Deliver Great Products That Customers Love

Valerio Zanini

Description

Building a great product that customers love requires a variety of skills, mindsets, and techniques. Starting from the three pillars of customer focus, culture of Agility, and team empowerment, this book explains how to go from theory to practice. Building a great product requires working across the Five Dimensions of product management: Discover, Design, Develop, Deploy, and Deliver. Each dimension is important to deliver great products that customers love, and none can be shortcut. By having a "5D" vision of their product, innovators make sure to understand customer needs, design the right solution, build a great product, and deliver an awesome customer experience.

Product managers and entrepreneurs face the continuous challenge of creating new solutions and deliver value to their customers.  Too often companies of all sizes jump into building something without proper validation of the ideas. Many more struggle with the dynamics of building a new product or service, gaining market traction, making their early customers happy, all while building for scalability and reliability with limited resources.

This book is designed for product managers, innovators, and entrepreneurs that need a guide to product management, that want to learn a variety of techniques to create products, and that seek continuous opportunities for learning and improving.

The author shares stories from the trenches – lessons learned developing products and coaching companies large and small.  The vivid case studies and examples provide practical insights into how different companies and leaders have implemented various techniques, and the challenges and difficult choices they faced. This is a book every product manager should have on their shelf.

INTRODUCTION

[PART 1] A GREAT PRODUCT

[1] HOW GREAT PRODUCTS ARE BUILT 3

   VALIDATE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE 5

   THE THREE PILLARS OF PRODUCT SUCCESS 8

   THE 5D VISION OF A PRODUCT 10

[2] GREAT PRODUCTS COME FROM GREAT PRODUCT MANAGERS 15

   THE ROLE OF THE PRODUCT MANAGER 17

   CHARACTERISTICS OF A GREAT PRODUCT MANAGER 18

   THE THREE PILLARS OF GREAT PRODUCTS 22

[PART 2] THE THREE PILLARS OF PRODUCT SUCCESS

[3] KEEP THE CUSTOMER IN FOCUS 27

   UNDERSTAND WHO YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE AND WHAT THEY NEED 28

   INVEST IN YOUR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE 30

   DESIGN THINKING 32

[4] INFUSE A CULTURE OF AGILITY 41

   MOVING AT THE SPEED OF INNOVATION 42

   BEING AGILE VS DOING AGILE 44

   CULTURE TRANSFORMATION AT ANY LEVEL 45

   STORY: BEING AGILE VERSUS DOING AGILE AT CAPITAL ONE 50

   HOW TO START WITH AGILE 51

   WHAT IS SCRUM 54

[5] EMPOWER YOUR TEAM 61

   A CULTURE OF EMPOWERMENT 61

   TEAM-BUILDING 64

[PART 3] THE FIVE DIMENSIONS

[6] THE FIVE DIMENSIONS OF PRODUCT MANAGEMENT 71

   CLOSING THE DELIVERY GAP 72

   EXPANDING SDLC ONTO 5 DIMENSIONS 74

   THE 5D VISION OF GREAT PRODUCTS 75

   THE 5D VISION CANVAS 81

[7] DISCOVER 87

   OBSERVING CUSTOMERS IN THEIR CONTEXT 89

   Story: Living rich versus being rich 90

   EMPATHY INTERVIEWS 91

   Story: Goozex Shipping Labels 92

   UNDERSTAND YOUR MARKET AND OPPORTUNITY 106

   STORY: DAYBREAKHOTELS 108

   SYNTHESIZE YOUR LEARNINGS 112

[8] DESIGN 123

   USER PERSONAS AND THEIR JOURNEYS 123

   STORY: THE SENSI THERMOSTAT 130

   USING DESIGN SPRINTS FOR RAPID VALIDATION OF IDEAS 133

   PRODUCT JOURNEY MAPS AND MVP 137

   PROTOTYPE, PROTOTYPE, PROTOTYPE 143

[9] DEVELOP 151

   THE DAILY TORNADO OF DEVELOPMENT 151

   THE PRODUCT BACKLOG 153

   STORY: THE FAILURE OF EVER-CHANGING PRIORITIES 156

   USER STORIES, EPICS, FEATURES 162

   PRIORITIZATION 170

   KEEPING TECHNICAL DEBT IN CHECK 180

   STORY: BOOKINGBUG 186

[10] DEPLOY 193

   WHAT IS DEPLOYMENT? 194

   STORY: IRIDIUM, THE EXCITEMENT AND A DEPLOYMENT FIASCO 200

   THE MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT OR MVP 203

   Story: Tesla Roadster 204

   STORY: THE GOOZEX MVP 209

[11] DELIVER 217

   DELIVER OUTCOMES NOT OUTPUTS 217

   STORY: A COMPANY FALLING INTO THE DELIVERY GAP 220

   MEASURE WHAT REALLY MATTERS 221

   STORY: GOOZEX AND THE QUEST FOR MARKET-SOLUTION FIT 224

   PLAN AHEAD 226

   CONCLUSION 227

APPENDIX 233

   ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 233

   AUTHOR’S BIO 235

Sujets

• Entrepreneuriat
• Love
• Love (disambiguation)
• Business
• Economics
• New product development
• Product management
• Product design
• Design thinking
• Agile management
• Entrepreneurship
• Employabilité, métiers et formations
• Project Management
• Gestion de projet
• gestion de projets

Informations

• Publié par: 5D Vision, LLC
• Date de parution: 15 octobre 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 8
• EAN13: 9780998985459
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

Deliver Great Products That Customers Love
Copyright © 2018 by Valerio Zanini
All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, digital scanning, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please go to www.5dvision.com .
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018906202
ISBN (Hardcover): 978-0-9989854-1-1
ISBN (Paperback): 978-0-9989854-2-8
ISBN (E-book): 978-0-9989854-5-9
Hashtag: Follow #DeliverTheBook for updates and comments
We plant one tree for every copy of this book sold, in partnership with ForestPlanet.org
Published in the United States of America by 5D Vision Publishing, an imprint of 5D Vision, LLC. Bulk purchase discounts, special editions, and customized excerpts are available directly from the publisher. For information about a sponsored edition for your company, or books for educational and promotional purposes, please email the publisher at [e-mail]
Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, they make no expressed or implied warranty of any kind, and do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. This book is presented solely for educational and informational purposes. Neither the author nor the publisher shall be held liable or responsible to any person or entity with respect to any loss or incidental or consequential damages caused, or alleged to have been caused, directly or indirectly, by the information or advice contained herein. Every company is different and the advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation.
Every effort was made to properly report attribution for quotes, examples, and methods used in this book. When a company name, product name, or methodology mentioned in this book are claimed as trademarks by their respective owners, they are printed with initial capital letters or in boldface.
Cover design by: Maxi-1989/99Designs
Cover image: 32 pixels/Shutterstock
Photos and illustrations: © Valerio Zanini, unless noted otherwise
To my wife Deborah, for all your loving support and for always pushing me to become a better person
To my parents Roberto and Maria, for teaching me the value of hard work and for inspiring me to always try new things
[#]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
[PART 1] A GREAT PRODUCT
[1] HOW GREAT PRODUCTS ARE BUILT
VALIDATE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
THE THREE PILLARS OF PRODUCT SUCCESS
Keep the customer in focus
Infuse a culture of agility
Empower your team
THE 5D VISION OF A PRODUCT
[2] GREAT PRODUCTS COME FROM GREAT PRODUCT MANAGERS
THE ROLE OF THE PRODUCT MANAGER
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GREAT PRODUCT MANAGER
The HBT Dimensions
A role in evolution
THE THREE PILLARS OF GREAT PRODUCTS
[PART 2] THE THREE PILLARS OF PRODUCT SUCCESS
[3] KEEP THE CUSTOMER IN FOCUS
UNDERSTAND WHO YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE AND WHAT THEY NEED
The right customer
Focus on your customers all the time, not just at the beginning or end
INVEST IN YOUR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Southwest Airlines
Uber
DESIGN THINKING
Linear versus creative thinking
The five phases of Design Thinking
[4] INFUSE A CULTURE OF AGILITY
MOVING AT THE SPEED OF INNOVATION
BEING AGILE VS DOING AGILE
CULTURE TRANSFORMATION AT ANY LEVEL
Reduce the cost of change
Create transparency across the organization
Foster collaboration among team members
Flexibility in plans and adaptability to change
Ability to fail and learn
STORY: BEING AGILE VERSUS DOING AGILE AT CAPITAL ONE
HOW TO START WITH AGILE
People
Project
Process
WHAT IS SCRUM
Three pillars
How Scrum works
Learn more
[5] EMPOWER YOUR TEAM
A CULTURE OF EMPOWERMENT
TEAM-BUILDING
Story: Exploration trip to NY
[PART 3] THE FIVE DIMENSIONS
[6] THE FIVE DIMENSIONS OF PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
CLOSING THE DELIVERY GAP
EXPANDING SDLC ONTO 5 DIMENSIONS
THE 5D VISION OF GREAT PRODUCTS
Discover
Design
Develop
Deploy
Deliver
The risk of a linear approach to product development
The 5D iterative and adaptive approach
THE 5D VISION CANVAS
[7] DISCOVER
OBSERVING CUSTOMERS IN THEIR CONTEXT
Story: Living rich versus being rich
EMPATHY INTERVIEWS
Story: Goozex Shipping Labels
Structure of an empathy interview
Number of interviews
Story: Interviewing people outside of our customer pool
Story: Capital One internal consultants as proxies
How to recruit people to interview
Templates for interviews
UNDERSTAND YOUR MARKET AND OPPORTUNITY
SWOT
Conjoint Analysis
Buy-A-Feature
Opportunity canvas and Business Model canvas
STORY: DAYBREAKHOTELS
SYNTHESIZE YOUR LEARNINGS
Mindmap
Vision Statement
The positioning statement
Product Innovation Charter (PIC)
5D canvas
[8] DESIGN
USER PERSONAS AND THEIR JOURNEYS
User Personas
Customer Journey Maps
STORY: THE SENSI THERMOSTAT
USING DESIGN SPRINTS FOR RAPID VALIDATION OF IDEAS
PRODUCT JOURNEY MAPS AND MVP
How to create a Product Journey Map
PROTOTYPE, PROTOTYPE, PROTOTYPE
Build prototypes
Define your hypotheses
Story: Prototyping a retail user experience
[9] DEVELOP
THE DAILY TORNADO OF DEVELOPMENT
Closing the gap between technology and business
THE PRODUCT BACKLOG
Working with a Product Backlog
STORY: THE FAILURE OF EVER-CHANGING PRIORITIES
Structure of a Backlog
Visualize your work on a team board
USER STORIES, EPICS, FEATURES
What’s wrong with requirements
User Story format
Sizing a User Story
PRIORITIZATION
The MoSCoW method
Buy-A-Feature
Value-over-Effort
Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF)
KEEPING TECHNICAL DEBT IN CHECK
Automated testing and CI/CD
STORY: BOOKINGBUG
[10] DEPLOY
WHAT IS DEPLOYMENT?
It’s not about the rocket
The five Ws of deployment
STORY: IRIDIUM, THE EXCITEMENT AND A DEPLOYMENT FIASCO
THE MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT OR MVP
Story: Tesla Roadster
The MVP Ideation Blueprint
STORY: THE GOOZEX MVP
[11] DELIVER
DELIVER OUTCOMES NOT OUTPUTS
Falling in the Delivery Gap
Closing the Delivery Gap
STORY: A COMPANY FALLING INTO THE DELIVERY GAP
MEASURE WHAT REALLY MATTERS
Listen to the voice of your customers
Market-solution fit
STORY: GOOZEX AND THE QUEST FOR MARKET-SOLUTION FIT
PLAN AHEAD
CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
AUTHOR'S BIO
DELIVER
“To produce the promised, desired, or expected results“
Merriam-Webster dictionary
"Deliver." Merriam-Webster.com . Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2018.
[i]
INTRODUCTION
I love building products. Ever since I was a little kid, I have enjoyed the thrill of solving a problem and building a solution. When I was eleven, with my first computer (a Commodore VIC-20), I developed a software to organize all my personal contacts. At the time, I was already feeling the pain of knowing more than ten people and struggling to organize their information. I dreamed that the software I had written could solve the same problem for other people. As soon as the program was ready, I created a brand, gave it a name, and even decided on a price. I was ready to launch it in the market: my neighborhood.
Just the thought of another person using my tool and finding it useful was exciting. I soon understood that my addressable market was limited as I could not find anyone else with the same computer in my circle of friends. So I kept dreaming of the next opportunity, and the program lived on just for my personal use.
Over the years, I have launched digital products in a variety of organizations, and I still feel the same butterflies and excitement on the eve of every new product’s launch. As product managers, we spend months ideating on a new concept, building prototypes, developing the product, and finally getting ready for deployment. It’s exhausting yet exciting. All the months of hard work finally converge into an actual “thing” — something tangible we are about to bring to life for the world to enjoy.
And yet this final delivery is only the beginning. The launch of a new product in the market may be the finish line of months of hard work, but it’s the starting point of something else. As soon as your product is ready, you begin having real customers, getting their feedback, and learning of a thousand better ways to improve it or to make a new version of it. Suddenly, you enter a new circle of ideation, prototyping, and development. It’s like riding on the Ferris wheel at an amusement park or, more often than not, on a roller coaster. As soon as you reach the end, you are set to start it all over again. This is the life of a product manager!