Beware of "customizability" as a key attribute of your product. While it can be a very important and powerful attribute, it can also be a sign that your product doesn't address a focused set of problems in the marketplace. If you can't point to three or fewer compelling problems in the marketplace that would be enough to drive customers to buy your product, you might be tempted to make your product "customizable" so that it addresses any need a customer might have. Instead, either gain a better understanding of your customers, or strongly consider the possibility that your product just doesn't have a good value proposition.
The Goal As a company executive, you want confidence that your product team (which includes all the people, from all departments, responsible for product success) has a sound basis for deciding which items are on the product roadmap. You also want confidence the team is prioritizing the items in a smart way. What Should We Prioritize? The items the team prioritizes could be features, user stories, epics, market problems, themes, or experiments. Melissa Perri makes an excellent case for a " problem roadmap ", and, in general, I recommend focusing on the latter types of items. However, the topic of what types of items you should prioritize - and in what situations - is interesting and important but beyond the scope of this blog entry. A Sad but Familiar Story If there is significant controversy about priorities, then almost inevitably, a product manager or other member of the team decides to put together The Spreadsheet. I've done it. Some of the mos...
Comments