Author: Admin

Managing documentation for fast moving projects is a challenge. Different formats, different platforms, different people., different ways of working.

Maintaining a single database that links to all the documentation, in a way that makes sense for people unfamiliar with the work would be a full time job.

I like the idea of leaving digital trails. Every new document links to relevant, earlier documents. This creates a trail, a timeline of the work, where anyone starting with a recent document can find they way all the way back to the start of the project.

Product management, especially for modern digital products, is an analytical pursuit. All that user behaviour data, market analysis data, and scientific approach means that the majority of a product managers job involves analytical thinking and rational decision-making.

But there are times when a product manager needs to apply some creative thinking.

Analysis can show what the problem is, but creativity is needed to think of ways to solve it. Analysis can show which feature isn’t performing as expected, but creativity is needed to find the changes that will make it achieve.

The Double Diamond innovation process shows stages of divergent and convergent thinking. Any time I’ve seen anyone using it, their focus has been on the four stages rather than the different ways of thinking during the stages, so I think the power of switching between analytical and creative thinking gets lost, but it is a real skill. And knowing when to switch is essential for good product management.

Every cross-functional team should have the skills it needs to complete the work. That’s important for achieving a fast flow rate of work because the team doesn’t have to wait on contributions from outside.

Every team, to have a complete skill set that means it doesn’t have to go outside itself, needs all of the roles that make up a cross-functional team. That might include product, delivery, content, design, development, testing, etc.

The problem with every team being the same is that work is never the same.

Some work might require design but not content. Other work might require lots of development but not so much design.

Perhaps the solution is to have different team templates, still cross-functional, but with predefined focus on certain types of work.

One team could have the skills to do more new product development work, another be skilled in optimising existing products, and another particularly good at customer service or payment capabilities.

These teams shouldn’t be set up to be ‘the payments team’, for example, they should just have the skills that enable them to do that kind of work well.

Google, “Define user-centred” and almost all of the results will be about user-centred design. But for an organisation to be truly user-centred, user-centredness can’t be only about design. User-centredness must run deeper.

There are multiple lists of principles for user-centredness, and many are designed focus, but here are a few that seem like they could extend beyond design.

• Understand users – including the context of use and user needs.
• Make interaction easy – however users interact with an organisation, be consistent, solve problems so users don’t have to.
• Create a dialogue – frequent involvement of users, taking feedback onboard.
• Change over time – keep pace with users and their changing needs.