In product development, we often use the words, “user” and “customer” interchangeably. But they mean different things depending on the type of product you create. I wonder if it’s time to stop talking about “customers” altogether. It’s time to clarify who we want to satisfy, so we can make better product decisions. Here are my […]
Stan, a prospective client, had trouble making time for our discovery call. (That’s the call where the client and I discuss the boundaries of a consulting engagement.) After he canceled three scheduled calls, I suspected we would not work together. But then he asked me for an evening conversation, after his day’s “craziness.” (His words,
About 20 years ago, I taught a project management workshop to IT people. Their products and services did not ship outside the building—their products and services enabled the organization to make money. During that workshop, the participants all had the same question, “How do we engage our stakeholders?” For years, I explained that the more
We use product roadmaps to see where we want to go and the options we might take to get there. Yet, so many of our roadmaps offer only a single and certain destination. If we don’t see options, we reduce our innovation decision points—and possibly disappoint our customers. Worse, we create products that don’t fulfill
Agile product leaders (product managers, product owners, and business analysts) all have one goal: How do I support the team in their quest to deliver better and faster? Product leaders do this by helping the team plan with minimums and continually replan. These two workshops help you do that. I offer two versions: for teams,
We often think that finishing a story from the backlog is “just” tactical. However, the more often we deliver in short feedback loops, the more often we can make strategic decisions. Finishing a story creates a new decision point, for both the product and the corporate strategy. The more often we iterate strategically, the more
Technology gets old. While we know that intellectually, we might not know it as it pertains to us. Here’s a story about how technology changes one day at a time and everything is okay—until it’s not. (Don’t want the long sad story? Go to Here’s What You Missed.) A Short History of My Site I
Several of my clients have intertwined problems. Everyone agrees they want innovation: Which products and services the organization offers. (The project portfolio) What features the product offers, or the problems the product solves. (The product roadmap) In the team, to solve the problems in a way that will attract users/buyers/customers. (The team’s backlog and how
What risks does your project have? Do you need feedback loops so you can: Cancel the project at any time (to manage schedule and cost risks. Assess technical risks so you can rework the architecture or design to manage feature set risks. Manage what you release to customers so you can manage defect, feature set,
The original signatories of the Manifesto for Agile Software Development wanted to solve these specific problems: How can we: Bring more adaptability to software development? Stop “plan the work and work the plan” thinking? Release something of value earlier? Especially since teams now had these levers, from the iterative and incremental approaches: Prototype something for