WORKING BACKWARDS

Great products are rarely serendipitous

They require forethought and planning

MARKET-DRIVEN

• Where's the white space?
• What does the competition have?
• What do analysts think?
• What's hot?

FEATURE-DRIVEN

• Wouldn't it be cool if we had...
• I've always wanted to build a...
• We need a reason for people to upgrade

CUSTOMER DRIVEN

• Who is my customer?
• What do they need?
• Why do they need it?

TRADITIONAL PRODUCT DEFINITION PROCESS

• PRD/MRD
• Designs/Mockups
• Tech Specs/Development
• Test/Documentation
• Launch/Marketing Docs

start with your customer and work your way backwards until you get to the minimum set of technology requirements to satisfy what you want to achieve. The goal is to drive simplicity through a continuous, explicit customer focus.

LAUNCH DOCS FIRST

PRESS RELEASE

• Who (target customer)?
• What (problem does it solve)?
• Why (should they care)?
• Key features and benefits
• Crisp, concise

FAQ

• Questions raised by the press release
• Next level of detail
• Questions a customer would ask
• Helps clarify thought and simplify product

WORK BACK TO IMPLEMENTATION

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

• Mockups (if there's a UI)
• Use cases (if web service)
• User stories

USER MANUAL

• Detailed use cases
• How will customer use product
• Think help documentation