At Invillia, every Wednesday at noon, we stop for an hour to nourish ourselves with the tips, how-tos, good practices and trends selected by our specialists in Product, Agile, Back and Front, Mobile, Quality, Security and Data. A vital exchange of experiences for those who love the new. And essential for innovation to never stop. If technology is in the blood. We make sure to keep it circulating more and more_
IN THE VEIN_ Product Evolution_
5-minute read
We leave here the main learnings of the edition presented by Paulo Silva, Product Owner at Invillia.
Understanding the 3 fundamental points in the creation and evolution of a Product: trust, purpose and vision. And sharing some tools that facilitate the process.
1 – Trust
Trust is the foundation of human relationships. To speak of business and of Product is to speak of human relations since a Product is made by people for people. Louis-Joseph Lebret, Economist and Dominican social scientist said that “Trust can not be imposed. It is conquered. ” For the former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, “Trust is the cheapest form of economic stimulus.” When a country begins to lose confidence, it also loses investment and interest. This is also true for Products.
Where can trust be perceived? It can be perceived in people. People buy from whom they trust. It can be perceived in user feedback, in customer comments, on the web, in posts, in opinion polls. It can be perceived in the team. When one trusts the others’ work because we know they will deliver their part.
Vince Lombardi, the first Super Bowl champion coach, told the team that “Trust is contagious. The lack of it too. ” So he always sought to engage the team, to ensure that everyone was confident in what they were doing.
And this is very different from faith. Faith is the unconditional adherence to a hypothesis that the person starts to consider as being a truth without any kind of objective proof or criterion of verification. Sometimes we work on the basis of faith instead of trust. It is very important to base the information on data, to run after what is concrete so that you can plan for the future.
2 – Product Purpose
Is it just the company that has a purpose? This may be true for those who have a single product. When there are several, each one has a specific purpose that supports the company in delivering the overall purpose. Simon Sinek, author and speaker, points out that “People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it”. In what he calls the Golden Circle: the Why, the How and the What. Many people don’t really know why they do things. They only know what they do and how they do it. This is because the purpose is not shared. Great leaders engage well because they tell why people do the work they do. And it makes them feel like doing that when they wake up in the morning because they know the why.
The purpose of a product is the best it has to offer to its customers. The Product brings the fulfillment of their desire, it makes viable what they desire.
3 – Product Vision
Why is the vision of the Product so important? Antoine de Saint-Exupery, author of the Little Prince, has an enlightening phrase: “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea”. In other words, teach them to want to know the world and they will make the boats themselves.
Roman Pichler, digital product management specialist, entrepreneur and consultant, says that “The vision guides everyone involved in making the product a success. The product vision is the overarching goal you are aiming for, the reason for creating the product.”
The purpose is why you do things. The vision is the motivation, it gives reasons to generate action. The Product is the medium. That’s why people exchange products. The motivation remains the same, but how to achieve it can change throughout the journey.
From theory to practice
After the conceptual part, time for the best part: apply in the real world. But how? There are several tools and dynamics that help and we selected some of them_
Product Vision Board
Roman Pichler proposed to the community a Canvas called Product Vision Board, which seeks to consolidate key information to share with the team and the entire company. We are not always in a context where we have all this. But the Board can be built collaboratively, with the participation of several elements. Starting with the business area and the PO. Answering these questions, whoever will build the Product has a clear perception of what, how and why.
VISION: What is your purpose for creating the product? Which positive change should it bring about?
TARGET GROUP: Which market or market segment does the product address? Who are the target customers and users?
NEEDS: What problem does the product solve? Which benefit does it provide?
PRODUCT: What product is it? What makes it stand out? Is it feasible to develop the product?
BUSINESS GOALS: How is the product going to benefit the company? What are the business goals?
Empathy Map
The Empathy Map is an HX tool created by XPLANE as part of the Canvas Methodology to help teams deeply understand their customers and improve user experience.
Is/Isn’t/Does/Doesn’t
Is/Isn’t/Does/Doesn’t is a simpler collaborative tool focused on the Product and created by Rafael Sabbagh, which already gives important insights into its creation and evolution. Like the others, it can be adapted to the specific reality of each company.
Elevator Pitch
The idea of Elevator Pitch is to have a ready speech about your Product. If someone approaches you and asks what it is, what it does, what its benefits, target audience and differentials you can answer quickly and easily. The name reflects the idea that it should be possible to deliver the summary in the time span of an elevator ride.
Harnessing the power of technology to build incredible products and not stop innovating is much easier when you have a general picture that goes beyond the “what” and the “how”. These 8 tips from Roman Pichler summarize what to take into account when creating the Product vision:
- Describe the Motivation behind the Product
- Look beyond the Product
- Distinguish between Vision and Product Strategy
- Employ a Shared Vision
- Choose an Inspiring Vision
- Think Big
- Keep your Vision Short and Sweet
- Use the Vision to Guide your Decisions
And finally, we can connect all of this with 3 of the principles of the agile manifesto:
- Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through the early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
- Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
- The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
Our Global Growth Framework, engaged by data, people and action, incorporates these best practices and empowers game-changers to revolutionize their segments for almost 20 years.
