Learning 1: The mindset of DVF, and take ownership to explore DVF, at scale.
This article is part of my learning journal. If you are interested to read them all, jump to my main index page "What I have learnt about product management, agile, and personal development at a big bank".
PART 1: 9 learnings on the process of developing a product from discovery phase to delivery phase
Learning 1: The mindset of DVF, and take ownership to explore DVF, at scale.
Learning 2: Understand your problem statement, and create a clear and long lasting vision
Learning 3: Trust the experts and empower the team
Learning 4: Know the rules before you break the rules (understand current state of your solution)
Learning 5: Clear roles and responsibilities = Clear accountabilities and actions
Learning 6: Make use of your cross-functional talents, make it real team collaboration
Learning 7: Create an actionable roadmap. Convert the experience into coherent user stories. Focus on less, to deliver more
Learning 8: Tactical solution vs Strategic solution, whichever you chose, make sure it's shared understanding
Learning 9: Engage with your stakeholders
A successful product is a sweet spot of DVF: desirable, viable and feasible. And any feature in the pipeline should go through DVF analysis. Something I wish we did better is to do DVF at different scales at different decision points.
For example, An initial DVF analysis helps to eliminate mis-match or unrealistic ideas, you may have learnt about this from lean startup or human centred design. The 2nd round of DVF is to shape the initial ideas into an easy to understand, end to end concept so you can come up with different solutions to address the problems. And the 3rd if no further more round of DVF is to iron out all the kints and decide on 1 suitable solution to execute.
Is that all necessary? You may ask. Let me give you a simplistic analogy: Alex is sick of paying rent and not having a sense of a belonging. So s/he comes up with a few ideas: buy a brand new house, buy an knockdown house to build a new one, or continue to rent. After the 1st round of DVF, s/he chose to build a new house. Great idea! So how does the dream house look like? Alex wanted it a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom house, but the cost is going high and build time is longer than s/he can wait, so s/he decided to revise it to 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house. (that's probably 2nd round of DVF). After much mental energy and let go of part of the dream home, Alex thought the job is done, and stopped there, thinking 3 bedroom 2 bath house will magically appear after certain period of time. But s/he gets frustrated that it hasn't happened yesterday at a cost s/he expected.
The problem is Alex haven't communicated on what materials s/he'd like to build the house externally (brick or wood home), how big should the kitchen, or bathroom be, and what interior material for the kitchen bench top etc. Should that be the builder's responsibility to make it happen faster? Should it be the designer's job to sort out the interior lay out? Sure, but proactive two-way communications help to narrow down the options.
To really understand how much it's going to cost, how would the living experience like, what gets to build first, how long the whole build takes, whether s/he can move in earlier while the house is continued to be built (to save some rent). As a home owner, Alex should take the responsibility to articulate the requirements, involved in the discussion and make an informative decision along the way.
What do you think of DVF at scale? Any past experience you can share insights with me? Do you know any good way to develop a good product that is desirable, feasible and viable?
Read my next learning point : Understand your problem statement, and create a clear and long lasting vision
Back to my main index page: "What I have learnt about product management, agile, and personal development at a big bank"
#desirable #feasible #viable #mindset #MVP #discovery #delivery