Oct 8, 2003Ruth SVPMA1 Top 10 Things Needed to Create a Successful Product Getting from Market Requirements to Final Software

Oct 8, 2003Ruth SVPMA2 Who is Ruth Hennigar? 20 years in Information Technology Product Development Experience at Fortune 500 & Start-ups As an executive and member of the rank and file Shipped over 15 Hardware and Software products (Consumer & Small Business devices, Networking Software, Operating Systems, Commerce Web Site) General Management as well as Engineering experience

Oct 8, 2003Ruth SVPMA3 This Presentation Focus on building products Not selling/marketing Concept/Market Requirements to ‘Golden Master’ Software Relevant to first products and follow-ons Applicable to large and small companies, teams and projects

Oct 8, 2003Ruth SVPMA4 #10: Define the Customer Attributes of the core customer base Specific examples Problem definition Feature definition Who ISN’T the customer Write it down Whole team needs to be clear Product Management - Engineering - QA - Execs

Oct 8, 2003Ruth SVPMA5 #9: Set Up-Front Product Goals Release timing Must-have features: prioritized Quality goals Technology goals Milestone exit criteria Write them down

Oct 8, 2003Ruth SVPMA6 #8: Identify Core Team Members Identify a Project Lead QA, Product Marketing, Eng, Human Factors, Developer and/or Customer Support, Sustaining Eng Executive sponsor/Company sign-off Clarify roles and responsibilities Ensure (and continue to ensure) buy-in and ownership Do it Early!

Oct 8, 2003Ruth SVPMA7 #7: Identify Key Issues Early Technical unknowns Market unknowns/follow on research Outside resource requirements Licensing or acquisition of technology Partnerships Allow time in the schedule for resolving the issues Assign resources to resolving them ASAP

Oct 8, 2003Ruth SVPMA8 #6: Learn From the Last Time Use last project Post Mortem findings Current or last company you were at In planning/team meetings, review what worked and didn’t the last time If it didn’t work last time, don’t expect it to this time, unless you changed something

Oct 8, 2003Ruth SVPMA9 #5: Understand the Tradeoffs Resources: people, money, hardware. Time: ship date Features Quality Cost of customer support post ship, reputation What can be adjusted? because something will have to be

Oct 8, 2003Ruth SVPMA10 #4: Tell the Truth Don’t shoot the messenger Listen/learn/understand Truth vs what you want to hear The sooner you find out, the more options you have

Oct 8, 2003Ruth SVPMA11 #3: Communicate Set up non-meeting communication channels Be clear and specific Don’t assume Core team vs entire team Effective meetings Agenda, minutes, pre-work all are critical

Oct 8, 2003Ruth SVPMA12 #2: Focus Focus Focus Ruthless prioritization Short list of critical items Review new requests and data against original product goals Avoid feature creep Avoid ‘last customer input’ trap

Oct 8, 2003Ruth SVPMA13 #1: Make Decisions And stick with them Consistent decision making process Who makes the decision? Who has to be included in the decision? Who has a vote vs an opinion? Who needs to be informed of the decision? Write down the decision and the options reviewed SUPPORT THE DECISION MAKER

Oct 8, 2003Ruth SVPMA14 Thank you for listening Now, it’s your turn. What are your Top 10?