Until the moment Steve Jobs went on stage at Moscone Center in San Francisco in January 2007 and introduced the iPhone to the world, nobody knew they needed a smartphone. Nokia had recently sold their one-billionth phone, and it seemed people were generally satisfied with their phones. During the seven months that passed from the time Jobs held the first iPhone in his hands onstage until Apple began shipping iPhones to the masses, there was a bombardment of TV commercials in the U.S. that took a (successful) stab at creating the need.

Today, many people consider their smartphone (whether an iPhone, Android, or other) as an integral extension of their body. They don’t leave home without it. If they do, they go back and retrieve it. The reason is because they need it. This day and age, smartphones solve problems people have, save time people can never get back, and meet oh-so-many human needs. Yes, smartphones also turn some people into anti-social creatures, but that’s for a different book.

Many products are developed based on a hunch, a judgment call, incomplete information, or faith-based hallucinations. Only after they fail miserably do developers ask themselves why. In most cases, the answer is that the product does not meet a real user need or solve a problem people really care about. This chapter walks you through one straightforward technique for uncovering user needs, answering that vital question “What do people need?”

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