Product Management Process
LATEST POSTS
Why Your Roadmap Should Be Flexible
I talk to a shocking number of Product Managers on a regular basis who are exasperated at their company’s approach to roadmapping. Some companies refuse outright to have a roadmap, instead opting to put to paper only what they can commit to in the next few sprints – ie. a release plan or project plan. […]
How I built the same MVP 3 times, across 3 continents in 3 weeks
I built the same product three times. It wasn’t an act of insanity. It was my way to get my product ready in three weeks. Before I get to that, let me backtrack a little. It was the 1st of March 2013 and I’d just left my job as CIO at one of the UK’s […]
Video: Lean, Fast Feedback and Leopard Print
Challenging your assumptions can pay off. This is what UK retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) discovered when they created a digital lab and started applying Lean Startup techniques to their products. At ProductTank February, Hemal Kuntawala (@hemalkuntawala) talked us through some of the specific insights and assumptions they wanted to challenge. Each assumption is met with a […]
The 10 things I have learnt about Agile Product Delivery
I have a confession. I share it in the belief I am in the company of my brethren; I am an accidental product manager. Two years ago, I did not know a user story from a bedtime one. A notification from an alert. And a gherkin was still just a tasty pickle. But 24 months […]
Why Pitching Won't Deliver Great Products
As digital transformation continues to disrupt most industries and organisations, it is depressing to see the extension of the ‘pitch’ process to the selection of agencies and suppliers for product development. Depressing, because the process inevitably rewards those least likely to ever develop something of any value. Anyone familiar with Mad Men knows that advertising […]
Sprint Zero - On Designing the Right Thing
Developing great products is hard. The most conservative estimates place new product failure rates at 50% or more. Many of us can relate to working on an exhilarating project with talented colleagues, where the solution was architected brilliantly and even delivered on-time, only to see the product fall short of expectations in the marketplace. Mark […]
Product Management in Commerce: Online, Offline and Mobile
As the UK shops itself out of recession, it was more than fitting that February’s ProductTank London was all about product management in commerce: online, offline and mobile. This month we had three eye-opening talks: CEO at Depop Runar Reistrup (@runarreistrup) talking about mobile design for the real world; “the Malcolm Tucker of testing” Craig […]
Be user centered, not user led
There’s a common misconception out there that user centered design means being led by the user. The clearest example is the oft-repeated fallacy that Apple isn’t a user centered organization because they never ask users what they want. In some instances, being user centered means ignoring or even going against explicit user wishes in order […]
Video: Lean Product Development
Is your product disruptive or sustaining? There’s nothing wrong with being sustaining by the way – a disruptive company that is successful quickly becomes a sustaining company. The important thing is to understand where on this spectrum you lie because both need to think differently when it comes to everything from marketing to how to […]
Video: How to love A/B and Multivariate Testing
Running a multivariate test or even a simple AB test can be daunting. With each variation, there are additional tests to be run and measured, and it can all get overwhelming very quickly. At ProductTank October, Alex Smith, the Site Development Manager at Charles Tyrwhitt, showed us what he measured and why, and talked about […]