A typical risk in product development is to engage in solution directed planning. In this case, somebody prominent in the enterprise has a distinctive product definition in mind which they prefer to build and has the ability to convince others into creating it. Usually the company ignores to perform proper marketing research to confirm that the solution is the appropriate solution or verify that it fixes an actual problem. More often than not those products fail altogether or don't achieve the whole potential of the market opportunity.
As a product manager, you must really pay attention to the problem you are striving to address. Avoid the trap of solution directed planning, it may lead you down a track that is short of ideal for the consumer. Invest time in learning about the customer, involve the consumer , and document the problem you are attempting to solve. Ask questions, use the 5 whys in order to get to a greater knowledge of the problem. Are there habits or attitudes that add to the problem that can turn into a barrier for some solutions to the problem? When you learn about the problem and are attached to it, it becomes simpler to review the various solutions to the problem.
It may be helpful to document the problem statement and customer observations in a visual way on flip charts in the team work area. This serves as both a reference point for solution evaluation and an anchor to avoid solution led problem solving. In the event that you are testing solutions in a marketing study or lean experiments, add the observations you garner to the visual guide.
In case you find yourself in a web product environment and use A/B testing or lean startup strategies, use the work space and documentation through the definition of every experiment. When in a tangible product company, use the work area for your feature selections. That will aid your team stay grounded in the problem statement as opposed to drifting away from it.
It is not easy to resist the allure of solution led thinking. Not so long ago, I worked on a product which had been set up as a solution early in the development cycle. We kept trying to try to improve the solution so as to bolster the conversion rate in the product, which wasn't better than the product it replaced. In fact we should have determined faster that this was not the correct solution for the consumer problem and we should really have sought a quite different solution. But the truth is, we were so seriously invested in the solution that had been described that it took too much time and audacity to pinpoint what was going on and to call for a pivot.
As shown above, focusing on the solution only rather than the problem we were striving to solve got us stalled and despite the investment, didn't bring on an improvement in the financial results. We needed to return to to opportunity statement and define all-new solutions. It highlights the benefit of carrying out proper opportunity led solution.
As a product manager, you must really pay attention to the problem you are striving to address. Avoid the trap of solution directed planning, it may lead you down a track that is short of ideal for the consumer. Invest time in learning about the customer, involve the consumer , and document the problem you are attempting to solve. Ask questions, use the 5 whys in order to get to a greater knowledge of the problem. Are there habits or attitudes that add to the problem that can turn into a barrier for some solutions to the problem? When you learn about the problem and are attached to it, it becomes simpler to review the various solutions to the problem.
It may be helpful to document the problem statement and customer observations in a visual way on flip charts in the team work area. This serves as both a reference point for solution evaluation and an anchor to avoid solution led problem solving. In the event that you are testing solutions in a marketing study or lean experiments, add the observations you garner to the visual guide.
In case you find yourself in a web product environment and use A/B testing or lean startup strategies, use the work space and documentation through the definition of every experiment. When in a tangible product company, use the work area for your feature selections. That will aid your team stay grounded in the problem statement as opposed to drifting away from it.
It is not easy to resist the allure of solution led thinking. Not so long ago, I worked on a product which had been set up as a solution early in the development cycle. We kept trying to try to improve the solution so as to bolster the conversion rate in the product, which wasn't better than the product it replaced. In fact we should have determined faster that this was not the correct solution for the consumer problem and we should really have sought a quite different solution. But the truth is, we were so seriously invested in the solution that had been described that it took too much time and audacity to pinpoint what was going on and to call for a pivot.
As shown above, focusing on the solution only rather than the problem we were striving to solve got us stalled and despite the investment, didn't bring on an improvement in the financial results. We needed to return to to opportunity statement and define all-new solutions. It highlights the benefit of carrying out proper opportunity led solution.
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To read more about product management, I recommend you read the excellent electropm blog
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