Marie-Pier Pipon-Lavoie — Build products worth adopting.
Independent product strategist based in Munich, working with B2B teams worldwide in English and French, and with German-speaking teams.
I help B2B teams understand why their product isn’t adopted and what to fix. I look at how it’s actually used, and where its value breaks down for the people using it.
Book a free 30-min call · marie@piponlavoie.com
Why now
AI has dramatically reduced the cost of building software. It has not reduced the cost of building the wrong product.
A product can be well-designed, technically sound, and still struggle to find its place in people's everyday work. Often, it's because some assumptions haven't been challenged: what people need (are we solving a problem that actually matters to them?), how people work (does the product fit their habits, workflows, and constraints?), and what makes it worth adopting (is the value clear enough to justify changing what they already use?).
As building gets faster, the ability to understand people and validate assumptions is becoming a competitive advantage.
80% of features in the average software product are rarely or never used (Pendo, 2019).
Services
01 · Adoption diagnostic — from €2,900
Your product isn’t being adopted the way you expected, and you don’t know why. 2 weeks · 5–8 user interviews.
We look at what your product is meant to achieve and where it falls short. Then I dig into the workflows that matter most to find what's causing the gap.
Deliverables: product objectives and performance gap, critical workflow assessment, identified friction points and adoption barriers, prioritized recommendations.
02 · Validation sprint — from €5,900
You’re about to commit months of work to a redesign or a new feature. Make sure people will actually adopt it before you build it. 3 weeks · 1 testing round with 5–6 users.
We frame one decision and the assumptions behind it. I prototype the solution and test it with your users to see whether they’d actually adopt it, then help your team decide: build, change or drop.
Deliverables: a clear question to answer, agreed with your team; a prototype of the solution; tests with 5–6 users; a clear recommendation: build, change or drop.
03 · Value proof — custom proposal
You’re preparing to raise. Your numbers show what’s happening, but investors will ask why customers stay, and who your product really works for. We look at your numbers and talk to your customers to understand who gets the most value from your product, and why. You get evidence that explains your traction to investors and sharpens your go-to-market.
Deliverables: who gets the most value from your product and why, interviews with key customers, an evidence report you can share with customers and investors, a simple way to keep measuring over time.
Need a second opinion or ongoing support? I also work on a flexible advisory basis.
Proudly partnered with DeepSight Society, which turns deep-tech complexity into commercial traction worldwide: deepsightsociety.com. I'm an associate expert in product strategy, user research and adoption, working alongside their go-to-market specialists.
Case study: Wefight, digital health
When user needs change, product value changes too.
The challenge: patients joined Wefight around diagnosis, when they needed answers and support. Once those needs were met, they stopped using the app.
What I did: as Head of Design, I led the research end to end. I studied how patients’ needs changed over time, turned what we learned into a product hypothesis, and tested it in person with 14 patients through four complementary studies.
The insight: patients weren’t leaving because the product was hard to use. They were leaving because it had helped them, and they didn’t need it anymore. The business question became: how do you grow with your users instead of losing them? The patient who outgrew the product had something the next patient needed. That became the new product opportunity.
The outcome: 14 patients tested in person over 3 days; 86% of participants said they trusted the new app; the new direction we tested ranked first out of 17 features.
About Marie-Pier
My background is in social sciences, and I've been working on digital products for over 10 years. I've always been interested in understanding why people behave the way they do.
But I've also learned that understanding users doesn't necessarily mean their needs will influence product decisions. That's one of the reasons I became interested in business: I wanted to understand how those decisions were made, and how to bring users into the conversation. Because understanding people should lead to better product decisions.
I'm originally from Canada, spent eight years in France, and now live in Germany. I've also had the opportunity to work with teams in different countries, including Japan.
Today, I use what I've learned to help teams from all around the world make better product decisions, connecting user behavior, data, and business objectives. I also collaborate with universities to explore how academic research can help us better understand and address real product challenges.
Organizations I worked with: Rakuten Symphony, Septeo, Google Ateliers numériques, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier.
Experience
- Product Discovery Consultant, independent, Munich (2025–present): I help B2B teams assess a product’s perceived value and understand why it is or isn’t adopted, beyond usefulness, by looking at effort, risk and organizational context.
- Lead UX Research & Operations, Rakuten Symphony (2022–2023), telecom, France & Japan: led UX research and product strategy on internal low-code / no-code platforms, turning insights into product decisions that contributed to a 64% improvement in performance.
- Head of Design, Wefight (2021–2022), digital health: led product discovery and design during a strategic product pivot, and led the design team.
- UX Lead / Product Design Manager, Septeo (2021), LegalTech: led product and UX initiatives on a core B2B SaaS platform used by about 75% of the French notary market, including the end-to-end redesign of a critical product.
- UX Designer, Septeo (2018–2021), LegalTech: improved usability and adoption of core notary software, identified why key features were underused and introduced structured user research and testing.
- UX Analyst, GTI (formerly MultipleMedia), Montréal (2016–2017), web agency: analyzed product performance and user journeys and delivered data-driven recommendations for clients across industries.
- UX & Product Management intern, 8P Design, Montréal (2015–2016), web agency.
Teaching and speaking: guest lecturer at Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier (Applied UX & Innovation in the Digital Health Industry, M.A. Cognitive Psychology & Human Factors, 2022); UX design lecturer at EPSI Montpellier (2020); workshop speaker at Google Ateliers numériques and SunnyTech (2019); organizer and speaker of FLUPA UX meetups in Montpellier.
Education: Bachelor in Communication Sciences (Media and Technology), Université de Montréal; DEC in Human Sciences (Psychology profile), Cégep Montmorency.
Languages: English and French (research and projects), German B2+/C1 (team collaboration and test moderation). Based in Munich; on site in the Munich area, Berlin, Paris and Montpellier, remote worldwide.
FAQ
What is an adoption diagnostic?
A 2-week study to find out why users aren't adopting your product or a feature. It includes 5–8 user interviews and ends with prioritized recommendations. From €2,900.
What is a validation sprint?
A 3-week sprint to test a redesign or a new feature with 5–6 users before you build it, ending with a clear recommendation: build, change or drop. From €5,900.
What is value proof?
A study for startups preparing to raise: I look at your numbers and talk to your customers to show who gets the most value from your product, and why. It explains your traction to investors and sharpens your go-to-market. Custom proposal.
Who do you work with?
B2B teams of all sizes. My current focus is early-stage startups, and I have extensive experience with large companies, which I work with on a custom quote.
Do you work remotely or on site?
Both. I'm based in Munich and work on site in the Munich area, and can travel to Berlin, Paris and Montpellier. I work remotely with teams worldwide. Other travel is possible at additional cost.
Which languages do you work in?
I run research and projects in English and French. I speak German (B2+/C1) and collaborate comfortably with German-speaking teams, including moderating user tests in German.
How do we start?
With a free 30-minute call to understand your situation and see which service fits.
Contact
Let's work together if you're building a B2B product, users aren't adopting your product the way you hoped, you're about to make a big product bet, or a renewal or fundraise is coming and you need proof of value.