Rules to Analyze a current roadmap's or create new based on value and risk
Studies have shown that we often build products and features that aren't valued by users or don't provide value back to the organization. Products may create more problems in cost.
The product manager needs to assess what features make sense From perspective of:
customer value, organizational value, and risk.
Value thinking and value analysis are key skills the product owner and team use to create the roadmap and release plans.
Value thinking involves understanding what features are of the most value and impacts to the customer.
Some thought provoking questions that help product owners and the team determine this are:
what are the users or customers most basic needs and what do they expect at a most basic level?
Next, what if absent, will make customers dissatisfied with the product?
Then consider what features are not necessary but help create a likeability factor and enjoyment from the product? And finally, what features do customers not even know they want but are delighted when they find them?
Let's look at how the GoHealth app used value analysis to create the roadmap.
The team determined that connecting the member to their preferred health club is critical to viewing schedules.
Otherwise viewing the schedules would be painful and be of little value with so many locations.
Avoiding the extra taps when using the app is critical.
Viewing schedules is also a high risk feature that we must get right.
We don't want customers to think it's easier to call in versus use the app,
so we need to start prototyping and experimenting early to make our target timeline.
At Agile, we don't design everything in detail upfront. Next, the team determined that registering for classes would be the next priority, followed by personal trainer interactions and then notifications. This was derived from analysis of what the competition has and what we think will delight users and grow revenue. An Agile mindset and approach, along with a good product vision and roadmap will help the team stay on track. A great product owner will keep the balance of cost and value front and center when making decisions as the team works. The team will end up creating not just products, but products that users and the organization value.