Top 10 Things Needed to Create a Successful Product by Ruth Hennigar at SVPMA Monthly Event October 2003

1. Top 10 Things Needed to
Create a Successful Product
Getting from Market
Requirements to Final
Software
Oct 8, 2003 Ruth Hennigar @ SVPMA 1

2. 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, 2003 Ruth Hennigar @ SVPMA 2

3. 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
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4. #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, 2003 Ruth Hennigar @ SVPMA 4

5. #9: Set Up-Front Product Goals
 Release timing
 Must-have features: prioritized
 Quality goals
 Technology goals
 Milestone exit criteria
 Write them down
Oct 8, 2003 Ruth Hennigar @ SVPMA 5

6. #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, 2003 Ruth Hennigar @ SVPMA 6

7. #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, 2003 Ruth Hennigar @ SVPMA 7

8. #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, 2003 Ruth Hennigar @ SVPMA 8

9. #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, 2003 Ruth Hennigar @ SVPMA 9

10. #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, 2003 Ruth Hennigar @ SVPMA 10

11. #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
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12. #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, 2003 Ruth Hennigar @ SVPMA 12

13. #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, 2003 Ruth Hennigar @ SVPMA 13

14. Thank you for listening
Now, it’s your turn.
What are your Top 10?
Oct 8, 2003 Ruth Hennigar @ SVPMA 14