FBI Profiling Techniques for Product Managers
Using the learnings of forensic psychologists & law enforcements officials about criminal profiling to improve product management work.
Criminal profiling is used by law enforcement agencies ever since ‘Jack the Ripper’ terrorized the citizens of Whitechapel at the victorian age.
But mainly, this method has been significantly used since the 1970s by the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). They have created what is today known as the detection and classification method for personality and behavioral characteristics based on analysis of the actions (or crimes) a person committed.
The Criminal Profiling Framework
The method uses a sequence of identifications that help detectives build a psychological profile of an offender based on the premise that behavior reflects personality.
The process is loaded with massive types of data points and collection of evidence in different fields, but if we try to make the guiding questions into a framework, this is quite similar to how it would look like:
Understanding the pre-crime motivations
- What fantasy or plan was in place before the act? What triggered the person to act some days and not others?
- Was it planned and controlled? or impulsive and opportunistic?
Identifying method and manner
- What was the modus operandi? (method of committing the crime)
- What type of victim or victims did the murderer select?
Short-term post-crime behavior
Did the offender dispose of the evidence? Have they cleaned the scene? Are they a “hide” or “run” kind of person?
Long-term post-crime behavior
- Is there a behavior change?
- Is the offender trying to inject himself into the investigation?
From questions to profile
These questions lead an investigator to come up with a list of information about the offender:
Using the internal motivations that move them to actions and how they conduct their actions (are they organized/ disorganized?), an investigator can learn about the type of person who can perform such an act. Using deduction and understanding the type of life a person needs to have, we can learn about the demographic information of a felon, their family status, their probable education level, personality traits, the way they think of themselves, etc.).
This is how a criminal profile is created.
“The basic premise is that behavior reflects personality” — FBI agent Gregg McCrary.
Applying into product management
As product people, we can have a higher understanding of psychological profiles and identify more precise user needs. Define in higher precision why our product solves a user problem and even help us apply more accurate stakeholder management to understand motivations and needs.
Better User-personas
Closer knowledge of our users will help to better define why our product solves a user problem and better optimize the experience of their lives.
Understanding the pre-action motivations
- What job are they trying to accomplish before the act? What triggered the person to act some days and not others?
- Where do they conduct their actions? Are their actions planned and controlled? or impulsive and opportunistic?
Identifying method and manner
- Where & when are they when they make an action?
- How did they choose the conduct the action? Why did they choose the flow that they did?
- What type of platform do they use?
Short-term post-action behavior
- Is there any set of specific follow-up actions the user is conducting after a specific action?
- What are those actions? What do they say about the users’ feelings towards the action?
Long-term post-action behavior
- How involved is the user after conducting an action?
- Is this behavior a one-off or a repeating action?
- Is this action changing the user’s life?
- Will the user recommend the product in the long term?
Identifying the user profile can tell us, for example- if our users are organized/ disorganized. This can help us understand when in the funnel should they be targeted. For instance- Should they be triggered randomly to awake their opportunistic need? Or should we learn their patterns and enhance/ inject new experiences into their regular flow?
Better Stakeholders Management
Stakeholder management can also benefit from profiling, and as product managers, using these tools to understand our stakeholders better can help us convey more accurate messages and drive things forward. When we aim to drive for a specific action, it is better to know our stakeholder’s motivations and needs.
Understanding the pre-action motivations
- What is the stakeholder agenda?
- What are they trying to accomplish in the product/ company?
- How do they see you as a counterpart for that goal?
Identifying method and manner
- How best do they like to communicate?
- When is it most comfortable for them to discuss your ideas?
- What made them decide to support an initiative in the past?
Short-term post-action behavior
- How do they show their support? What are the actions they do when they believe in an initiative?
Long-term post-action behavior
- How involved are they after supporting an initiative?
- Will they want to be involved in future sessions with other stakeholders?
- How will they stay supportive in the long term?
How else can FBI Profiling Techniques Help Product Managers
As product managers, understanding the motivations and behavior types of both our users. And our stakeholders can help us more carefully identify the WHY and WHAT for what we want to build and better push forward and harness different stakeholders as our allies in the path there.
This method can be used in many product-related situations, like recurring and building a team, identifying our own path for career growth, or even product/ company branding processes.
But, most importantly, the criminal profiling framework used by the FBI can lead us to think a little deeper about motivations, needs, and actions- and what they tell us about the person conducting them. Helping us feel the pain of another person’s shoes and know their need or motivation.
Thus, hopefully, helping us plan more accurately and prioritize our products by identifying with others, being better listeners, and being empathy-focused product professionals.
