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Mind the Product

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Does product management only work for tech and startups?

Product Management

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Ed is a Product Manager at TheFoodMarket.com, an online marketplace helping indepdant food merchants reach a larger audience. Volunteering with MindTheProduct since 2012, Ed can be found assisting at numerous events, offering his insight around connecting technology, customers and business.

Edward Kendall

<p>In this <a href="https://www.mindtheproduct.com/producttank/">ProductTank</a> London talk Navin Nair, Product Consultant and Chief Product Officer of <a href="https://www.justpark.com/">JustPark</a>, shares some of the common mistakes and pitfalls he finds Product Managers make during the product discovery process.</p>
<p>Watch the video to see his talk in full, or read on for an overview of the common mistakes he highlights, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>Poorly defined scope</li>
<li>Too quick to a solution</li>
<li>Understanding commercial value</li>
</ul>
<h2>Poorly Defined Scope</h2>
<p>Navin defines scope as six different sections that identify the:</p>
<ol>
<li>Target user</li>
<li>Current problem</li>
<li>Current workaround</li>
<li>Proposed approach</li>
<li>Success criteria</li>
<li>Business value</li>
</ol>
<p>He then explains some of the common problems around scope. For instance, he says, people tend to omit sections from their scope, such as success criteria. They provide a lack of detail, such as claiming that the solution is for “all users” rather than a specific segment. They also, too often, focus on the surface detail of the problem, rather than looking for its root cause.</p>
<h3>Navin&#8217;s Scope Tips:</h3>
<ul>
<li>Just do it! Write a first draft, which doesn’t need to be perfect, and iterate from there</li>
<li>Get feedback on your early versions of the scope instead of just the final one</li>
<li>Document what you won’t be doing as this will help you to manage expectations of what is going to be delivered</li>
</ul>
<h2>Being Too Quick To a Solution</h2>
<p>Navin defines the correct way to reach a solution as being to first understand the problem, only then can you begin to understand the solution and finally build the solution.  However, the mistake he sees people often make, is to first come up with a solution, then find people to agree with them on it, and then to build it. This only results in a product that isn’t solving a problem at all.</p>
<h3>Navin&#8217;s Solution Tips:</h3>
<ul>
<li>Conduct regular customer interviews</li>
<li>If you’re not sure what questions to ask customers, reverse engineer them from open questions (e.g. What problem is preventing you from X?)</li>
<li>Ask customers about what they’re trying to achieve in the real world, rather than what they’re doing with your product</li>
</ul>
<h2>Understanding Commercial Value</h2>
<p>Historically, companies focused on building things that would deliver value for the business with little focus on the user, while more recently it’s more common for companies to build customer-first products that don’t deliver value for the company. Navin explains that a good product should provide value to<span style="font-weight: bold;"> both</span> the customer and the company.</p>
<h3>Navin&#8217;s Value Tips:</h3>
<ul>
<li>Write up the business value and opportunity size</li>
<li>Test your values on customers &#8211; ask questions and act as if you’re selling to see how many people are actually interested</li>
<li>Get an estimate of development costs and timebox that development</li>
</ul>
<h2>Final Takeaway</h2>
<p>The consequence of making these common mistakes in product discovery is that you waste your time and money building a solution that doesn’t solve a problem. To get it right, keep Navin&#8217;s tips in mind, be sure to do discovery yourself (instead of passing it on to someone else), find people to challenge your assumptions, and ensure you do product discovery continually as your product evolves instead of as a one off exercise.</p>

core/freeform

The magic of making great products with Christian Idiodi

Continuous discovery by Konstantin Diener

Unusual business in the product discovery stage by Kristian Collin Berge

How to find out what your customers want by Janet Bumpas

From PO to CPO: How to drive your product career by Namrata Sarmah

How to recognise and beat the ‘knowing’ gap – Christina Wodtke at MTP Engage Hamburg

Get innovation-ready, your product manager is on fire! by Julia Shalet

Jedi discovery and delivery by Lisa Mo Wagner

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A designer, a product manager, and an engineer walk into a bar…by Karishma Irani

How to Avoid Product Discovery Pitfalls, by Navin Nair

Edward Kendall