I’m sure someone has thought of this before, and there’s probably a formal name for it, but I thought I’d document it while it’s in my head….and before I delete the email in which I decided to capture it.

1) What Problem is Being Solved: The overarching product summary should start with a definition of the problem(s) being solved.  From this definition, anyone reading this package can evaluate whether the proposed solution addresses the problem or problems stated.  Much expense can be saved by not delivering a solution to market that doesn’t address the intended problem.

2) Buyer and User Personas: Who is the primary user for whom a product is to be built, and who is the buyer actually responsible for the decision to purchase?  Often times these are not the same people–a proper user persona can identify the user’s tendencies and the typical person who will be using the product, whereas a buyer persona can help to keep the buyer’s motivations in mind.

3) Value Proposition: A succinct explanation of how the product can provide tangible, financial benefit to the user.  One method is to show the value of the time saved by elimination of manual steps, which can show the value of efficiency.  Increased revenue may be harder to validate, but using reasonable estimates can help to show the exact amount of value that a user will obtain by using the product.  This evaluation is helpful when it comes to pricing the product for the market, and should take into account how the solution solves the stated problem for the buyer and users defined above.

4) Solution Workflows: For a software product, no presentation of the proposed product is complete without a robust set of wireframes weaved together with a good story.  Packaging this all together helps answer “what are we building, exactly?” and helps build the case that the solution proposed is indeed the best one, for the conditions in items one and two above.

There are other items packaged in a business case — in particular, one that comes to mind is a pricing proposal — but the items listed here are enough to deliver to business people within a large software company to make the case that a particular product is solving a real market need for real users, and to explain exactly what product is proposed to meet that need.

In my readings about the practice, many are adherents to every nuance of Agile and Scrum, but I have to question this when I am not convinced of the value obtained from the practice.  So, at this point my instinct is to try twice-a-week during the next sprint, and reevaluate during the retrospective.

Thoughts?

The six step process is as follows:

1. Find unresolved problems
2. Understand buyer personas
3. Quantify the impact
4. Create breakthrough experiences
5. Articulate powerful ideas
6. Establish authentic connections

The authors are thought leaders with Pragmatic Marketing, a highly-regarded consultancy in the world of product management.  They teach a proprietary framework of 37 elements of product management which at a high level describes the process of identifying a market, finding problems in that marketing, developing solutions and bringing them to market.  In the framework, while not diminishing the importance of the others, Tuned In focuses on the identification of market problems, requirements, use scenarios and positioning elements to illustrate the point that only by interacting with existing customers and prospects (tuning in) can one identify the problems people are willing to pay to solve.  Products that do not solve a problem people are willing to pay to have solved, in Pragmatic’s view, should not be developed.

Tuned In is written in a highly readable style that is short on jargon but long on stories that hit home.  A prime example of a “resonator” from the book is Zipcar, which the authors point out solves a need for a market that had not previously been met by any existing car rental company: the urban dweller who needs a car for a short time.  In a recent article in Money magazine, stalwarts Ford and Hertz are cited as wanting “in” on Zipcar’s market–one which they had failed to observe and fill at any point in their long history.  [It can be argued that companies like Ford and Hertz may have considered a car-sharing market but decided in self-interest NOT to fill it; the article claims that for every shared car, 20 are taken off the road, which is not good for the traditional car business]

This is a very common-sense book that is not hard to understand, but at the same time does not delve into extreme detail on topics such as market-research; academic analysis is not the point of Tuned In.  Tuned In is “tuned in” to the fact that product managers need a simple, easy-to-understand process to “tune in” to their markets.  And, on that, the authors deliver.

Enjoying a lazy Christmas provides a bit of time for reflection, so I am taking this opportunity to collect and publish my observations–both good and bad–of life over the last 50-51 weeks.  For those of you who don’t know my background, I moved from Atlanta last January after spending 19 years in the Atlanta area.  We chose Austin because of its proximity to family, its climate, and its employment outlook.  Indeed, the move was exacerbated because my wife found a job here.  As a native of New Orleans, I looked forward to a place that was closer in population to my home and that had some of the sense of community I grew up enjoying.

A few months ago, I happened across a similar one-year retrospective published by Alora Chistiakoff, and I recommend reading it for its thoroughness.  I share her perspective on a lot of the items she mentioned.  With that contrast of Austin and California as a model, I shall share my perspective on moving west from Atlanta after growing up in New Orleans:

1. Climate: While I could have done without 60+ days over 100 degrees this past summer (a record, apparently..Welcome to Texas!), it still beats what this Gulf Coast native considers frigid winters.  Being further south, Austin‘s average high and average low are 5-10 degrees warmer than Atlanta‘s for most months of the year.  I much prefer heat to cold.
2. Community: I have found it quite easy to network and make friends in Austin.  People are warm, open, and friendly and seem to enjoy participating in community activities.  The technology and entrepreneur communities are very active and energetic here, and that’s something I wasn’t used to in Atlanta.  In fact, I would not be considering a few side business ideas if I were still in Atlanta–the people around me in Austin make this kind of thought second-nature.  To be fair, this perception is subject to bias: I wasn’t as active in the community there either.
3. ProductCamp: The product management community here is strong, and I’ve been lucky to become involved with the planning team on the marketing side.  Great people from whom I’ve learned a great deal, and to whom I hope I’m able to contribute enough.
4. Twitter: Everyone here seems to be on Twitter.  Apparently Twitter got its start at SXSW, which I’m sure is a contributing factor, but i think the ethos of the people here plays a big part.  I was aware of Twitter in Atlanta, but at least in the circles I frequented, it wasn’t even close.
5. Civic pride: There is definitely a gargantuan difference in the pride people have living in the Austin area, as compared to the Atlanta area–at least among the circles I frequent.  Austinites boast about being from Austin, and enjoy opportunities to experience the city, even though they may disagree with some of the city’s policies; metro Atlantans in the suburbs bemoan having to drive ITP (“inside the Perimeter”) and resent the City of Atlanta due to their disagreements over policy.  To me, this has been a wholeheartedly refreshing change.
6. Festivals: Austin has two giant ones every year, SXSW and Austin City Limits Festival, and practically some small festival every week.  People here enjoy community (am I repeating myself?) and opportunities to enjoy life.  The Atlantis Music Conference is the closest Atlanta has to SXSW’s Music segment, and sadly, Music Midtown went dormant a few years ago.  I haven’t been able to attend either Austin festival yet, but perhaps 2010 will provide that opportunity.
7. The motto: Austin’s unofficial motto is “Keep Austin Weird.”  There’s not just a support network for small business, it’s an ecosystem.  People go out of their way to support local businesses.  Loads of independent coffeeshops, for example, that people actively support.  How cool is that?
8. Food: So, Austin is more BBQ and Tex-Mex than anything.  It’s not New Orleans, but neither is Atlanta.  There’s enough variety to keep me happy, although finding good pho and other ethnic delicacies is more difficult than saying “just go to Buford Highway.”  Austin has the Whole Foods HQ downtown, although my wife is partial to HEB’s snooty brand, Central Market.
9. Surroundings: Atlanta’s rolling hills and trees were a bit more visually appealing – Austin has that in the western “Hill Country” suburbs, but the city itself is flatland built amongst farms rather than cut out of forestry.  To my Georgia friends who think Austin is all cows and cowboys, I have to point out it’s more semiconductor engineers than cowboys in Austin proper.
10. NOLA: Partly due to the similar ethos, I find a lot of New Orleans natives here – and I can’t get away from crawfish boils in the Spring, and snowball stands (or “sno-cone stands”) in the summer.  Lots of Saints fans–literally hundreds gathering at Shoal Creek every Sunday.  And no Falcons fans, though they’re even hard to find in Atlanta   So not enough to feel “just like home,” but it’s enough of a taste to be comfortable.
11. “Live Music Capital of the World”: Another aspect of the city I haven’t been able to enjoy enough.  The most prominent sounds of Austin are indie-rock, but there is good blues, an upcoming soul scene and a touch of jazz to be found.  I’m probably a heretic for thinking Austin’s music scene needs to be more diverse to challenge New Orleans’, but I’m thankful for the diversity to be found and hoping to enjoy it in person more.
12. No State Income Tax: My net income went up once my address changed to Texas.  That said, when we buy a house, I’ll have to watch for property tax.
13. Bars: Although most of my going-out experience in Austin is for happy hours, I feel at home visiting bars with personality.  Bars.  Atlanta, much like other large metros such as Dallas, is more of a dance-club town.  New Orleans is a bar town.  I’m in my element.
14. Transplants: Atlanta brings in lots of New Yorkers; Austin brings in the Californians.
15. Politics: I was more plugged into Atlanta’s suburbs, which are definitely deep red.  Austin’s burbs (Williamson County) are just as red, but i keep hearing that one of the reasons for Austin’s success is that it’s a blue city within a red state.  I need to live here longer to really figure out if that’s accurate.
16. Population: 25 million people between Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin, all within 3 hours (not counting Traffic).  Crazy.
17. Water: Austin’s as land-locked as Atlanta.  Atlanta’s drought is finally over, Austin is finally working on its own.  This fall seems rainy, so the lake has been rising.  Out of the frying pan…
18. Climate: People here aren’t worried about being the “flash flood capital” although they are conscious of places that are flood-prone (Spicewood Springs Road, Shoal Creek, etc).  What people actually dread — and rightfully so, might I add — is hail.  This spring my car was pelted to oblivion along with much of NW Austin.  Thunder seems epic here, I believe because of the extended horizon and the flat terrain.  Hoping to wait to replace my old clunker until we have a garage.
19. Blue Laws: In Texas, unlike Georgia, you can buy beer on Sundays in a store….but not before noon.  I don’t drink enough for that to matter, but it’s amusing.

To summarize, it’s been an enlightening year.  I’m considering ideas for side businesses, which is a massive change of perspective from my life in Atlanta.  Atlanta’s mindset is corporate in nature, and while I had a couple of friends who ran their own businesses, they seemed like oddities and I didn’t quite “get” it.  In Austin, the entrepreneurial spirit and the sense of place is alive and strong.  So although it’s been a separation from friends and family, the move has been fruitful in terms of personal growth.

Now…back to being Merry!

Take all this within the context of working in different realities (some not acknowledging the problem really exists/defining it differently), with different value systems and beliefs about whether the current forum is even the right one to address the problem, and it’s no wonder that what comes out of such a process is often clumsy and–ultimately–a poor solution.  A guest blog on HBR illustrates this point with the “successful” Medicare Part D episode earlier this decade: a solution that many don’t even understand, much less support.

In product management, we advocate that there needs to be one “owner” of a problem space and solution, who makes the decisions about what form that solution takes and avoids feature creep.  Those decisions need to be made with a laser focus on the problem being solved and the market itself.  What we’re seeing in Congress–with all bills, really, but highlighted in prime time for us now–is the exact opposite: features added and features cut arbitrarily for the purpose of gaining stakeholder support, not because it makes the solution better. The goal of delivering something to market has taken precedence over actually solving the problem.

This is no way to build a quality product.

Ultimately, it came down to learning about WordPress unconfined by the limitations of a WordPress.com blog.  I wanted to improve the presentation with a fresh new template, better focus on my career direction and challenge myself to write more frequently.  Most everything we encounter from day to day is a product of someone’s work–I frequently examine things from the perspective of product management when considering what problems it solves and how well, and the perspective of marketing when considering how awareness is delivered to its target audience.  My background includes quality assurance, and I certainly look at products in terms of how well they meet their goals (validation) and objectives (verification) so I occasionally include observations about that as well.

As I contemplate 2010, I realize that I enjoy writing, and I want to experiment with what moves my (small) audience and what does not.  I want to interact with fellow bloggers a bit more.  I have a few ideas for things I’d like to accomplish with my writing in the future, and I believe this can be a beginning and a platform with which to explore.

Comments?  Questions?  Complaints?

Please ignore this token: NXK36VHMX2TP

The entry of PIN number and selection of fast-cash amount were on the same screen.

In every previous interaction with an ATM, after inserting my card, I’ve been conditioned to (1) enter my PIN number, (2) click a button, (3) click a button for “Fast Cash,” and then (4) select an amount.  In today’s interaction, some significant experience design had been applied.  Though a single example does not demonstrate a pattern, I’d be willing to bet that my experience is not unusual: 99% of my transactions are fast-cash.  So today’s interaction was much much simpler: (1) enter PIN, (2) select fast-cash amount.  Choosing the fast-cash amount triggered the ATM to validate my PIN and dispense the cash.  That saved 2 steps, or 50% of the work required of the user.  Nice!

The only question I’m left with is: Why did this take until the year 2009?

Further, possibly because I was distracted by the unusually efficient interaction, I do not recall being forced to request a receipt.  In previous interactions I’ve been annoyed with BoA ATM machines that display a message “Retrieving preferences,” and then immediately ask if I want a receipt.  My receipt preference doesn’t change: I want one.  I realize the bank would prefer I do not, but their opinion is irrelevant.  If you’re going to store my preferences, and you insist upon asking me that question each time, the profile you’ve assembled is incomplete.  But as distracted as I was, I cannot swear that I did not have to answer that prompt: and believing I didn’t would be too impressive of an example of interaction redesign for me to handle.

How many more everyday interactions can be made dramatically better?

I’m currently running a large development project which is transitioning at the 2/3 mark from waterfall to agile.

Now that I have that out of the way, a little background.  The project was defined in terms of discrete requirements, originally tied together with a few key workflows and wireframes, and involves an n-tier architecture with a number of moving parts.  Though much of the underlying architecture was completed, we weren’t clear enough about the workflows and stories and the project was not producing tangible results fast enough.  So, while we recognize we should have started with agile, the company hadn’t adopted the agile methodology at inception.  To achieve our goal of better predictability and periodic peer review of the software, after it became possible in the corporate environment, we moved to agile.

Note that in the first half of the project, we erred on the side of providing requirements that stopped at the “what,” rather than providing the team enough about the “how.”  The move to agile has exposed that we weren’t providing enough context around each requirement (story) to enable the development team to build the product.  In this case, the complexity of the project and an unfortunate number of unknowns has made it useful for product management to collaborate with user experience well before presenting user stories to the development team, as advocated by others, rather than attempting to involve UX on an “as-needed” basis for each story.  In prior attempts to provide only the agile user story in “As a ___, I need ___ so ____” format, it quickly became apparent that the story wasn’t nearly enough.  We had to deliver the agile user story with the workflow steps (including interaction design) — only that seemed to eliminate enough uncertainty to proceed.

From a higher level, there’s another lesson here that operating under both paradigms has exposed.  It was quickly clear that for a complex system, providing the complete user stories and supporting material (including workflow steps, interaction design and wireframes) enables undesrstanding and fast action.   Though it was in some ways coincidental that we had wireframes before our sprints kicked off, it already appears to have sped things up significantly.

Hopefully the ramp-up will expand as we continue down this path, and we’ll reach the finish line quicker than we might have otherwise.

The fact is that as demands placed upon a startup company mount, the focus of the CEO begins to split to operational and technical issues.  If someone is not dedicated to the product itself, it seems very easy — to cite but one example — to experience feature creep where people think additional functions “can’t hurt,” while they’re really not focused on the specific target market and whether or not that target market will actually use the feature being considered.

In a recent On Product Management post and the related comments, several of my peers argue for hiring experienced product management early in the life of a startup to avoid missing the target and delivering a product that isn’t a winner.  I hereby add my “ditto” to those opinions.

The agenda includes networking and 2 presentations, to be voted upon by the attendees.  For the first meeting on October 21, two topics have been selected: Marketing and Product Strategy.  Participants are asked to submit topics, and registered attendees can vote upon the sessions offered between October 12 and October 16.  On the 21st, the participants will vote from among the top 4 vote-getters to determine the two topics to be presented that evening.  Much like ProductCamp, this format engenders a bit of good-natured competition and brings out better presentations.

We hope that this periodic mini-unconference between the biannual ProductCamps can help advance the product management and product marketing community in Central Texas.

Currently, 54 people are signed up out of a maximum 150.  Hope to see you there!

NOTE: Please see Paul Young’s more extensive write-up of the event.