The “My Favorite Product” Exercise
Sometimes, Products - and Product Teams - lose their focus. It is easy to happen, particularly when the product is realizing early success. Common causes include competing priorities, such as:
The necessary evolution of your young Product.
Customization requests from your customers.
Feedback from your market discovery activities.
As a product leader, you see your team diligently working to advance the product. However, you constantly worry about prioritization and ensuring that their activity is focused on the attributes that matter most.
One method that I have used to help the team focus their activities is something I call the “My Favorite Product” exercise. It is fun and produces positive results.
How It Works
This exercise is fairly simple, comprised of two team meetings held roughly a week apart.
The first session involves each team member presenting a (roughly) five-minute presentation on their favorite product. The guidelines include:
The team member personally owns the product.
The team members regularly uses the product, preferably multiple times a month, in their day-to-day life.
Certain products can be excluded. For example, I regularly excluded iPhones because the products attributes are readily available. I may also exclude products that too closely align with ours.
Team members are encouraged to demonstrate the product during their presentation.
Presentations must include a list attributes why this product was selected.
After each presentation, the team can ask questions of the presenter and discuss details on the product.
Ahead of the second session, details are compiled on the products discussed and the leading the team members to selected these products. Metrics are compiled and a weighted list of attributes is generated.
Popular attributes include reliability, ease of use, performance, and cost/value.
During the second meeting, we review the weighted list of attributes discussing which are high, which are low, and which are missing.
Next, we go down the list and score our product against each line item. We then develop a list of improvements we could make to our product for each attribute.
This list of improvements is then prioritized by the team for consideration in the product roadmap.
Building Product Awareness
The result of this product exercise is almost always a strengthening of the extended product team (NOTE: Product Teams are not comprised solely of people with “product” in their job title. They includes anyone who develops, tests, supports, markets, or sells the product).
Immediate outcomes of the exercise typically include:
Improved awareness of the product’s strengths and limitations.
Improved awareness of product attributes that matter most to the user.
Shared vision amongst the team on how to advance the product.
Improved cohesion amongst team members.
The longer-term outcomes of the exercise include:
A stronger product.
Improved product development efficiency.
Improved performance of team members.
I recommend the “My Favorite Product” exercise to any product team looking to evolve into a product juggernaut.
If you have any questions - or, are looking for an outside expert to facilitate the session - please feel free to contact me at ed.behan@butterpielabs.com .