Continuous Discovery Habits by Teresa Torres

(A Practical Guide to Empowering Product Teams)

Teresa Torres’ Continuous Discovery Habits stands out as one of the most actionable and transformative resources for product teams striving to build user-centred products. Unlike many other product development books, it doesn’t just focus on theory—it provides an actionable playbook for embedding customer-focused discovery into everyday workflows.

As someone who has worked extensively across design, strategy, and execution, I found the book particularly powerful in its ability to reframe discovery as a continuous habit rather than a reactive, one-off effort. Torres doesn’t simply challenge old ways of working; she equips teams with frameworks and tools to build better products while avoiding common pitfalls.

The Product Trio: A Non-Negotiable Collaboration

The concept of the Product Trio is arguably one of the book’s most valuable contributions. Torres advocates for continuous collaboration between product managers, designers, and engineers as the foundation for effective discovery. This isn’t just about ticking boxes or sharing updates—it’s about ensuring every key decision is made with shared ownership and diverse perspectives.

The Product Trio works because it dismantles outdated silos. In many organisations, discovery is often misinterpreted as a designer’s responsibility, a task relegated to the product manager, or, worse, entirely disconnected from engineering. The result? Solutions that fail to meet customer needs or align with technical realities. Torres flips this on its head, showing that when design, product, and engineering come together to co-own discovery, teams unlock far better solutions—and they get there faster.

Having worked in both siloed and collaborative teams, I’ve seen the difference this alignment can make. The Product Trio doesn’t just improve outcomes; it creates a shared understanding of the “why” behind decisions. Engineers become more invested, designers move beyond surface-level solutions, and product managers maintain a clear connection between customer problems and business goals. Torres makes it clear: discovery is not effective when it’s outsourced to one discipline. Collaboration is non-negotiable.

Anti-Patterns: Hard Truths Product Teams Need to Hear

What sets Continuous Discovery Habits apart is its unflinching spotlight on anti-patterns—common behaviours that quietly undermine discovery efforts. These are mistakes many teams (myself included) have made, often without realising the damage they cause.

Torres highlights several anti-patterns, but three stood out to me as particularly relevant:

• Solution-Led Thinking: Teams jumping straight into solutions instead of exploring opportunities. This results in surface-level fixes and wasted effort.
• Treating Discovery as a Phase: Seeing discovery as a preliminary step rather than an ongoing habit causes insights to stagnate and products to drift off course.
• Siloed Decision-Making: Allowing a single team or individual to dominate decisions weakens creativity and alignment.

These anti-patterns resonated deeply. I’ve encountered teams that pride themselves on “moving fast” but fail to validate assumptions, leading to months of rework. Similarly, treating discovery as a finite phase can feel efficient in the short term, but Torres makes it clear that this is a false economy. Discovery must be constant to keep pace with changing user needs and market conditions.

What I appreciate most is that Torres doesn’t just identify these issues—she offers solutions. Tools like the Opportunity Solution Tree provide teams with a systematic way to avoid falling into these traps, ensuring that every decision is rooted in a deep understanding of the problem space.

Practical, Sustainable Habits

One of the book’s greatest strengths is its emphasis on habits. Torres recognises that many teams view discovery as disruptive or overwhelming. Her response is to break it down into small, sustainable practices that teams can build incrementally.

• Weekly Customer Touchpoints: These don’t need to be elaborate, yet they provide a steady stream of insights to keep teams connected to their users.
• Lightweight Prototyping: Torres shows how teams can test assumptions quickly without overcommitting to solutions.
• Integrating Discovery into Delivery: The book challenges the outdated mindset that discovery and delivery must be separate processes. When teams treat them as interconnected, they make better decisions faster.

This approach is refreshingly pragmatic. Torres doesn’t prescribe a “perfect” process; she provides a flexible framework that teams can adapt to their needs. For teams struggling to adopt continuous discovery, the book removes the excuse of “we don’t have time” by showing how small, regular efforts drive the most significant impact.

Beyond Process: A Cultural Shift

While the book is practical, it also demands a cultural shift. Continuous discovery isn’t just a process change—it’s a mindset. Teams must be willing to challenge assumptions, collaborate openly, and value progress over perfection. For organisations still clinging to outdated delivery models or rigid hierarchies, Torres’ message may feel uncomfortable—but it’s necessary.

In my experience, this cultural aspect is often the hardest to tackle. Teams might embrace the tools but resist the habits because they require persistence and organisational buy-in. Torres acknowledges this indirectly, but I would have liked to see more strategies for overcoming resistance from stakeholders who still view discovery as “extra work.”

Final Thoughts

Continuous Discovery Habits is a book that every product designer, manager, and leader should read. It goes beyond theory to deliver practical, actionable guidance for teams that want to build better products.

The Product Trio concept provides a roadmap for effective collaboration, while the focus on anti-patterns is a much-needed wake-up call for teams falling into common traps. Most importantly, Torres makes discovery accessible by showing that small, consistent efforts drive meaningful change.

For me, this book has already influenced how I approach discovery in my work, from prioritising opportunities over solutions to fostering deeper collaboration with engineers and PMs. It’s not just a toolkit—it’s a mindset shift, and it’s one that every team needs if they want to remain adaptable, focused, and user-centred.

If you’re serious about delivering better products, Continuous Discovery Habits isn’t optional—it’s essential.