Conifer Consulting

Life is Short – Don’t Boil the Ocean!

Don't boil the ocean. Easier said than done.  Every product I worked on that failed can be attributed to the fact that we tried to do too much; as a result we forgot what was important.  Worse we did not even see our competition coming! Don’t make this mistake. Feature creep, feature bloat and various other sins happen along the way.  The “cost” of this is not simply in time and money but much more importantly in “focus lost”.

But this is hard to do. Embrace a lot of “nay-saying”. You have to say no to products and features and favorite ideas from one and all. Take a page from Apple’s philosophy of “Just Say No”.

Jobs's primary role at Apple is to turn things down. "He's a filter," says the Mac engineer Hertzfeld. Every day, the CEO is presented with ideas for new products and new features within existing ones. The default answer is no. Every engineer who has gone over a product with him has a story about how quickly Jobs reaches for the DELETE key. "I'm as proud of the products that we have not done as the ones we have done," Jobs told an interviewer in 2004.

One way you can do this successfully (of course assuming you’re not the all-powerful Steve jobs) is by creating two conditions 1) you’ve really done your homework and know your market and target users inside out; be prepared to speak to what your users value and why, and back it up with good data; note this data does not have to be quantitative numbers from primary research but can be well thought out conclusions from synthesis of industry trends, consumer interviews, etc. and 2) you show others the true “cost” of deviating from your laser-like focus.  This is not easy but must be done if you are to bring the team with you and not fight them over every feature.

So what are the features and functions you should include and work on? Understanding your market, coming changes, user habits and needs yield the answer to the question: what is the most essential set of capabilities I need to provide my users? And be sure to develop the product that solves that important – even if it's a small one – problem well.  It solves it deeply and completely (to a user’s mind) and may well be regarded as a narrow set of features, for starters. 

Note this approach does not preclude you from having a future plan for a “whole platform” that enables much broader set of capabilities.  But be sure to solve a few problems well vs. offering a shallow “solution” for a larger set of problems – unless of course “shallow” is good enough.  This latter point is very critical too.  Don’t get lost in what YOU consider important – show users and ask for their opinion.  Again, run a whole bunch of experiments – quickly and nimbly – and apply the learning.  When I say “shallow” I mean shallow and useless to users – and not to you.

So the key stages of thinking to develop are:

1. Define what’s most essential in terms of capabilities to your target users – whether they can articulate it or not.  Demonstrate how you know this.
2. Evaluate the following honestly: Can you offer capabilities to solve crucial user problem well (good enough for users) so that it’s unique (no one else does it this way), meaningful (users think it's a substantial benefit), relevant (they can use it frequently enough) and valued (and they are willing to pay for it)?
3. Develop your strategy so it gives you a leverage point i.e., build barriers to future switching, for future expansion and market capture.
4.  Prioritize the building of capabilities mercilessly (SAY NO) by taking into account the above as well as timing/resources needs.

Be All You Can Be – Think like a General Manager!

Following up from last week's post, a few people asked me what I meant by "being a GM" so I decided to expound on that further.

As I said before, product management is a unique, central, powerful function when structured properly.  You have all the responsibility but may feel like you have no authority. But you do have something very powerful at your disposal – influence. When a question arises about product direction, all eyes turn to you. Or they should. If that’s not happening ask yourself if you’re being a true product leader.  You can - and should - be a key influencer in your company.  But for that you need to think like a general manager - not merely a product manager.

What does this mean? A general manager is a manager of the business, usually responsible for the all the business aspects including the P/L (profit loss) and revenue and growth goals.  Note the “L” of P/L means you have to think about not just growing the business but also the cost and operations side.  While this might seem like a lofty goal when all that you’re thinking about is getting the requirements defined, it will greatly increase your chances of success to think like a GM vs. merely a PM.  Take the time to step back and think about the overall context for your product. Here are a few categories of thoughts to consider:

• Market Dynamics: What is the market you’re (about to enter) in? Is it a new category you’re creating or is it an existing one? Is it growing, stagnant or declining? What impact will your (new) product have on the market?
• Customer & Share of Market: Who are your target customers and who are your competitors? Think about both direct, obvious competitors as well as deeply ponder the answers to the question, “what else do/can your customers do if your offering does not exist and/or if they chose not to use your offering? And if they don’t choose you, why not?”  Given what emerges from this type of thinking you might want to more deeply consider how you differentiate your offering. And finally, what kind of market share do you expect to capture? How?
• Business Model: Why will customers or other stakeholders pay for the benefits your product/service provides or ancillary value it creates? What’s your business model or how will your make money?
• Pricing & Value: What will you charge for your services? If your offering is “free” to customers, do you have a “premium” offering in mind and/or are you selling ancillary offerings to other stakeholders (e.g., targeted ads, virtual goods, etc.)? What’s your planned margin structure for what you’re selling? What other costs might eat into your planned margins? What cannibalization can you expect from your new product among your existing ones?
• Total Customer Experience & Operational Impact: One of the great promises we ask product managers to deliver on is “How can you promise and deliver on an excellent total experience at every customer touch point?” While this is a worthy goal and a fruitful exercise, what gets left out is the answer to the following question: “What will it take operationally for the organization to deliver on this promise?” Is your organization set up for this? If you build it, they might come but will they stay? The answer might depend on how easy it was for them to “buy” what’s right, use it and even the after-sales experience. Are your customer service operations, tech support and online buying experience up to the mark?
• Product Lifecycle Management: Is there a natural lifecycle for your product? Is there an industry / strategic / technological inflection point coming? Do you have a plan for making your offering obsolete -- before the market does?

While fulfilling the above is a tall order, even being aware of these questions, bringing them the table and showing your team what matters, is a great first step.  Be sure to ask these questions and engage actively in discussions and decisions before the fate of your product is sealed. You may not be the person with the authority to solve all these problems but you will be seen as a leader and a key influencer if you’re raising them, seeking the sources for answers and collaborating in multi-functional teams to make sure these are being addressed. 

Talking to Your Customers – A Survival Strategy

This is a post from guest blogger Jennifer Berkeley of The Insight Advantage who is a well-respected market researcher in Silicon Valley.  Jennifer has meaningful insights on how to talk to your customers - especially in these tough times.  I thought her thoughts would be of interest to you all. You can reach Jennifer at: JBerkley@TheInsightAdvantage.com.  Here is what Jennifer has to tell us: