Product Management thinking and bite size learning

Make your service easy to leave

I was trying to unsubscribe to on online service over the weekend . I’m sure many of us have been through it; digging into the depths of a website to try and find how to cancel the service. It felt like I was looking for some secret code “Stand on one leg, rub your head three times and say the magic work to cancel your subscription!”
This is not clever. At the very least it’s sharp practice, but it also makes no long term commercial sense; It aggravates customers and when they do eventually find the unsubscribe button, they’re going to be hugely difficult to re-engage with your business.
The product management approach? Make your service really
easy to leave – it shows confidence and transparency. But spend your time making it compelling to use. Good products have willing customers.

Product Launch

Who is responsible for successfully launching a product?

Ever tried to build a RACI model that describes roles and responsibilities through a product delivery cycle? It often ends up as an overcomplex spreadsheet that feels more academic than real-world as we try and map out the complex world we live in. What the exercise misses is this; taking a product to market is a team sport - a group of people with expertise across the product delivery process are engaged in bringing a product to market from inception, to launch, to in-life management. They bring their expertise to the table and might take the lead on certain topics. But they work as a team to get the best product delivered. My tip; whenever you’re trying to deliver a product to market, agree some team objectives and key results, and never lose sight that you’re on the same team!