Reflections on Product: 2022
Thoughts from another 365 Days round the sun.
Like with anything we dedicate a significant amount of time to, we find that there are new lessons we learn and perspectives we gain. So, as we blissfully slip into that part of the holidays where no one really remembers what day of the week it is, I’m spending some time reflecting on some of the most vital lessons that have shaped my thinking this year.
I’ve put down a few of those thoughts which I plan to carry on into the next year. Hopefully, there might be one or two things in there for you too.
Time is Money: this is bandied about a lot, but what does it really mean? In reality there’s a cost to building anything – people resources, tools, third-party services etc. Consequently, the longer it takes the more expensive it becomes not just in terms of direct costs, but how soon the company can begin to yield returns.
Therefore, build and ship cycles should remain as short as is reasonable. Of course, what’s defined as reasonable is dependent on different factors, but that’s outside the scope of this write up.
Speed should be a Constant: this is true for different reasons. Since time is money, then speed ultimately becomes important. If you’re an early stage startup then speed is an offence strategy which provides leverage for the business to gain market share rapidly. If you’re a large organisation then speed is your defence strategy to protect the market share you have.
The illusion is speed becomes less important over time as a company grows and matures. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. What becomes more difficult to manage is quality which shouldn’t be compromised on because it gets even more expensive over time as systems become more complex.
Be Agile: unfortunately, there’s a high tendency for us to view agile as the end itself. Agile however is a means to an end. It’s the means to get us to work effectively and efficiently in order to deliver value to the customer in the shortest possible time and in the least wasteful way.
Agile doesn’t mean breaking down projects into two week sprints that take months to ship. Agile means breaking down projects into incremental bits of value that can be delivered within watever time is feasible. It goes without saying – the shorter the better.
Iterate is a verb: one side-effect of being truly agile is development is never done. While this is true of product as a whole, agile makes it more pronounced. Therefore, it’s important to revisit existing functionality and allocate resources for future updates.
It’s easier said than done as it is very tempting to get distracted by the new shiny thing. While iterating is important it doesn’t take the place of re-prioritisation – as projects are bound to move up and down the roadmap as required. At the end of the day, resources should always go towards the most impactful projects – however impact is measured.
Problems over features: Finally, it’s important to solve actual problems and not just ship features. The measure of a successful product lies in the problems it solves for users and not how many different actions users can perform that may not necessarily be valuable.
As there are multiple problem spaces to explore, it’s important to ensure there’s alignment between what opportunities you choose and what the overall business goals are.
A few key questions that have proved useful time and time again are:
- What is important to the business right now in the short and long term? a.k.a Business objectives
- Based on the above, what are the opportunity spaces we can explore to capture some of this value? This ensures the strategy is in line with the business objectives.
- Where are the gaps in our current services or products that don’t meet the needs of our customers? Frame these as problems.
- In what ways can we bridge these gaps and provide value to both our customers and the business? These become opportunities.
It is worth noting that of all the problems that can be solved not all of them have the same level of importance, reach and value. In reality, some problems will not be worth solving. Therefore, prioritising the problems will be key.
As we begin another year I hope you’ll spend some time reflecting on lessons you’ve found most helpful in the past year and commit to improving your craft in this new one. As always, I wish you nothing but an impactful New Year!
