Kenya Coconut Production Presentation by Dr. Lalith Perera
Top 10 Things Needed to Create a Successful Product
1. Top 10 Things Needed to
Create a Successful Product
Getting from Market
Requirements to Final
Software
Oct 8, 2003 Ruth Hennigar @ SVPMA 1
2. Who is Ruth Hennigar?
20 years in Information Technology
Product Development Experience at Fortune 500 &
Start-ups
As an executive and member of the rank and file
Shipped over 15 Hardware and Software products
(Consumer & Small Business devices, Networking
Software, Operating Systems, Commerce Web Site)
General Management as well as Engineering
experience
Oct 8, 2003 Ruth Hennigar @ SVPMA 2
3. This Presentation
Focus on building products
Not selling/marketing
Concept/Market Requirements to ‘Golden
Master’ Software
Relevant to first products and follow-ons
Applicable to large and small companies,
teams and projects
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4. #10: Define the Customer
Attributes of the core customer base
Specific examples
Problem definition
Feature definition
Who ISN’T the customer
Write it down
Whole team needs to be clear
• Product Management - Engineering - QA - Execs
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5. #9: Set Up-Front Product Goals
Release timing
Must-have features: prioritized
Quality goals
Technology goals
Milestone exit criteria
Write them down
Oct 8, 2003 Ruth Hennigar @ SVPMA 5
6. #8: Identify Core Team Members
Identify a Project Lead
QA, Product Marketing, Eng, Human Factors,
Developer and/or Customer Support, Sustaining
Eng
Executive sponsor/Company sign-off
Clarify roles and responsibilities
Ensure (and continue to ensure) buy-in and
ownership
Do it Early!
Oct 8, 2003 Ruth Hennigar @ SVPMA 6
7. #7: Identify Key Issues Early
Technical unknowns
Market unknowns/follow on research
Outside resource requirements
Licensing or acquisition of technology
Partnerships
Allow time in the schedule for resolving
the issues
Assign resources to resolving them ASAP
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8. #6: Learn From the Last Time
Use last project Post Mortem findings
Current or last company you were at
In planning/team meetings, review what
worked and didn’t the last time
If it didn’t work last time, don’t expect it to
this time, unless you changed something
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9. #5: Understand the Tradeoffs
Resources: people, money, hardware.
Time: ship date
Features
Quality
Cost of customer support post ship,
reputation
What can be adjusted?
because something will have to be
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10. #4: Tell the Truth
Don’t shoot the messenger
Listen/learn/understand
Truth vs what you want to hear
The sooner you find out, the more options
you have
Oct 8, 2003 Ruth Hennigar @ SVPMA 10
11. #3: Communicate
Set up non-meeting communication
channels
Be clear and specific
Don’t assume
Core team vs entire team
Effective meetings
Agenda, minutes, pre-work all are critical
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12. #2: Focus Focus Focus
Ruthless prioritization
Short list of critical items
Review new requests and data against
original product goals
Avoid feature creep
Avoid ‘last customer input’ trap
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13. #1: Make Decisions
And stick with them
Consistent decision making process
Who makes the decision?
Who has to be included in the decision? Who has a
vote vs an opinion?
Who needs to be informed of the decision?
Write down the decision and the options
reviewed
SUPPORT THE DECISION MAKER
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14. Thank you for listening
Now, it’s your turn.
What are your Top 10?
Oct 8, 2003 Ruth Hennigar @ SVPMA 14