Product management is inherently complex, as it spans skills across multiple domains and over the past few years, especially digital product development frameworks, job titles etc. have been in constant flux. When dealing with complex problems it sometimes helps to zoom out, to understand what remains constant when the world around us change. This talk takes a meta view on leading product development and will focus on three ingredients that drive success and failure in most projects. Based on experience from many projects across different disciplines at ustwo, we want to share an approach that balances focus and flexibility to consistently deliver quality products.

1. FINDING YOUR
TRUE NORTH
Productized — October 2015
Lars Rosengren
@larsrose
Anatomy for Good Product Development

2. Lars Rosengren
@larsrose
Product Lead @Ustwo
LARS
2

3. Lars Rosengren
@larsrose
Product Lead @Ustwo
LARS
2
I care about…
People
Sustainability
Crafts & Culture
Photography

4. WE’RE A
DIGITAL
PRODUCT
STUDIO
4 230 26
Studios People Nationalities

5. JOURNEY
4
Part 1: Failures

6. Document title and date
CONFUSED…
5

7. Photo by: Michael Button
BUSINESS
SCHOOL

8. Photo by: Michael Button
TECHNOLOGY
VENTURES

10. A GRAND VISION
9

11. Document title and date 10
BAD
DESIGN?

12. DISTRACTIONS

13. Source: reddit.com

14. ENVIZIO
LABS

16. Document title and date
CALIFORNIA
Mobile payments (~2009)
Partner with Wells Fargo & Target
Well balanced team
15
CONTEXT

18. FORGOT TO
ASK ‘WHY’…

19. LEARNINGS
18

20. LEARNINGS
Ventures funnel passion & dedication
18

21. LEARNINGS
Ventures funnel passion & dedication
It’s fragile
18

22. LEARNINGS
Ventures funnel passion & dedication
It’s fragile
The ‘why’ matters more than ‘what’
18

23. JOURNEY
Part 2: Inspirations

24. JAPAN
Calligraphy by Ishizaki Keisui

25. I've never once hated this job. I fell
in love with my work and gave my
life to it. Even though I'm eighty five
years old, I don't feel like retiring.
That's how I feel.
“

27. DESIGN
23
— Bringing a
Point of View

28. “You have to care!…
You cannot do superior work,
if you are indifferent”
— William Albert Allard
24

33. “Why are we here? I think many people assume,
wrongly, that a company exists solely to make money.
Money is an important part of a company’s existence,
if the company is any good.
But a result is not cause. We have to go deeper and
find the real reason for our being.
— David Packard
29

34. PURPOSE MATTERS
30

35. PURPOSE MATTERS
Purpose can be the goal
30

36. PURPOSE MATTERS
Purpose can be the goal
Point-of-view
30

37. PURPOSE MATTERS
Purpose can be the goal
Point-of-view
Our reason for being
30

38. — Raison d’être

40. “Invest As much time in
designing your business
as you do in designing
your product..
33

41. WHY ARE YOU
IN BUSINESS?

42. DOES YOUR
CUSTOMER CARE?

43. PEOPLE
& CULTURE

44. VENTURE CORPORATION

45. PURPOSEPEOPLE
CULTURE

46. Navigating your True north
PRODUCT

47. 40
AgileCanvases Product/Market fit
WHAT & HOW?

48. STRATEGY
& VISION
PURPOSE

50. PURPOSE…
BUT HOW?

51. PURPOSE…
BUT HOW?
Ask yourself ‘why?’,
not only ‘what?’

52. PURPOSE…
BUT HOW?
Ask yourself ‘why?’,
not only ‘what?’
Have a point of view

53. PURPOSE…
BUT HOW?
Ask yourself ‘why?’,
not only ‘what?’
Have a point of view
Show that you care
…about something

54. FRAMEWORKS
Lean Startup
Scrum
Communication
Tools
etc.

55. “What defines great teams
is not avoiding drama, but
how you interact with drama.
— David Storkholm
DRAMA

56. Define who you are Align team around why
PURPOSEPEOPLE
CULTURE
PURPOSE
FRAMEWORKS
DRAMA
SHAPE YOUR BUSINESS LEAD YOUR PRODUCT

57. “Life’s too short to build
something that nobody
wants.
- Ash Maurya
“Life is short, so make
everything you build matter
- Lars

58. THANKS!
Lars Rosengren
lars@ustwo.com
@larsrose