Product Development Process PDF

Product Manageme nt Process Prof. Elizabeth E. Alfane, PhD Professor Steps in Product Management Process 1. Defining the problem > It all begins with identifying a high-value customer pain point. After that, people or organizations are trying to do something, and they can’t...

Product Manageme nt Process Prof. Elizabeth E. Alfane, PhD Professor Steps in Product Management Process 1. Defining the problem > It all begins with identifying a high-value customer pain point. After that, people or organizations are trying to do something, and they can’t. Or, if they can, it’s expensive or time-consuming or resource- intensive or inefficient, or just unpleasant. The most successful product managers think of themselves as finders of pain, not finders of products. > Whether it’s moving a person or thing from Point A to Point B, finding the perfect gift, reaching the right audience, keeping people entertained, or some other objective, what’s currently available isn’t quite cutting it. People want something better or something they don’t have at all. > Product management turns these abstract complaints, wants, and wishes into a problem statement looking for a solution. Solving that problem and easing that pain is the spark and motivation for everything that comes next. Without a clearly articulated goal that directly impacts that pain point, there’s not much hope that the product will gain traction or staying power Benefits of using GCash include: Convenient and cashless transactions Secure money transfers Payment of utilities, bills, loans, and school fees Access to savings, credit, loans, insurance, and investment options Ability to purchase prepaid airtime and buy from partner merchants Linking your card to your GCash wallet balance for managing funds Paying at millions of merchants worldwide and withdrawing cash from affiliated ATMs. 2. Quantifying the opportunity There are many problems and pain points, but not all are worth solving. This is when product managers swap their customer- centric hats for a business one. > To justify investment in building a new product or solution, product management must answer the following questions and be able to build a business case based on the answers they find: What is the total addressable ma rket ? > Is the problem or pain severe enough that people will consider alternative solutions? > Are they willing to pay for an alternative solution (or is there another way to monetize the solution)? > Once product management has evaluated the potential market, they can then try to address it if there’s a significant enough opportunity. 3. Researching potential solutions > With a target in mind, product management can now thoroughly investigate how they might solve customer problems and pain points. They should cast a large net of possible solutions and not rule anything out too quickly. For example, suppose the organization already has some proprietary technology or IP or a particular area of expertise to give the company an advantage. In that case, those potential solutions will likely leverage that somehow. > However, this does not mean that product managers should start drafting requirements and engaging the product development team. They’ll first want to validate those candidates with the target market, although it is prudent to bounce some of these ideas off the technical team to ensure they’re at least feasible. Product management will often develop personas to see whether there’s actual interest among those cohorts using any of the table’s ideas. > Skipping this step and jumping right into building something can be a fatal flaw or cause severe delays. While there are no guarantees, getting confirmation from potential customers that the idea is something they’ll want, use, and pay for is a critical gate in the overall process and achieving product-market fit.  4. Building an MVP > After validating a particular solution’s appeal and viability, it’s now time to engage the product development team in earnest. First, the bare minimum set of functionality should be defined, and then the team can build a working version of the product that can be field-tested with actual users. > Many bells and whistles will intentionally be excluded from the Minimum Viable Product, as the goal is to ensure the core functionality meets the market’s needs. Nice-to-haves can wait for a later stage in the product lifecycle since there’s little point in expending additional resources on an unproven product. > MVPs can test how the product works and the overall messaging and positioning of the value proposition in conjunction with product marketing. The key is finding out whether this nascent product is something the market wants and if it adequately meets its core requirements.  > While customer feedback is essential throughout a product’s 5. life, there’s no time more critical Creating than during the MVP introduction. a This is where the product management team can learn feedback what customers think, need, and loop dislike since they’re reacting to an actual product experience and not just theoretical ideas tossed out in a conversation. > Product management must make it easy for customers to provide feedback and create frequent prompts soliciting it. But, just as importantly, they must process, synthesize, and react to this feedback, turning this input into actionabl e ideas that make their way into the product roadmap or backlog. > And, not to be forgotten, product management must also establish a method for closing the loop with customers, so they know their complaints and suggestions were heard and, when applicable, have been addressed.  Assuming the MVP is well received, it’s time to invest in 6. a product strategy. The team now knows they’re onto Setting something that can get some traction, so goals and the objectives must be established to improve the strategy product, bring it to market, expand its reach, and align with the overall company strategy and desired outcomes. > The strategy should be based on reasonable, incremental progress toward achievable goals, with key performance indicators and other metrics defined to evaluate success. These measurables should track with the organization’s general objectives and complement what the company already does well (assuming it’s not a startup still in its infancy). > More than anything else, the strategy is where product management must secure stakeholder alignment and buy-in. If there’s no solid, shared understanding of this fundamental element of the product, then the groundwork is already being laid for future conflicts and disagreements.  > With a viable product concept, a scalable feedback management system, and a sound 7. Driving strategy, it’s time to turn execution ideas into reality. This means prioritizing potential development items and plotting out the product roadmap. > Product management can utilize various prioritization frameworks to decide which development activities will help the product meet its most important goals quickly and efficiently, cueing things up for near-term work. Of course, everything can’t be first, so basing these decisions on which items have the greatest impact on critical objectives is key, including representatives from across the organization. With the initial priorities set, product management can then build out their product roadmap. References What is Product Management? | Definition + Resou rces (productplan.com). Product Plan. Retrieved on August 23, 2024. Semick, J. Patterns of Pain: How Product Managers Solve High-Value Problems. How Product Managers Solve High-Value Problems ( productplan.com). Product Plan. Retrieved on August 23, 2024. Thank you!