Cauvin

I had the pleasure of meeting Jeff Lash when he visited Austin a couple of weeks ago. Jeff authors the How to Be a Good Product Manager blog . Not to put words in his mouth, but I think Jeff and I share an affinity for the more strategic aspects of product management. I was happy but not surprised to read Jeff's recent entry on qualitative and quantitative research. It looks like he and I agree on the importance of qualitative research and the complementarity of both types of research .

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have confirmed the notion that the price tag on a wine affects people's perception of it. In fact, they genuinely experience more pleasure drinking wines they believe are more expensive: The part of the brain that reacts to a pleasant experience responded more strongly to pricey wines than cheap ones — even when tasters were given the same vintage in disguise. and A $90 wine was provided marked with its real price and again marked $10, while another was presented at its real price of $5 and also marked $45.The testers' brains showed more pleasure at the higher price than the lower one, even for the same wine . . . . If someone else on the executive team urges you to lower the price on your product, be careful .

Is your product manager composing documents with hundreds of sentences beginning with "The system shall . . . ." or "The product shall . . . ."? If so, she should consider a different approach. Back in 2004, Mike Cohn wrote an interesting article on requirements and agile development. Here is an interesting excerpt from the article: [C]onsider the following requirements: 3.4) The product shall have a gasoline-powered engine. 3.5) The product shall have four wheels. 3.5.1) The product shall have a rubber tire mounted to each wheel. 3.6) The product shall have a steering wheel. 3.7) The product shall have a steel body. By this point, I suppose images of an automobile are floating around your head. Of course, an automobile satisfies all of the requirements listed above. The one in your head may be a bright red convertible, while I might envision a blue pickup. Presumably the differences between your convertible and my pickup are covered in additional requirements st...

I watched the New Hampshire debates last night. What struck me on the Democratic side was the extent to which the candidates stuck to their positioning . Three of the candidates have clearly staked out their territory in the mind of the voter. What do the Democratic candidates stand for in the mind of the voter? Barack Obama stands for "hope" in the mind of the voter. Last night, he repeatedly used words like "empowerment", "getting beyond cynicism", and "bringing people together". The notion that he is an agent of change is an undercurrent of this theme. He wants voters to think he can change the divisive nature of decision-making in Washington into a more inclusive one. His being a fresh face strengthens this message. Voters perceive the usual faces as partisan squabblers that can't accomplish great things. John Edwards embodies a "fight the power" mentality. He is the populist of the group, and he spoke of battling speci...