Fritz Mueller

Prioritizing Features

Director of Product Management

Fritz Mueller

Prioritizing

What gets done Gather Requirements Prioritize Write the Plan

How it gets done Defending and selling the plan If you cannot defend the plan, the priorities will

get changed.

Fritz Mueller

Prioritizing

The Ideal – Do all positive Net Present Value (NPV) projects.

Reality – What rules do you use to decide on the tradeoffs

Fritz Mueller

Sources of Input

EmbattledProd. Mngr.

Customers

Support

SalesEngineering

Competitors

NewTechnology

Cool Features

Long TermFixes

Fritz Mueller

Rule #1 – Identify the Customer

Identify the customer or else: You will only listen to the vocal customers You will define too broad a group of customers You will not solve anyone's problems or needs

Fritz Mueller

Rule #2 - Categorize

Easy

Difficult

Big Payoff Little Payoff

1 2

3 X

GeneratesMomentum

HighRisk

Fritz Mueller

Rule #3 - Balance Frequent Customer Requests Press Competitive Response Engineering Ideas Long Term Architecture Issues New Technologies Support Development Costs

Fritz Mueller

Optimal Balance

You have to balance so what is the optimal balance? Most common requests Press Demo Features Competitive Response

Lifecycle of Product Target Market

Fritz Mueller

Rule #4 – Disruptive Change

While you are refining the product some else is redefining the space.

Be the first to sound the alarm and state a response plan with a reasonable first step.

Fritz Mueller

Customer Input Risks

What customers ask for and buy are different

Understand why do customers stay with you

Technical vocal minority vs. silent majority

Fritz Mueller

Causes of Confusion

If you cannot decide on a plan then. Too diverse a customer set or not sure who

the customer is. Not confident about defending the plan Market is changing You saturated the market

Fritz Mueller

Handling Confusion If you cannot decide on a plan then.

Too diverse a customer set. – split the line and segment the market or focus.

Not confident about defending the plan – talk to more customers

Market is changing – new product line needed or company must change

You saturated the market – expand the definition of the market you are in.

If you still cannot decide then the company may be in trouble and have no safe direction

Fritz Mueller

Rule #5 –Don’t Forget the Basics

Who is the customer? What do they value? Is the product consistent with the

marketing plan? Is the product consistent with the

corporate strategy? Don’t go into a market half way. Do go in

one step at a time. (Honda)

Fritz Mueller

Implementing the Plan

The biggest problem is defending your plan because any plan you come up with will be questioned.

Fritz Mueller

Rule #6 – Sell the Plan

You will never make everyone happy. Since not everyone is happy you need to

convince everyone that you have the best possible plan and any other plan would be worse.

Fritz Mueller

Interested Parties

Prod. Mngr.

Senior Mngmt.

Sales, Customers

Eng.

Fritz Mueller

Selling the Plan Senior Management

Q: Why are we doing …? A: Strategic answer

Sales Q: When do we get…? A: The most requested features are … and we are

working on them.

Engineering Statement: I am going to build… Response: Customers don’t want it or they won’t pay for it

or it will take too long to build.

Customer Q: Why should I care about…? A: It will solve a huge problem for you.

Fritz Mueller

Senior Management This is our customer… This is why they buy… This is where the market is going… This is why we will win… Therefore the product plan has these

features…

Fritz Mueller

From PM to CEO

Customer Requests

Product Strategy

Corporate StrategySuccessful corporate strategyis built from the bottom up.

Fritz Mueller

Summary

#1 - Identify the Customer #2 - Categorize #3 - Balance #4 - Watch Disruptive Change #5 - Basics #6 - Sell the Plan