By Bill Carr: ex VP Amazon

I was a VP at Amazon from 2004 to 2014. In that time, every major new product innovation was built using the same exact process. 11 years later, they are still using that process for everything they build. Here’s how it works.

The process is called Working Backwards.

It flips the traditional invention approach by not starting with a company’s internal capabilities or current products. It starts instead with a clear definition of a customer problem. The goal is to write a press release describing a significant customer problem or need, how current solutions don’t solve the problem, and the new product user experience for a solution to the problem.

This approach is “Backwards” because it starts with a press release (the last step in building a new product ). Most companies start building products by evaluating their existing technology or capabilities, or by looking at new trends, and then trying to build something customers will want.

Amazon takes the opposite approach.

Working Backwards starts with a deep understanding and concise definition of a customer problem before moving to potential solutions.

After writing the Press Release, you add a list of frequently asked questions, or FAQs.

The FAQs include the likely questions from customers and the press, as well as the typical questions the internal leaders ask about any new product idea, like "How big is the market?" and "How will we solve the technical challenges?"

This document forces teams to clarify not only the customer problem they are solving, but also the ideal outcome from the customer’s perspective.

This is all done before a single line of code is written or a prototype is built.

To do this, teams frame the problem statement, the customer behaviors, and existing alternative solutions. Then, they describe the ideal customer experience, outlining how the product would solve the problem meaningfully.

Finally, they anticipate key challenges (legal, technical, competitive, or operational) and document how they will address them.

The key here is this:

If the problem statement is weak, unclear, or does not represent a significant customer need (with a large TAM), then moving forward with development is a waste of time and money.

While working backwards, teams iterate on the problem definition until it is strong and clear, or they move on to a different idea.

Amazon has used this process to build many multi-billion dollar businesses, and it remains a core part of their innovation strategy. By working backwards, Amazon ensures that the products they build have a clear reason to exist before any resources are spent.