If you have some spare time on your hands, @chuckfrey has posted an interesting review of a book that outlines 11 potential models for creating new value propositions that create value for customers. These models can form a base from which to look at things from the customers viewpoint. He outlines the 11 areas to consider:
The Changing Customer Journey
Today, most (if not all) vendors in the software, hardware and telecoms world are still working through the impact on their products and revenues that the shift to "cloud" is going to have in the short, medium and longer term. This is certainly the case with the big vendors that are used to shifting "tin" and software licenses.
This shift has to change the way that everybody that involved in product development looks at how they build their product offering. The big difference is that the customer journey now becomes really important, simply because the customer service experience will be potentially that single element that enables you to differentiate your offer from the competitions.
This shift has to change the way that everybody that involved in product development looks at how they build their product offering. The big difference is that the customer journey now becomes really important, simply because the customer service experience will be potentially that single element that enables you to differentiate your offer from the competitions.
WHY is THE most important Question
Starting to build a product is daunting, but in reality, the immediate temptation is always to delve straight into the detail, without really understanding why you are building a product in the first place.
It does not matter whether one works in a startup, large corporate, or even a medium sized organisation that is somewhere between startup and exit strategy. What differentiates the good ones from the bad, is that they understand why they are doing something.
It does not matter whether one works in a startup, large corporate, or even a medium sized organisation that is somewhere between startup and exit strategy. What differentiates the good ones from the bad, is that they understand why they are doing something.
Principles for Decision Making
Product managers often work in an environments where clear management demarcation lines seemingly do not exist, or are at best, blurred. Matrix management, cross functional teams and dotted reporting lines are just a day to day reality. Add to this the current economic climate, restricted headcounts and tight budgets, getting decisions made and making them is often very challenging.
I was browsing the HBR blogs a couple of days ago and came across a posting by @tonyschwartz in which he outlines 10 principles by which you can benchmark your decision making process. These are:
I was browsing the HBR blogs a couple of days ago and came across a posting by @tonyschwartz in which he outlines 10 principles by which you can benchmark your decision making process. These are:
Focus on the Customer
Quite often product management is focused on the product/solution that is taken to market. I would argue that it is not the product that is important. It is the customer. Unless you have a very clear understanding of the customer context in the market that you are trying to address, you have a solution looking for a problem, which inevitably leads to failure in the worst case, unnecessary resource (cash) consumption and delayed success in the likely case.
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