RAFFIAPALM

Resources for product teams from industry experts.

Good teams have product, design, and engineering sit side by side, and they embrace the give and take between the functionality, the user experience, and the enabling technology.

Good teams get their inspiration and product ideas from their vision and objectives, from observing customers’ struggle, from analyzing the data customers generate from using their product, and from constantly seeking to apply new technology to solve real problems.

Good teams understand who each of their key stakeholders are, they understand the constraints that these stakeholders operate in, and they are committed to inventing solutions that work not just for users and customers, but also work within the constraints of the business.

Good teams are skilled in the many techniques to rapidly try out product ideas to determine which ones are truly worth building.

Good teams love to have brainstorming discussions with smart thought leaders from across the company.

Good teams are constantly trying out new ideas to innovate, but doing so in ways that protect the revenue and protect the brand.

Good teams insist they have the skill sets on their team, such as strong product design, necessary to create winning products.

Good teams ensure that their engineers have time to try out the prototypes in discovery every day so that they can contribute their thoughts on how to make the product better.

Good teams engage directly with end users and customers every week, to better understand their customers, and to see the customer’s response to their latest ideas.

Good teams know that many of their favorite ideas won’t end up working for customers, and even the ones that could will need several iterations to get to the point where they provide the desired outcome.

Good teams understand the need for speed and how rapid iteration is the key to innovation, and they understand this speed comes from the right techniques and not forced labor.

Good teams make high‐integrity commitments after they’ve evaluated the request and ensured they have a viable solution that will work for the customer and the business.

Good teams instrument their work so they can immediately understand how their product is being used and make adjustments based on the data.

Good teams integrate and release continuously, knowing that a constant stream of smaller releases provides a much more stable solution for their customers.

Good teams obsess over their reference customers.

Good teams celebrate when they achieve a significant impact to the business results.

— INSPIRED: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love by Marty Cagan

Source: Amazon Kindle

Related Stories and Excerpts:

  1. Iterate Live long and prosper, said Sojuku as he stepped out of the meeting room. Peace and long life, I replied. Sojuku is a big fan of Star Trek. I could care less about Star Trek, but anything to make the man smile and continue feeling good about the work he puts in to enable our customers to share data about their lives and commerce. “Another shot of whiskey before you hit the streets?” “Yeah, why not!” I like the view from here. Our office overlooks the ocean, and we were fortunate to get a beautiful view of it right […]
  2. Mental Models: The SCAMPER Method The SCAMPER method is one of the easiest yet most effective strategies for finding solutions to problems and sparking creative thinking. Think of this mental model as akin to opening a faucet that introduces water to seven pipes, and each of those pipes channels to a unique pot of earth. Each pot has the potential to bring forth new growth once the seeds in it are watered. Note that the SCAMPER method doesn’t require that you move in a sequential flow of steps. You can use it in any order or sequence and jump among the different techniques. Substitute: […]
  3. The key is to understand how intuition—specifically, informed intuition—actually works. Unlike numerical analysis, it does not rely on processing a statistically significant sample of data in order to achieve a given level of confidence. Rather, it involves conclusions based on isolating a few high-quality images—really, data fragments—that it takes to be archetypes of a broader and more complex reality. These images simply stand out from the swarm of mental material that rattles around in our heads. They are the ones that are memorable. So the first rule of working with an image is: If you can’t remember it, don’t […]
  4. But the principle of constantly expanding your experience, both personally and vicariously, does matter tremendously in any idea-producing job. Make no mistake about that. Another point to encourage you. No doubt you have seen people who seem to spark ideas—good ideas—right off the “top of their heads,” without ever going through all this process that I have described. Sometimes you have only seen the “Eureka! I have it!” stage takes place. But sometimes you have also seen the fruits of long discipline in the practices here advocated. This discipline produces a mind so well stocked, and so quick at […]
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