Webinar:Data-Driven Prioritization & Roadmap Planning
Muralidhar Somisetty
Today’s Speaker16th Sep 2016
Product Manager’s Dilemma: Everyone’s requirement is high-priority“
“My customer wants this feature or else deal closure is at risk “- Sales Account Manager
“Most support calls are related to this buggy feature – Prioritize to fix.
- Support Manager “Our competitor has this feature and
needs to be appear on our roadmap” –Biz Dev Manager
“We need to ship the product soon and I have committed
this feature” - Boss
Opinion based Prioritization
• Prioritizing Details, not the big picture
• Decisions not being tied to the strategic goals
• Stakeholders questioning Prioritization
• Priorities usually being driven by the loudest executives or the latest sales prospects
“Companies who build products based on internal opinion will eventually get beaten by the competition.”
Product Management Cycle
Define/
Gather
Prioritize
Plan/
Roadmap
Build/
Launch
Validate/
Feedback
Key Phasesthat definedestiny of the Product
An objective data-driven prioritization model is the key for defining credible and successful roadmaps.
Question for Product Managers…
Prioritization is a difficult exercise for
Release 1 (or MVP)Or
Release 2
Many Techniques for Product Prioritization
Ref: http://foldingburritos.com/
X-Axis: Qualitative
How oriented a method is towards getting input from the inside or the outside world?
Y-Axis: Quantitative
How oriented a method is towards relying on data & metrics over some expert’s personal opinions.
Striking the right balance between Quantitative and Qualitative methods depends on the many factors.
Popular Quantitative Methods : KANO Model
Ref: http://foldingburritos.com/
Customer Delight Vs Product Function
Popular Quantitative Methods : Prioritization Ranking Matrix
Outside-InCustomerPerspective
Inside-Out StakeholderPerspective
Popular Quantitative Methods : Value Vs Risk
Features are scored in two dimensions: Value and Risk
Risk/Complexity :
• Schedule risk
• Cost risk
• Functionality risk
Value:
Customer Success
Business Value
Company Vision
Instinctive Method for Product Managers
Popular Quantitative Methods : Value Vs Cost
Biggest Bang for the Buck –
Inherent ROI Analysis
Maximize Value Delivery Over
Time
Use Business Model Canvas for
MVP release, especially for start-
ups with scarce resources.
Align priorities/roadmap using Product KPIs
Customer
C-SAT, NPS, VIP Account, Feature
Adoption, Drop-off points,
Surveys
Company Strategic
Initiatives, Revenues, Top-line growth,
Margins,
CompetitionMark
et Size (TAM), Sales Pipeline, TTM,
Differentiators or Missing Features
Operations
Budget, Running Cost, Support,
Quality Metrics
Value
Quantifying ValueThroughProduct Metrics
Popular Quantitative Methods : Weighted Scoring Over Value/Cost
Add a layer of weighted scoring matrix on Value method to fine-tune the prioritization
Best Practices for Prioritization Exercise
1. Make it a inclusive process (team/stakeholders) regardless of technique.
2. Drive it is an objective exercise substantiated with data/metrics (as much as possible).
3. Focus on the big-ticket items (limit the number for productive discussion).
4. Bucketize requirements into broad/strategic themes.
5. Have guestimates ready from engineering.
6. Make it a customer-centric conversation on how to increase value.
7. Be realistic in setting goals.
Key Takeaways
1. Striking the right balance is an art and that comes only with experience.
2. Maintain Transparency with Stakeholders (regardless of methods/techniques).
3. Provide insight into feature selection process for stakeholders.
4. Data-driven Prioritization will lead to quick convergence and easy buy-in.