In a typical product creation process, ideas are gathered from stakeholders and sales representatives, compiled as features in a roadmap, where they are prioritized, roughly estimated (both in terms of profit and cost), and planned for release. Following this, the design process begins from the top, acquiring requirements documentation that is then delivered to the development team. Once development and testing are complete, the features are shipped. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before I go further, at this point, it doesn’t matter how agile this development team is. This process is much more Waterfall than Agile; you can call it Wagile if you like, but truly, Agile was not leveraged here. And, along the way, there are also several important missteps, such as initial market research, proof of concept, user studies, ensuring that design and technical complexity evaluation are completed before budgeting, and, most importantly, there is still no cohesive high-level vision of what this product will look like when all ideas are implemented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s an outline of the main mistakes businesses commonly make when creating a digital product:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Insufficient or Not Conducted Actual Market Demand Study<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Initiating the product journey with sales- and stakeholder-driven only products can spell disaster. This model often neglects not only the fertile ground of creativity and genuine problem-solving of the immense talent that can be found among other teams especially the IT professionals, but specifically the only reasonable source of inspiration – actual data on what market wants and needs. When ideas are born out of external pressures rather than intrinsic innovation and based upon verified market data, the likelihood of meeting customer needs diminishes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business Proposals that Flop<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Traditional business proposals that detail the business value and cost of a specific feature or functionality often fail due to attempts to estimate potential earnings and costs without a clear understanding of the solution’s design, specificity, and complexity. Without knowledge of these crucial details, which only become clear after some work has been done to obtain clarity on the feature, it is impossible to define the development team composition and, therefore, the budget. The ambiguity surrounding financial outcomes and development costs at this early stage hampers accurate decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feature-Centric Roadmaps<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The continuous business demand for prioritized roadmaps often leads to a common error \u2013 prioritizing features over problem-solving. Most roadmaps evolve into lists of features catering to short-term needs, particularly flawed by having management vision in mind and lacking market studies. This neglects the essential truth that a substantial portion of ideas may not resonate with customers or may require multiple iterations for true value delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delayed UX Value<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Effective product user experience is a pivotal element in achieving product success. In many instances, its significance is diminished to a superficial layer of a product that might already harbor conceptual flaws. Incorporating UX analysis and UI concepts early in the process, especially during the creation of a proof of concept, allows for a comprehensive evaluation of the product’s viability, aiding in validating or refuting business hypotheses. This proactive approach to design serves as a powerful tool in averting potential issues and contributes significantly to the overall success of the product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Late or No Engineering Input<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Engaging engineering, represented by architects, early in the product development process is crucial for maximizing innovation. Unfortunately, in many traditional models, this potent source of creativity is often brought into the process far too late, limiting its full potential. By involving engineers in the ideation phase, especially architects who can assess project complexity, a much clearer picture emerges regarding budgeting volume and overall product development effort. This proactive collaboration ensures a more informed and efficient approach to product development, harnessing the full capabilities of the engineering team from the project’s inception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neglecting to Stay In Tune with User Needs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A major reason for product failures is the neglect of evolving user needs. Failing to incorporate regular user feedback and validation in the development process can result in products that don’t meet actual user requirements. To address this, embracing Agile methodologies with continuous user feedback loops is vital, ensuring products stay relevant and aligned with market demands for greater success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And last, but not least – <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lack of a dynamic market-driven conceptual vision <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Many times, when businesses attempt to generate as many ideas as possible and ship them all after prioritization is done, they skip the process of having a congruent vision of a product as a whole\u2014not as a mere combination of disjointed features and functionalities. This hinders the alignment of individual features with the evolving needs of the target audience. On the other hand, when you have a high-level vision, you may combine some features, modify others, and completely dismiss some. Without this, the product risks becoming a random collection of features rather than a cohesive solution addressing users’ evolving demands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to these common mistakes made by businesses daily and year after year, in these models, the role of product transforms into a mere form of project management. The emphasis shifts to gathering requirements and documenting them for engineers, sidelining the essence of modern product management, which thrives on collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement, as well as heavy involvement in the discovery of true market needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The old-school product development process outlined above not only harbors inherent flaws but also jeopardizes the potential for true innovation and market success. Embracing alternative approaches, such as continuous discovery, collaborative ideation, and a focus on product\/market fit, is paramount. By understanding and rectifying these pitfalls, organizations can pave the way for agile, efficient, and successful product development, ensuring they don’t fall victim to the disruptive forces of an ever-evolving market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In product development, the journey from ideation to market can be fraught with challenges. The main tragedy of many product fates is a useless, unusable, or obsolete product. Understanding the key reasons behind product failures is crucial for steering clear of pitfalls and embracing a more effective approach. Let’s dissect the conventional models that often lead to suboptimal outcomes, shedding light on the missteps that hinder innovation and growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[60,22,61,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agile","category-blog","category-leadership","category-product-management"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/backlogical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/backlogical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/backlogical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backlogical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backlogical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4834"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/backlogical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10186,"href":"https:\/\/backlogical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4834\/revisions\/10186"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backlogical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/backlogical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backlogical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backlogical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}