’ behavior but also to get direct feedback from them.
And that’s why it’s a good choice for product discovery.
Important features
Heatmaps
Hotjar’s heatmaps show you where your users click, move, and scroll through your product. This will show you which features get their attention and where they experience frustration when using your product.
Recordings
With Hotjar, you can record individual user sessions and watch their journey from start to finish. This will help you find ways to improve your product and identify and fix bugs.
Funnels
With this feature, you can see where and why users drop off in your funnel. This data will help you optimize your product, fix any issues, and improve your conversion rates.
Surveys
In Hotjar, you can create surveys to gather feedback from your users, which will help you quickly validate ideas and improve your product’s UX.
Hotjar pros and cons
Pros
Easy to use
Strong customer support
Filtering capabilities
Cons
Limited analytics depth
Limited features in cheaper plans
Pricing
Hotjar offers a free Basic plan, with limited functionality, for each of their solutions.
The 3 products (Observe, Ask, Engage) each have their own pricing schemes – but, if you subscribe to Observe, you get access to free Ask and Engage plans.
You can also create roadmaps to get everyone involved on the same page and minimize misunderstandings.
Jira Product Discovery also easily integrates with Jira Software, so you can have a seamless workflow from discovery to delivery.
And that will speed up your product’s development.
Important features
Integration with other Atlassian tools
Jira Product Discovery easily integrates with other Atlassian tools like Jira Software and Confluence.
Ideation
With Jira Product Discovery, you can collect ideas in one easily accessible place. You can also use templates to standardize the information captured for every idea.
Prioritization
One of Jira Product Discovery’s main strengths are its prioritization tools. With it, you can easily coordinate feature prioritization, and it supports a variety of prioritization methods.
Stakeholder engagement
You can create individualized roadmaps for your stakeholders and they can give feedback by leaving comments, votes, or reactions.
Jira Product Discovery pros and cons
Pros
Integration with other tools
Customization
Improved collaboration
Cons
Tricky UI
Complexity
Pricing
Jira Product Discovery has 2 available plans – Free and Standard.
With Maze, you can do user testing at scale and get feedback you can iterate on to improve your product and its UX.
They use a variety of user research methods and offer intuitive analytics so you can quickly act on the feedback you receive.
And that’s what product discovery is all about.
Important features
Tree testing
Here users evaluate if your product is easily navigable and if its features are easy to find using a deconstructed outline. With this method, you can find and fix issues in your user flow.
A/B testing
With Maze, you can do A/B testing and quickly validate which feature or design you should go with based on user feedback.
Template library
They have a wide selection of templates you can copy and customize to suit your needs and quickly start collecting feedback.
AI-powered analysis
Maze uses advanced AI models and algorithms that will help you analyze user feedback and get valuable insights in minutes.
Maze pros and cons
Pros
Intuitive analytics
Customizable templates
Remote testing capabilities
Cons
Complex reporting
Limited free features
Pricing
Maze offers a free plan for individuals just getting started with user research.
Its main strength is that it allows you to create clear roadmaps, which will help you align your team with your discovery goals.
You can also use it to gather user feedback in one place and to help you decide which features you should prioritize.
And that’s what makes it useful for product discovery.
Important features
Roadmaps
With Productboard, you can create customizable roadmaps you can integrate with other tools like Jira for a fully integrated workflow.
Feature prioritization
In Productboard, you have a dedicated space for organizing and prioritizing feature ideas, which will help you build features your customers want.
Product portal
Productboard allows you to create a public-facing product portal, where your users can share feedback and request features.
Centralized feedback and insights
You can gather all the feedback you receive from various channels in one place and stay on top of your users’ evolving needs.
Productboard pros and cons
Pros
Versatility
Interactive roadmaps
Strategic prioritization
Cons
Complex interface
Steep learning curve
Pricing
Unlike most of the other tools we’ve discussed, Productboard doesn’t have a free plan. But, they offer a 15-day free trial so you can see if it’s the right fit.
But, Slack can also be a very useful tool to use during product discovery.
And not just because it makes communication between your discovery team easier.
You can use it as a cost-effective hub for your discovery efforts.
In Slack, you can:
Share relevant files, materials, and resources with your entire team
Hold brainstorming and ideation sessions
Get real-time feedback from stakeholders
Integrate with other tools for a unified discovery workflow
And that’s why it’s a good choice.
Important features
Canvas
Slack’s Canvas feature allows you to add files, images, videos, and other formats in a single view, so your entire discovery team can have easy access to the resources they need.
File sharing
Slack makes it easy to share files in a wide variety of formats, which is what makes it so useful for your discovery efforts.
Slack Connect
You can give access to specific channels to people outside of your company, which is especially useful if you’re working with freelancers or an agency during discovery.
Huddles
Huddles allow your team to quickly connect with each other over an audio or video call, which is useful if they need to clear up any misunderstandings.
Slack pros and cons
Pros
Versatility
Real-time collaboration
Easy communication
Cons
Limited text formatting
Expensive for large teams/organizations
Pricing
Slack offers a free plan, so you can try it out before
Also, you can add screener questions to get the right audience to test your product.
And that will help you get the best results.
Important features
Diverse tester pool
UserTesting has a diverse pool of testers from over 30 countries, enabling you to get truly valuable feedback and pick the right users to test your product.
AI-powered analysis
UserTesting uses AI models that can summarize key insights from your tests and detect areas where users experience friction in just a click of a button.
Custom user networks
You can set up custom user networks with your stakeholders, employees, and social media followers – UserTesting handles the scheduling and payments.
UserTesting pros and cons
Pros
Fast responses
Easy setup
Variety of test types
Cons
Limited analysis in the basic plan
User screening concerns
Pricing
UserTesting doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all pricing scheme for their plans and they offer fully customizable plans to suit your specific needs.
Essentials – access to the basic user testing methods they offer so you can start gathering user feedback.
Advanced – with this plan, you get advanced features and live conversations with the users testing your product.
Ultimate – geared towards big organizations, this plan offers in-depth testing and AI-powered analysis.
Product discovery tools: FAQs
What is product discovery?
Product discovery is the process of researching your market and validating your product idea before developing your product.
Why is product discovery important?
Product discovery is important because it validates your product idea before you start full development. This minimizes the risk of building a product that won’t fit your market and can save you a lot of money in the long run.
What types of tools should I use for product discovery?
For successful product discovery, you should use a combination of collaboration, productivity, project management, and communication tools like:
Contentsquare
Figma
Google Workspace
Hotjar
Jira Product Discovery
Maze
Miro
Productboard
Slack
UserTesting
Need discovery for your product?
Do you have a great idea for a product but don’t know how to turn it into reality?
That’s where we come in.
We’ll make sure your idea is thoroughly researched and tested so it fits your market and meets your users’ needs.
If you want to learn more, check out our process and feel free to get in touch with us.
Ivan is truly passionate about what he does. In his role as Lead Product Manager, his strength is shaping products that not only meet market needs but also wow their users. And with over a decade of experience at software companies and startups, he knows all the ins and outs of building successful products.
In his spare time, he enjoys staying active, whether it's hitting the gym, playing sports, or hiking. His dream office? A terrace in Komiža on the island of Vis, taking in the warm Adriatic sun.
Product discovery is all about building a product that meets your users' needs. Here, we'll discuss it in-depth and show you how to do it successfully.
Product discovery workshops are a great way to generate ideas and align everyone with your discovery goals. Here, we'll show you how to lead one step by step.