Building a product
The greatest product manager of all time was Steve Jobs.
There, I said it.
Now you have a reference, for what I am about to say.
Building a product, means that you are making something which people love, and will always love.
For that, you need to first to understand the typical user flow, as in how users use the product, and for what purpose.
If it fulfils the purpose, great, that is your first step, as a hygiene level.
The second is to be more intuitive, as in fulfilling needs, which the user didn't even realise they had.
Today, most products are built just for the purpose of utility, like a calculator, which said "punch in numbers, tell me what to do with them, and I will give you the correct answer."
Tomorrow's products, will do everything, and give the result the user wants before they ask for it.
So previously, products were built reactively, where the company would wait for the customer to define everything.
Tomorrow, customers want products which know their needs, better than them.
So what is the most important part of product management?
It's the user.
It's the reason first user interface was set up as a discipline, and then user experience, showing that users may carry out the same functions, in different ways.
Take the vehicle.
There are different ways of travelling, from taking a bicycle, to riding a motorbike, to being picked up by someone else on a motorbike, to driving a car, to having someone else drive your car, to having someone else drop you in their car, to travelling by bus, to travelling by train, to travelling by an aeroplane, to travelling by a shuttle.
Each case, fulfils the same purpose, in a different way, because the user has un-mentioned needs, which are to be fulfilled in the travel.
For the bicycle, the user wishes to travel, and wishes to use his own body as the engine, so he looks at exercise at the same time as transport. He is willing to accomodate time, towards fulfilling these dual purposes.
For riding a motorcycle, the user is spending money on fuel, which is a perishable resource, hence higher opportunity cost. The advantage here, is that the user may carry material or even a passenger. The time required to travel is reduced.
Then there are superbikes, which are high powered bikes, for the purpose of speed, and cruiser bikes, for the purpose of comfort over long distances.
What is the future?
It is about vehicles which all use renewable sources of energy.
The future vehicle, will actually have the driver out of the vehicle, and focus only on the passenger.
So what does the product manager do in all of this?
He identifies which user, needs which product.
Then works with the team to create it.
He understands that there are multiple disciplines to create the end product, such as the external design, the materials, the electronics, the electricals, the software, the compliances.
He then identifies the best vendors and works with them, towards creating the best fit, between the creator and the users.
The most important thing to remember for each product, is that the user, will always have more utility for the product than the creator, so the user always comes first.
There, I said it.
Now you have a reference, for what I am about to say.
Building a product, means that you are making something which people love, and will always love.
For that, you need to first to understand the typical user flow, as in how users use the product, and for what purpose.
If it fulfils the purpose, great, that is your first step, as a hygiene level.
The second is to be more intuitive, as in fulfilling needs, which the user didn't even realise they had.
Today, most products are built just for the purpose of utility, like a calculator, which said "punch in numbers, tell me what to do with them, and I will give you the correct answer."
Tomorrow's products, will do everything, and give the result the user wants before they ask for it.
So previously, products were built reactively, where the company would wait for the customer to define everything.
Tomorrow, customers want products which know their needs, better than them.
So what is the most important part of product management?
It's the user.
It's the reason first user interface was set up as a discipline, and then user experience, showing that users may carry out the same functions, in different ways.
Take the vehicle.
There are different ways of travelling, from taking a bicycle, to riding a motorbike, to being picked up by someone else on a motorbike, to driving a car, to having someone else drive your car, to having someone else drop you in their car, to travelling by bus, to travelling by train, to travelling by an aeroplane, to travelling by a shuttle.
Each case, fulfils the same purpose, in a different way, because the user has un-mentioned needs, which are to be fulfilled in the travel.
For the bicycle, the user wishes to travel, and wishes to use his own body as the engine, so he looks at exercise at the same time as transport. He is willing to accomodate time, towards fulfilling these dual purposes.
For riding a motorcycle, the user is spending money on fuel, which is a perishable resource, hence higher opportunity cost. The advantage here, is that the user may carry material or even a passenger. The time required to travel is reduced.
For being dropped by someone else, you may have to pay them, if it is a motorcycle taxi, like in Goa. Otherwise, you run a risk of travelling with someone you don't know.
Then there are superbikes, which are high powered bikes, for the purpose of speed, and cruiser bikes, for the purpose of comfort over long distances.
What is the future?
It is about vehicles which all use renewable sources of energy.
The future vehicle, will actually have the driver out of the vehicle, and focus only on the passenger.
So what does the product manager do in all of this?
He identifies which user, needs which product.
Then works with the team to create it.
He understands that there are multiple disciplines to create the end product, such as the external design, the materials, the electronics, the electricals, the software, the compliances.
He then identifies the best vendors and works with them, towards creating the best fit, between the creator and the users.
The most important thing to remember for each product, is that the user, will always have more utility for the product than the creator, so the user always comes first.