Defining the Product
The successful creation of a product that delivers services that meet our customers needs depends on a clear and transparent definition of the product that can be shared with customers and the different stakeholder groups. At least three different views of the product need to be thought about - Strategy, Roadmap and Backlog.
In A Nutshell
A clear and sustained definition of our product provides the direction for everyone in the organisation and gives scale and longevity of view. Scale helps to give simplicity to our organisational structure and processes that govern our work. Longevity is essential to support high performing teams and other features that give rise to a great organisational culture.
We must also pay attention to the emergent nature of our product definition. Our understanding of customer needs is emergent - we know more today than we knew yesterday. In any case, customer needs evolve. Both of these influences mean that our product definition will change as the product matures.
Specific Practices
Advocate for the product
Product Backlog Refinement is a Scrum activity that is performed on the Product Backlog. The scrum guide defines Product Backlog Refinement as the act of breaking down and further defining Product Backlog items into smaller more precise items. This is an ongoing activity to add details, such as a description, order, and size. Attributes often vary with the domain of work.
The Product Backlog is the vehicle by which needs are turned into requirements and requirements are turned into operational features in our product. It is a prioritised list of the work that the team currently intends to deliver in the next period of time. The less imminent a feature is, the less well it will be defined.
The Product Strategy provides the route map to achieve the current vision. It describes how different aspects of the product will evolve to realise the vision. Aspects described in the strategy include features, qualities and technologies. Specific products may need additional aspects to be described within the overall product strategy.
The product vision gives us the point on the horizon that everyone involved in the product is aiming for. The vision is a shared point of view created by the organisation through an understanding of what its customers are demanding. The vision focuses on the why of the product. This is the organisation’s unique view of the services that will be provided that makes it compelling for customers to use.
The Product Roadmap provides a simple view of how the product will grow towards its vision. As a forward looking view, the roadmap does not set fixed priorities or deadlines. Rather it is a fluid view that evolves as our understanding of customers’ needs evolves. Roadmaps are influenced by concerns in addition to the customers’ needs. These may include our capability and capacity to deliver change and the business, financial and legal context in which our product operates.
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