Prioritization with ROI is generally thought of as a quantitative analysis. For hard ROI, that is true. For soft ROI, it is anything but true. You have to make a prediction of the utility of the requirement or feature. That predicted utility is based on our expected utility, which is based on your past experiences. Your past experiences are reflected in remembered utility, which is a function of experienced utility. How can you know with certainty, and use that to prioritize requirements or features?
Differentiate Your Product – Circumvent Comparisons
Look Ma! Me Too! The temptation to compete against a checklist can be overwhelming. When we have a competitor who provides 100 of this or 200 of that, it might seem smart to offer 200 of this and 300 of that. We’ll be better off if we focus instead on creating the other thing. The best way to compete is to valuably differentiate our product, not outdo our competition.
More is better features are just that – more is better. But more of the same old thing is worth a whole lot less than some of something else.
Foundation Series: Inbound and Outbound Product Management
Inbound product manager or outbound product manager – what’s the difference? We’ll look at the overall role, and the breakdown of responsibilities. We also follow-up with some suggested detailed reading.
Product Manager Staffing Levels – More Survey Results
One of our readers is working on determining product manager staffing levels for her company. While every company is different, it always helps to understand where our peers are. We do some in-depth analysis of the 2006 Pragmatic Marketing product management and marketing survey to see how other companies set their staffing levels.
The Wisdom of Crowds Prevents People’s Passions
The wisdom of crowds helps us avoid stupid decisions. Unfortunately, it also prevents innovative, passionate, fantastic decisions. Collective Intelligence is collective insipidness. We need to keep the inputs of individuals in the mix.
Writing Stylish Requirements
You knew it would happen eventually, the big ten rules of writing requirements has become the big twelve rules. Maybe scope creep isn’t such a bad thing after all. Writing style plays an important role in writing requirements too.
To Buy, or Not To Buy. To Build? is the Question
Should we buy this application, or build it in house? How should we make that decision today?
Successful Product Managers – Seven Traits
Michael Shrivathsan just posted an excellent article on his experiences of the seven traits of successful product managers. Absolutely awesome article. Thanks Michael!
Product Manager Salary Survey – More 2006 Results
Trying to unearth more trends in the 2006 salary data from the Pragmatic Marketing annual product management and marketing survey. In this article, we look at total compensation relative to the revenue of the managed products, the company size, and the company age. More fun with numbers.
