Someone I know is about to kick off a big project with separate companies managing the design and development. I’m sorry to say I’ve seen this arrangement fail far more than I’ve seen it succeed because I’ve been the one called in to fix it. Design agencies and engineering teams are filled with talented and […]
Let’s establish this right upfront: nothing beats a well-managed full-time in-house team of local developers. So why would you want to outsource anything? Doesn’t outsourcing come with a lot of headaches just for a bit of saving? As with anything complex, it depends. Outsourcing: Why and When? Are there enough skilled developers at your location? […]
Assimilating new hires can take a big bite out of your schedule, but it’s a process I’ve always enjoyed, despite this. Having a captive audience eager to learn about the product is red meat to me. The only part of it that ever made me cringe was when a question about the product roadmap caught me […]
Here’s a scenario nearly everyone finds themselves in at some point in this line of work: You’re psyched about a new product or feature in the works. You’ve got requirements, design vision, and even a development timeline. You’ve got feedback from potential buyers and they love it. You’re ready to roll, and then you’re asked, […]
Fourteen billion years ago the universe was immensely hot, dense plasma. Then, as the universe expanded after the Big Bang, the gases within it cooled. When these gases reached a temperature of around 2,700°C (billions of years before galaxies existed) protons and electrons were able to combine into hydrogen atoms, releasing energy in all directions […]
There’s a lot of variation in how companies document product requirements. Some are moving away from detailed, written product requirements documents (PRDs), while others are using shorter write-ups, user stories, or jobs-to-be-done formats. Some product teams are moving away from written PRDs to visual artifacts like mockups and prototypes. It’s a change in approach that’s driven by demands for more agility […]
Every product comes with a tumultuous ‘origin story’. Ours is still unfolding, but I’ve been reflecting on what building a product business within a service agency has brought to the tale. We decided, about 18 months ago, that our consultancy business model, though growing and successful, could benefit from diversification — specifically, from creating something with tangible intellectual property. Six […]
I love asking people this question. It is quite a shocker that most people can’t really answer it. Everyone talks and writes about the importance of customer development, but companies still don’t spend enough time really talking to their customers. It’s a bit like data: you won’t find a single founder who doesn’t say: […]
Some years ago, I wrote a blog post noting that small teams are more creative and productive than big teams. I suggested that this might be because, like a band, they were self organising, communicated easily and informally and had autonomy over what they played. Band vs Orchestra I contrasted this to an orchestra, which […]
For me, as for many, the idea of applying a scientific approach (experiments, hypothesis, etc) to product management came from Eric Ries in Lean Startup. In many ways, the concept was a game changer in how to approach validating product ideas and getting to product market fit. Over the last few years, the idea of using hypotheses […]
