Product direction for startups in Saudi Arabia

Frame the experience around a real task

Describe the user’s goal, the circumstances in which it arises and the steps they take today. Ask what makes the current approach inconvenient, risky or slow. This gives the team a product problem to investigate rather than a solution already assumed to be correct. Keep the user description specific enough to guide research and design choices.

In Saudi Arabia, product teams may need to consider Arabic and English content, different user routines and the environments in which a service is accessed. Treat these as research considerations: ask users what works for them and test language and interaction choices rather than relying on stereotypes.

• Map a key user task from trigger to completion.
• Note language, device and setting questions to validate.

Choose a small concept test

A first concept does not need every feature. Identify what the team most needs to learn—whether people understand the value, can complete a task or trust a particular step. Sketch the simplest experience that can answer that question and show it to relevant users. A clear test makes feedback more useful than asking whether people generally like an idea.

• Write the question the concept test must answer.
• Use realistic language and examples for the intended audience.

Prioritise with user and business needs together

A product can solve a user problem and still be difficult for a venture to sustain. Discuss user value alongside the team’s capabilities, delivery constraints and strategic aims. Make trade-offs explicit: what is essential to the core task, what can wait, and what needs more evidence before it earns effort.

This makes prioritisation a shared decision rather than a contest of opinions. Revisit it after research, especially when feedback comes from different user groups or languages. Preserve the reason behind each decision so later changes are deliberate.

Set the next product milestone

Describe a milestone that can be reviewed by the team and understood by partners. It might be a validated task flow, a prototype tested with a defined user group or an agreed set of product assumptions. Say what the milestone will inform and what remains outside its scope.

OCAYE supports product strategy and planning, not software implementation or guarantees of adoption. For technical delivery, legal questions or regulatory interpretation, founders should work with appropriately qualified providers.