Ten Tips for New Product Managers

Four types of “new” Product Managers:

Your relationship to the organization

		New	Tenured
Type of Product	New	New product, New organization	New product, same organization
	Existing	Existing product, New organization	Existing product, same organization

Ten Tips:

Ø Spend time with customers

Ø Ask “dumb” questions

Ø Let go of your past

Ø Surround yourself with experts

Ø Gather data

Ø Focus

Ø Concentrate on what, not how

Ø Communicate, communicate, communicate

Ø Sell your product internally

Ø Do whatever it takes

Spend time with customers

►   The single most important thing a product manager can do is to understand the market

►   The best way to understand the market is to spend time with customers

►   Spend more time with customers than with colleagues

►   Set goals for customer visits

►   Establish a regular schedule for customer interactions

►   Bring colleagues along with you

►   Bring back information to share

Ask “dumb” questions

►   “Dumb” questions are really more about when they get asked than about what you are asking.

►   New product managers have the luxury of asking naïve questions

►   Ask as many questions as possible as soon as possible

►   Who to ask? Customers, colleagues, stakeholders, superiors, partners, competitors…

►   Develop a list of initial questions

►   Generate additional questions each time one is answered

►   Make note of interesting answers for future reference

►   Ask the same question to different people and compare answers

  

Let go of your past

►   What were you in your “past” life? Whatever it was, you’re a product manager now.

►   There is a natural instinct for product managers to gravitate towards the function of the business from which they came – resist it

►   Audit  the time you are spending on each area of the product

►   Have an open conversation with colleagues  in your former role

    - Discuss experiences and establish boundaries

►   Think hard before overruling decisions

►   Review regularly to discuss progress

Surround yourself with experts

►   Product managers can not and should not do it all alone

►   Your success depends on others

►   Do not try to be an expert in everything

►   Leverage the expertise of others in certain areas

►   Look for “formal” and “informal” advisors

►   Experts do not just have to be within your organization

►   Identify areas important to product’s success

►   Identify internal experts in targeted areas

►   Enlist experts as Trusted Advisors

►   Utilize advisors for decision-making, planning, support and overcoming obstacles

    Gather data

►   “In a truly consumer-driven company, decisions are based on data… so the person with the best data wins.” – Scott Cook; Founder, Intuit

►   Lots of different 

      types of data…

v Internal data

v External data

v Market data

v Product data

►   Gather existing market research and industry data – primary and secondary

►   Identify information gaps and develop plans to fill them

►   Gather existing product performance data

►   Identify missing and desired information and leverage colleagues to obtain

       - If desired data is not available, quantify the value of it in 

           order to obtain support for projects to gather it                              

Focus

►   It will be overwhelming

►   You will not know where to start

►   It is better to do one thing well than to do a lot of things poorly

►   Make a list of all of the “internal” and “external” priorities

►   Determine timelines, relative levels of effort, and resources required

►   Pick a few quick wins and focus initial effort

►   During that time, develop longer-term focus

►   Get agreement on focus, communicate, and reiterate it

Concentrate on what, not how

►   It will be tempting to control “how” things get done with your product

►   Resist the temptation

►   Product managers should define “what” needs to happen…

►   … and others should define “how” those things happen

►   Clarify roles and responsibilities with team members

v Engineering

v Design

v Marketing

►   Get regular feedback on whether you and others are keeping with the agreed-upon responsibilities

Communicate, communicate…

►   Do not underestimate the importance of communication in all forms

v Informal, formal, written, verbal, unspoken, method, timeliness, frequency, ton

   Communication  

               

                                                             

Communicate, communicate: To Do

►   Audit current communications (if any)

►   Get feedback from stakeholders on preferred communications channels and frequency

►   Develop communications plan; type and frequency

v Email newsletter

v Intranet site

v “State of the Product” presentations

►   Set reminders about communications and stick to schedule!

Sell your product internally

►   Be the champion for your product.

►   “Sell” your product to executives, team members, other departments

►   Will help gain resources, funding, support for issues and new initiatives

►   Regularly communicate good news

v Don’t go overboard

v Don’t ignore or try to dismiss bad news

►   Make sure your communication plans include 

all the necessary audiences

►   Get others to help sell your product

v Explicit “enlistment”

v Find good supporters and keep them happy

Do whatever it takes

“Be willing to do whatever it takes.

…

I know of many cases where the product manager needed to help out with   deliverables for customer support, sales training, technical writing, QA, engineering, and marketing.  You may need to just do it.”

Do whatever it takes: To Do

►   Learn about as many areas of your product as possible

The more you know, the more you can help

►   Help out at the right time

-Don’t start too early, but don’t wait too long

►   Don’t complain about having to help out

-But make sure to discuss it later if there are skill or resource issues that need to be addressed

Bonus tip #11

►   Learn from other product managers.

►   There are plenty of great (and often free!) resources available

►   Books, blogs, newsletters, webinars, conferences, training, professional associations, local groups, mailing lists, social networking sites…

Resources

►   How To Be A Good Product Manager.

2) Ask dumb questions

–     www.goodproductmanager.com/2007/02/09/ask-dumb-questions/

3) Let go of your past

–     www.goodproductmanager.com/2007/01/30/let-go-of-your-past/

4) Surround yourself with experts

–     www.goodproductmanager.com/2007/02/22/dont-do-it-all-or-do-it-all-yourself/

7) Take responsibility for what, not how

–     www.goodproductmanager.com/2007/02/14/take-responsibility-for-what-not-how/

10) Do whatever it takes

–     www.goodproductmanager.com/2007/04/04/help-out-in-areas-outside-of-product-management/

         –     More topics at www.goodproductmanager.com

►   Brainmates: So You’re a New Product Manager…

–     Part 1: www.brainmates.com.au/?p=165

–     Part 2: www.brainmates.com.au/?p=153

–     Part 3: www.brainmates.com.au/?p=159

–     Part 4: www.brainmates.com.au/?p=166

–     Part 5: www.brainmates.com.au/?p=169

–     Part 6: www.brainmates.com.au/?p=172

►   On Product Management: How to be a Great Product Manager

–     onproductmanagement.wordpress.com/2007/08/14/how-to-be-a-great-product-manager-boxed-set-with-bonus-features/

►   Lots of other great Product Management blogs

–     www.goodproductmanager.com/resources/

►   These slides are available online

–     www.jefflash.com/work/

–     Interested in getting your feedback

–     jeff@jefflash.com

Product Design & Development

Product development is the process of creating a new product to be sold by a business  or enterprise to its customers. In the document title, Design refers to those activities involved  in creating the styling, look and feel of the product, deciding on the product's mechanical  architecture, selecting materials and processes, and engineering the various components  necessary to make the product work.  Development refers collectively to the entire process of identifying a market opportunity,  creating a product to appeal to the identified market, and finally, testing, modifying and  refining the product until it is ready for production. A product can be any item from  a book, musical composition, or information service, to an engineered product such as  a computer, hair dryer, or washing machine. This document is focused on the process  of developing discrete engineered products, rather than works of art or informational  products. The task of developing outstanding new products is difficult, time-consuming, and costly. People who have never been involved in a development effort are astounded by  the amount of time and money that goes into a new product. Great products are  not simply designed, but instead they evolve over time through countless hours of research, analysis,design studies, engineering and prototyping efforts, and finally,  testing, modifying, and re-testing until the design has been perfected. Few products are developed by a single individual working alone. It is unlikely that one individual will have the necessary skills in marketing,  industrial design, mechanical and electronic engineering, manufacturing  processes and materials, tool-making, packaging design, graphic art,  and project management, just to name the primary areas of expertise.  Development is normally done by a project team, and the team leader  draws on talent in a variety of disciplines, often from both outside and inside  the company. As a general rule, the cost of a development effort is a factor of the number of people  involved and the time required to nurture the initial concept into a fully-refined product. Rarely can a production-ready product be developed in less than one year, and some projects can take three to five years to complete. The impetus for a new product normally comes from a perceived market opportunity or from the development of a new technology. Consequently, new products are broadly categorized as either market-pull products or technology-push products. With a market-pull product, the marketing center of the company first determines that sales could be increased if a new product were designed to appeal to a particular segment of its customers. Engineering is then be asked to determine the technical  feasibility of the new product idea. This interaction is reversed with a technology-push product. When a technical breakthrough opens the way for a new product, marketing then attempts to determine the idea's prospects in the marketplace. In many cases, the technology itself may  not actually point to a particular product, but instead, to new capabilities and benefits that could be packaged in a variety of ways to create a number of different products. Marketing would have the responsibility of determining how the technology should be packaged to have the greatest appeal to its customers. With either scenario,manufacturing is responsible for estimating the cost of building the prospective new product, and their estimations are used to project a selling price and estimate the potential profit for the company. The process of developing new products varies between companies, and even between products within the same company. Regardless of organizational differences, a good new product is the result a methodical development effort with well defined product specifications and project goals. A development project for a market-pull product is generally organized along the lines  shown in Figure 1. Figure 1  The Generic Product Development Process   Concept   Development System-Level Design Detail Design Testing and Refinement Production Ramp-Up Marketing Define market    segmentsIdentify Lead usersIdentify competitive    products Develop plan for    product options    and extended    product family Develop    marketing plan Dev. promotion    and launch    materialsFacilitate    field tests Place early    production    with key    customers Design Study feasibility    of product conceptsDevelop industrial    design conceptsBuild and test    expiremental prototypes Generate    alternative    architecturesDefine systems    and interfaces Refine industrial    design Define part    geometrySpec materialsSpec tolerancesIndustrial design    control    documentation Reliability,    performance    and life testsGet regulatory    approvalsImpliment    design changes Evaluate    early    production    output Manufacturing Estimate    manufacturing costAssess production    feasibility Identify suppliers Make/buy study Define final    assembly scheme Define processes Design tooling Begin tooling    procurement Begin supplier    ramp-up Refine mfg.    processes Begin    operation of    production    system Concept Development Good concept development is crucial. During this stage, the needs of the target market are identified, competitive products are reviewed, product specifications are defined, a product concept is selected, an economic analysis is done, and the development  project is outlined. This stage provides the foundation for the development effort,  and if poorly done can undermine the entire effort. Concept development  activities are normally organized according to Figure 2. Figure 2 Concept Development Identify Customer Needs Establish Target Sepcifications Generate Product Concepts Select a Product Concept Refine Specifications Analyze Competitive Products Perform Economic Analysis Plan Remaining Development Project Concept Development Identify Customer Needs: Through interviews with potential purchasers, focus groups,  and by observing similar products in use, researchers identify customer needs. The list of needs will include hidden needs, needs that customers may not be aware of or  problems they simply accept without question, as well as explicit needs, or needs that will most likely be reported by potential purchasers. Researchers develop the necessary information on which to base the performance, size, weight, service life, and other specifications of the product. Customer needs and product specifications are organized  into a hierarchical list with a comparative rating value given to each need and specification. Establish Target Specifications: Based on customers' needs and reviews of competitive  products, the team establishes the target specifications of the prospective new product.  While the process of identifying customer needs is entirely a function of marketing, designers  and engineers become involved in establishing target specifications. Target specifications are  essentially a wish-list tempered by known technical constraints. Later, after designers have generated preliminary products concepts, the target specifications are refined to account  for technical, manufacturing and economic realities. Analyze Competitive Products: An analysis of competitive products is part of the process  of establishing target specifications. Other products may exhibit successful design attributes  that should be emulated or improved upon in the new product. And by understanding  the shortfalls of competitive products, a list of improvements can be developed that will  make the new product clearly superior to those of others. In a broader sense, analyzing  competitive products can help orient designers and provide a starting point for design efforts.  Rather than beginning from scratch and re-inventing the wheel with each new project, traditionally, the evolution of design builds on the successes and failures of prior work. Generate Product Concepts: Designers and engineers develop a number of product concepts to illustrate what types of products are both technically feasible and would best meets the requirements of the target specifications. Engineers develop preliminary concepts for the architecture of the product, and industrial designers develop renderings to show styling and layout alternatives. After narrowing the selection, non-functional appearance models  are built of candidate designs. Select a Product Concept: Through the process of evaluation and tradeoffs between attributes,  a final concept is selected. The selection process may be confined to the team and key executives within the company, or customers may be polled for their input. Candidate appearance models are often used for additional market research; to obtain feedback from certain key customers, or as a centerpiece of focus groups. Refine Product Specifications: In this stage, product specifications are refined on the basis  of input from the foregoing activities. Final specifications are the result of trade offs made between technical feasibility, expected service life, projected selling price, and the financial  limitations of the development project. With a new luggage product, for example, consumers may want a product that is lightweight,  inexpensive, attractive, and with the ability to expand to carry varying amounts of luggage.  Unfortunately, the mechanism needed for the expandable feature will increase the selling  price, add weight to the product, and introduce a mechanism that has the potential for failure. Consequently, the team must choose between a heavier, more costly product, or one that does not have the expandable feature. When product attributes are in conflict, or when the technical challenge or higher selling price of a particular feature outweighs its benefits, the specification may be dropped or modified in favor of other benefits. Perform Economic Analysis: Throughout the foregoing activities, important economic  implications regarding development expenses, manufacturing costs, and selling price have  been estimated. A thorough economic analysis of the product and the required development effort is necessary  in order to define the remainder of the development project. An economic model of the  product and a review of anticipated development expenses in relation to expected benefits is now developed. Plan the Remaining Development Project: In this final stage of concept development,  the team prepares a detailed development plan which includes a list of activities, the necessary resources and expenses, and a development schedule with milestones for tracking  progress. System-Level Design System-level design, or the task of designing the architecture of the product, is the subject of  this stage. In prior stages, the team was focused on the core product idea, and the prospective  design was largely based on overviews rather than in-depth design and engineering. Once the development plan is approved, marketing may begin to develop ideas for  additional product options and add-ons, or perhaps an extended product family. Designers  and engineers develop the product architecture in detail, and manufacturing determines  which components should be made and which should be purchased, and identifies the necessary  suppliers. The product architecture defines the product in chunks, or the primary functional systems  and subsystems, and how these systems are arranged to work as a unit. For example, an  automobile is comprised of a body and a chassis with an engine, a transmission, final drive,  frame, suspension and braking system. The architecture of an automobile design determines the platform layout, whether the vehicle is front-wheel-drive or rear-wheel-drive, the size and location of the engine, transmission and final drive, the overall design of suspension system, and the layout and type of other necessary subsystems such as brakes, wheels, and steering. The architecture may determine the layout of the exhaust system, but it would not provide the detailed engineering needed to determine the diameter and thickness of the exhaust pipe, the detailed design of mufflers, nor the engineering of motor mounts and exhaust hangers needed to isolate vibrations from the passenger compartment. The architecture of the product, how it is divided into chunks and how the chunks are integrated  into the total product, impacts a number of important attributes such as standardization of components, modularity, options for change later on, ease of manufacture, and how the development project is divided into manageable tasks and expenses. If a family of products or upgrades and add-ons are planned, the architecture of the product would determine the commonality of components and the ease with which upgrades and add-ons can be installed. A system or subsystem borrowed from another product within the company's line will  economize on development, tooling and manufacturing costs. With outsourced components, the supplier may contribute much of the associated design and engineering. Detail Design Detail design, or design-for-manufacture, is the stage wherein the necessary engineering is done for every component of the product. During this phase, each part is identified and engineered. Tolerances, materials, and finishes are defined, and the design is documented with drawings or computer files. Increasingly, manufacturers and developers are turning to three-dimensional solid modeling using programs such as Pro-Engineer. Three-dimensional computer models form the core of today's rapid prototyping and rapid manufacturing technologies. Once the database has been developed, prototype components can be rapidly built on computerized machines such as CNC mills, fused deposition modeling devices, or stereo lithography systems. Testing and Refinement During the testing and refinement stage, a number of prototypes are built and tested.  Even though they are not made from production components, prototypes emulate production products as closely as possible. These alpha prototypes are necessary to determine whether the performance of the product matches the specifications, and to uncover design shortfalls and gain in-the-field experience with the product in use. Later, beta prototypes are built from the first production components received from suppliers. Production Ramp-up During production ramp-up, the work force is trained as the first products are being assembled. The comparatively slow product build provides time to work out any remaining  problems with supplier components, fabrication, and assembly procedures. The staff and  supervisory team is organized, beginning with a core team, and line workers are trained  by assembling production units. Technology-Push Products The generic development process is used with technology-push products, but with slight  modification.With technology-push products, the company acquires or develops a new technology and then looks for appropriate markets in which to apply the technology. Consequently, an extra phase is added at the beginning during which the new technology  is matched to an appropriate market opportunity. When the match has been made, the generic development process is carried out as described. Models and Prototypes The terms prototype and model are often used interchangeably to mean any full-scale pre-production representation of a design, whether functional or not. I prefer to use the term model to describe a non-functional representation and the term prototype to describe a functional item. An appearance model is a full-scale, non-functional representation that looks, as closely as possible, identical to the prospective new product. Modeling and prototyping serve a variety of purposes throughout the development effort. Early on, engineering prototypes may be built of systems and subsystems to bench-test performance and debug the system before proceeding with the design. Appearance  models prove out styling and ergonomics. A full-scale mockup of an automobile interior,  for example, provides a real-world test of ease of ingress, seating position, access to controls,  visibility and appearance. Models and prototypes are necessary because of the limitations of theoretical work and artificial mediums. A product can be designed and put into simulated use on computer, but one doesn't really know how it will work until the item is built and tested in its intended environment. Prototyping and modeling efforts begin virtually at the inception of the project and continue into production ramp-up. The Role of Industrial Design According to the definition given by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), industrial design (ID) is the "professional service of creating and developing concepts and specifications that optimize the function, value and appearance of products and systems for the mutual benefit of both user and manufacturer." An industrial designer combines artistic form with engineering necessities. The ID practitioner blends the human meanings expressed through form, color, and texture with the mechanical realities of function in a way that broadcasts a coherent and purposeful message to those who experience the product. Good industrial design can create additional product benefits through the selection of materials and the architecture of the design. Industrial designers have extensive training in art, as well as training in basic engineering, manufacturing and fabrication processes, and marketing practices. Dreyfuss (1967) lists five critical goals that industrial designers bring to a team when developing new products: Utility: The product's human interfaces should be safe, easy to use, and intuitive.            Each feature should be shaped so that it communicates its function to the user. Appearance: Form, line, proportion, and color are used to integrate the product            into a pleasing whole. Ease of Maintenance: Products must also be designed to communicate how          they are to be maintained  and repaired. Low Costs:  Form and features have a large impact on tooling and production costs,          so they must be considered jointly by the team. Communication: Product designs should communicate the corporate design            philosophy and mission through the visual qualities of the products.