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Beyond Your Bright Idea:A guide to market-driven product development

Torrie Adams, PMPProduct Manager, Kickboard

President, New Orleans Women in Tech

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Some Bright Ideas(and some not so bright ones)

+Pepsi Product History

Fountain soda1893

6 oz. bottles1904

12 oz. bottles1936

DietPepsi1964

Caffeine Free1982

Wild Cherry1988

+Pepsi Product History

Fountain soda1893

6 oz. bottles1904

12 oz. bottles1936

DietPepsi1964

Caffeine Free1982

Wild Cherry1988

Pepsi AM (1989)Pepsi Raging Raspberry (1991)Crystal Pepsi (1992)Pepsi Candy (1999)Pepsi Blue (2003)Pepsi Vanilla (2003)

Pepsi Clear (2005)Pepsi Lime (2005)Pepsi Fresh (2007)Christmas Pepsi (2007)Pepsi Summer Mix (2007)Pepsi Natural (2009)

+37 Signals / Basecamp

Web design firm1999 Basecamp

2004Ruby on Rails2004

2005Ta-da List

WriteboardBackpack

2006BackpackCampfireThe Job Board

Highrise 2007

2009Sortfolio

Basecamp 2.02012

2013Know Your Company

We Work Remotely

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So how do we remain innovative, while protecting our bottom line?

+Market-Driven vs. Market-DrivingUnderstand customer (and potential customer) needs and satisfy them.

Fulfill needs that the customer doesn’t even realize exist.

+Self Assessment

Where do your product ideas come from?

Sales team Engineering team CEO Customer interviews, focus groups, &

surveys

+Self Assessment

Do you feel like you’re stuck? Doing incremental enhancements with no

clear end goal Feeling hostage to your customers Not believing in what you do In your current market, with no idea of how

to break out

+Market-DrivenProduct Development

Understanding & satisfying needs: Listening Managing expectations Translating to profit

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“You’re not listening to me!”

+Where to Listen

Data

Surveys

Conversations

Focus Groups / User Groups

+How to Listen

Go beyond simply hearing

Validate assumptions, but don’t try to convince

Manage expectations

+When we hear

I need ABC.

And 123.

And also XYZ.

+When we listen

I need ABC.

What problem are you looking

to solve with ABC?

Well it’s to fix this issue

downstream with…

Underlying Need

+Ass + U + Me

+Bias Check

Leading with assumptions: Do you drink soda? Would you say that you

like to live a healthy lifestyle?

Wouldn’t you prefer to drink a Pepsi that is free of coloring additives, or would you prefer one that has artificial coloring?

Validating the facts: Do you drink soda? What type of soda do

you prefer? How many sodas per

day do you drink? If I replaced those

sodas with a clear Pepsi, what would your reaction be? Why?

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“Your opinion, while interesting, isn’t relevant.”

- Pragmatic Marketing

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Key Point Be cautious not to bias your research

with your assumptions.

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Exercise

Free Market Research!

Write down 3 questions that you

need validated from our audience.

We’ll take 3 people to share.

+Managing Expectations

+Listening Has a Down Side

I need this.

I need this other thing.

I need something

else!

Backlog

+Managing expectations

Setting up for disappointment

“Definitely!”

“I hear that a lot.”

“That’s a really good suggestion!”

“I’ll send that to the development team.”

A better approach

“Thank you for the feedback.”

“Thanks for sharing your concerns.”

“That’s not where we’re focusing in the near future, but I’ll record it so it can be considered if we circle back to that area.”

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Exercise

Think of a story where expectations got out of control

and/or

Prepare some canned statements that you can use to let people

down softly.

We’ll take 3 people to share.

+Profit

+Translating into profit

I need ABC.

Market research

Req/Spec/

Design

Feature rollout

$$ Resell $$