Summary
Join us to discover some of the latest approaches to end-to-end product, from concept to market, along with some of our speaker’s lessons learned in each phase.
- Focus on the problem, and understand the difference between vision and strategy
- User personas from inception, not as an afterthought
- How communication and empathy are the most underrated skills
- Doing the job right vs. doing the right job
- How to be metrics-driven through the entire product lifecycle
- Release, assess, iterate. Now repeat.
Focus on the problem, not the solution: Initiate the product journey by thoroughly understanding your target audience’s pain points and challenges. This problem-centric approach lays the foundation for a solution that addresses user needs.
Set the Vision Early: Clearly articulate the product’s vision from the outset. Engage with key stakeholders and management to align everyone with the strategic direction. A well-defined vision serves as a guiding light throughout the product development lifecycle.
User Empathy – Get to the Root Cause: Deeply empathize with end-users to uncover the root causes of their challenges. Building a product that resonates with users requires a comprehensive understanding of their needs, preferences, and pain points.
Journey Persona: Create detailed user personas that encapsulate your target audience’s diverse characteristics and preferences. These personas serve as a reference point during the development process, ensuring the product aligns with the specific needs of different user segments.
Clear Goals for Transparency: Establish clear, measurable goals for the product. Transparency in goal-setting provides a roadmap for development and enables effective communication with stakeholders, fostering trust and alignment.
Agile Development and Continuous Improvement:
- MVP – Hypothesize, Prioritize, Build, Measure, Learn: Embrace the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) approach. Develop a hypothesis, prioritize features based on user value, build the MVP, measure its performance through key metrics, and continuously learn and iterate based on user feedback.
- Leverage the “Jobs to be Done” Framework: Understand the functional and emotional “jobs” users are trying to accomplish. The Jobs to be Done framework helps identify and address the underlying motivations that drive user behavior.
Data-Driven Decision-Making:
- KPIs for Measurement: Define and track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) aligned with business objectives. Metrics such as user engagement, conversion rates, and customer satisfaction provide quantitative insights into product success.
- A/B Testing: Implement A/B testing methodologies to compare variations and determine the most compelling features or changes. This iterative testing approach allows for data-backed decisions, optimizing the product based on fundamental user interactions and preferences.
About the Speaker
Samir Bhatnagar has 15+ years shaping product strategy for small organizations like Forge Global to mature companies like Salesforce, Oracle, and IBM. His emphasis has been SaaS companies, with a strong focus on finance and marketing technologies.
In 2020, he completed Stanford LEAD, a year-long executive education program offered through the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In 2023, Bhatnagar was invited to join the teaching teams for the courses, Design Thinking: From Insights To Viability and Design for Disruption, which he views as table stakes for a career in product management. Connect with Samir at www.linkedin.com/in/samirbhatnagar-strategist