Product Roadmaps Relaunched by C. Todd Lombardo

Author:C. Todd Lombardo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Published: 2017-10-26T00:00:00+00:00

Critical path for existing products

BarnManager was a brand new product, designed from scratch around the customer’s critical path needs. However, this approach can also be helpful in prioritizing enhancements for an existing product or growth product.

We’ve seen too many talented product people make the mistake of forgetting that user behaviors, needs, and preferences change rapidly—including in response to your product! As a customer gets comfortable with your solution to the needs that initially prompted them to choose your product, new needs may become the critical path. Now that BarnManager solves the worst pains around document storage, perhaps their users feel the pain of daily communication more keenly. This may be an opportunity to expand the value of your application (or, if you ignore this, an opportunity for a competitor to use the new critical path to get in the door with your customer).

Staying in touch with your users helps you understand trends and anticipate new needs. There are many strategies for seeking direct customer feedback, from focus groups to surveys to product demos to A/B testing and more. As a product person, you will experiment and find the tools that work best for your team. Even in today’s data-driven world, however, direct contact with the customer is as important as it was in Sam Walton’s early days. That hasn’t changed, and we encourage all product people to interact regularly, and face-to-face if possible, with actual human customers.

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