Primitive Spark

If you’re on a product team, what would you do in this scenario?

Someone on the team has a breakthrough idea, but the team is already in the middle of the product journey. The idea is good, but implementing it would put a wrench in the way things are already going.

So, what do you do?

- Say no to the idea
- Put it in the backlog and get to it later
- Mock it up and test it with users
- Stop what you’re doing and pivot directions

“Hopelessness simply means you’ve reached the end of your knowledge.”
Mike Piwowar

How do you feel about this (either on a product journey, or just in life)?

Signs it might be time to redesign a product:

- Users are making a lot of feature requests or have complaints
- There’s a plateau in customer adoption
- There’s been a disruption in the industry
- Users feel trapped using it

Any other signs not mentioned here?

Problem focused Vs. Solution focused

Which approach are you taking?

It’s common for product teams to skip right to the solution when planning out a product (like coming up with features).

However, this is putting the cart before the horse.

Before coming up with new features (or any solution), take a second to clearly identify the problem at hand. And get the team on board. What’s the real issue we’re trying to solve?

Once that’s clearly laid out, then start brainstorming solution ideas and features. At that point, it will become much more clear what makes sense and how each item fits in.

Wise words from the most interesting man in the world:

If your digital product journey feels hopeless, keep reading:

Usually hopelessness is just in our minds. And it’s all because we’re stuck in the same cycle of thought.

So what’s the secret to getting different output?

Changing the input.

All you have to do is shake things up. Here’s one silly example that we do:

To get out of a creative rut, do a handstand. Literally.

It may sound ridiculous, but changing the pattern of blood flow to the brain results in different output from the brain.

Same rule applies to a product journey. By turning the input upside down, you can change the product’s destiny.

Easiest way to shake things up? Get an expert opinion from someone outside your organization.

Announcement!

We are now offering 2 new services:

Oracle readings 🔮 and arachnomancy 🕸.

Ok, maybe we’re kidding. But regardless, the point of this was to bring attention to our font, Spark Sans, which is available for anyone to use!

Check it out if you haven’t already :)
https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/primitive-spark/spark-sans/

P.S. Or maybe we weren't kidding about the oracle readings... https://oracle.primitivespark.com/

The same is true in business.

If you change what you offer to the world, the world responds differently.

That’s why we love helping people on their product journeys. It’s amazing to see the transformation not only in products, but in the corresponding businesses and people’s lives (both staff & customers).

If anyone has any examples of this in their life, we’d love to hear it in the comments.

So how should product teams handle incoming feature ideas?

The key is to be active. Not reactive.

Being active means having a plan, or a shared vision with the team.

Without a plan, product companies can easily become feature factories. Then they end up in a pickle (like Lucy did in our previous post).

When you have a plan in place, new ideas can be gathered and heard with open ears. Then, using a feature matrix, all those ideas can be scored based on several different criteria. Sort the items by score, and you have a prioritized product roadmap.

Interested in learning more about the feature matrix? Comment “yes” on this post. Perhaps we’ll write an article on it.

The also says “Working software is the primary measure of progress.”

Well, who says working software has to be developed code?

Non-code artifacts are still working software :) You can still take these early versions of the software to market by testing with users.

The best part? It’s WAY less expensive to create and test.

More on how to optimize your digital product journey in Chris Varosy's latest article:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dont-like-frank-start-small-test-your-product-early-chris-varosy/?trackingId=SZlt2VOW%2FA5fnsvqDqlOmQ%3D%3D

Don't Be Like Frank: Start Small and Test Your Product Early There are a lot of things in life that can be overwhelming, and bringing a world-class digital product to reality is definitely one of them. Product managers are trying to balance time to market, budgets, feature sets, pressure from executives, competition, team dynamics, and much more.

The also says “Working software is the primary measure of progress.”

Well, who says working software has to be developed code?

Non-code artifacts are still working software :) You can still take these early versions of the software to market by testing with users.

The best part? It’s WAY less expensive to create and test.

More on how to optimize your digital product journey in Varosy’s latest article:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dont-like-frank-start-small-test-your-product-early-chris-varosy/?trackingId=SZlt2VOW%2FA5fnsvqDqlOmQ%3D%3D

Don't Be Like Frank: Start Small and Test Your Product Early There are a lot of things in life that can be overwhelming, and bringing a world-class digital product to reality is definitely one of them. Product managers are trying to balance time to market, budgets, feature sets, pressure from executives, competition, team dynamics, and much more.

Starting small is the secret to nailing any digital product.

Even the agrees:

“Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential.”

It’s crucial to identify what the RIGHT work is, and start only with that. Skip the rest for now.

Check out Chris Varosy’s latest article on the art of starting small to learn how to optimize resources on your digital product journey:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dont-like-frank-start-small-test-your-product-early-chris-varosy/?trackingId=SZlt2VOW%2FA5fnsvqDqlOmQ%3D%3D

Don't Be Like Frank: Start Small and Test Your Product Early There are a lot of things in life that can be overwhelming, and bringing a world-class digital product to reality is definitely one of them. Product managers are trying to balance time to market, budgets, feature sets, pressure from executives, competition, team dynamics, and much more.

What’s the key to making any digital product successful?

Validating with users as EARLY as possible.

We’ve seen this mistake over and over, so we decided to publish an article to help you steer clear of one of the most common pitfalls of being a product leader.

So don’t be like Frank. Start small and test your product early:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dont-like-frank-start-small-test-your-product-early-chris-varosy/

Article by Chris Varosy

Don't Be Like Frank: Start Small and Test Your Product Early There are a lot of things in life that can be overwhelming, and bringing a world-class digital product to reality is definitely one of them. Product managers are trying to balance time to market, budgets, feature sets, pressure from executives, competition, team dynamics, and much more.

Pro tip for product people:

Look outside the software 👀

When creating a product for an end user, it’s tempting to get stuck looking inside the software
..but that thinking will keep you trapped inside the box.

Your software may just be one tool in their toolbox. Look at the target user’s entire day. What are they trying to accomplish? What frustrates them? What do they hate most?

By looking at the context of the user as a human (rather than just inside the software), you can find clues.

How can I make this person’s job, and life better?

Pro tip for product people:

Customers don’t buy THINGS.

They buy TRANSFORMATION.

So, as a product person, here’s the million dollar question to ask yourself 👇

How does my product transform my customer’s quality of life?

Yes, it’s important to have a good product, a good UI, or even some cool features.

But so what?

How will an end user’s quality of life be improved as a result of using this product?

Congrats to our good friend Robert Fortunato on his latest sustainability project - a NetZero Energy school right in our stomping grounds, Hermosa Beach, CA 👏.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/fortunatorobert_congratulations-to-everybody-who-brought-activity-6799788865713508352--Ulg

Robert Fortunato on LinkedIn: Congratulations to everybody who brought the new Hermosa Beach Vista Congratulations to everybody who brought the new Hermosa Beach Vista School to fruition. This is one of the first NetZero Energy, Zero carbon, all-electric...

The most important question product leaders must ask themselves:

What problem does this product solve?

It may sound obvious, but so many product teams lose sight of solving problems.

Instead, they become feature factories.

Pause for a second and reflect. Are you solving a big problem? Is there a market need? Are there a million other competitors already covering this need?

The worst thing a product person can do is get to the end of the budget only to discover it was all for nothing!

The fastest way to a successful product is to respect the research process. Users will respect you back!

Speaking of skateboarding, there’s a product design lesson behind Mike Piwowar’s recent achievement:

Leading up to this 4th place national finish, there were 3 rounds of video submissions. Anyone in the U.S. could enter, including pros.

Needless to say, the competition was heavy. So how do you stand out?

The answer? Research 😈.

There were a few days to submit an entry, so Mike studied the early entries as a benchmark before planning his.
..But filming the run is a lot of work. It’s exhausting, and also requires roping in a filmer (who may have limited time and patience).

So before going through this battle, he decided to TEST his idea.

He bounced his plan off several different pros and updated it based on their feedback. They made suggestions he didn’t think of, which improved his plan quite a bit.

Now, it was time to execute. Doing the whole run was tough, but knowing the idea was validated before even beginning helped him persevere.

Low and behold, this approach got him through all three rounds of video competition, and into the finals where he finished 4th in the nation! Congrats again, Mike 👏

P.S. If he can stand out amongst heavy competition, so can you :) Hopefully this story can inspire your product journey.

Ideate, validate, execute!

Congrats to our marketing analyst Mike Piwowar on his latest athletic achievement!

He recently finished 4th at the USA skateboarding national championships. Bravo! 🎉

Surprisingly enough, Mike attributes much of his success (both on the skateboard, and even at work) to one of our past clients. Who would have thought product design could help with skateboarding?!

We helped Mental Training Inc. (MTI) design an application to go along with their coaching program a few years ago. MTI helps athletes and business people achieve at their highest level by harnessing the power of mental toughness. Mike joined the program and claims to have learned all sorts of things from his experience, including how to better handle pressure in a clutch moment.

It’s amazing to see the universe come full circle on this one. Shout out Mike for all your success on the skateboard, and to MTI and Dr. Robert Neff for the awesome program!

5 things product leaders should stop doing immediately ✋👮‍♂️:

1) STOP handing the dev team finished designs to implement blindly, and start involving them in the solutions.

2) STOP hoarding the research results. Everyone should have access to it.

3) STOP waiting for developed code to test with users. Test ideas to make sure users even want them!

4) STOP pretending you don’t have competitors. EVERYONE has competitors, and you need to know what you’re up against.

5) STOP setting unreasonable deadlines. Quality takes time.

For more advice on how to optimize your product journey, give us a follow!

It’s true - oftentimes users don’t know exactly what they want.
..BUT that shouldn’t be a reason to skip testing.

Yes, this quote from Henry Ford reminds us that research isn’t the solution.

It is, however, the EVIDENCE you need to make expert decisions about how to design a product.

As UX professionals, it’s important for us to weigh, decipher, infer and sometimes even reject what users tell us (which, to be fair, takes some experience and confidence).

If Henry Ford could change the world with a product, so can you :)

If you need help uncovering a value proposition, feel free to shoot us a message.

https://primitivespark.com/contact/

(We’ll talk to you for free, so don’t be scared - we are happy to help product people steer in the right direction)

What’s the best way to deal with a key player leaving the team?

It’s never fun, but it happens. People change jobs and, naturally, they take their knowledge with them.

When knowledge leaves a company, it’s disruptive. And onboarding someone new takes time.

Here are 4 ways to make the transition as smooth as possible when there’s knowledge leaving a company:

1) Be diligent and organize projects and documentation in a systematic way from the start

2) Plan to have an interim person take things over temporarily while getting a new hire set up

3) Have a knowledge transfer/offboarding process for when people leave (in addition to an onboarding process when people get hired)

4) Get to know team members personally (beyond work), and create an environment people want to be in. People are less likely to change jobs if they’re happy. And they’re more likely to remain an advocate if they leave.

Qualities of a successful vs. an unsuccessful product leader:

Follow for more tips to optimize your digital product journey :)

Things top product leaders have in common:

1) They do research
2) They test with users before development
3) They look beyond the competition for inspiration (ie. look outside their industry)
4) They build and share the product vision with all departments
5) Once the whole team buys in, they stick to a single direction

If there’s anything else you feel should be on this list, leave a comment!

Follow for more tips to optimize your digital product journey :)

One trick for a more efficient team:

Get to know each other personally.

Yes, that means knowing a little bit about each other’s lives OUTSIDE the workplace.

Maybe someone is moving. Or maybe they’re buying a house for the first time. Or maybe they’re going through a breakup or divorce. Things like this can be overwhelming, which can affect people’s working lives.

Now that doesn’t mean we all have to share our deepest darkest secrets, but being a little bit vulnerable helps people understand each other’s circumstances, motives, and thinking patterns.

We find this to be powerful, and practice it in our own company culture. In fact, we dedicate part of our staff meeting every Monday for this very thing. And we recommend it! If nothing else, even just listening to someone makes them feel understood and appreciated.

Vulnerability creates connection 💪.

Product team leaders: Empower your people!

If you trust team members with responsibility (especially junior staff), they feel like an important member of the team.

It’s ok if they pause and say “wait...you want me to do that!?”

Counting on them helps them learn to believe in themselves more and step up to the next level.

And besides, the more you can train people to do what you do, the more time you can free up to do more senior things. That means levelling up your career as well.

Better team = better product = better everything.

We talk a lot about the importance of user testing...

But one thing product people often overlook is how far ahead they need to plan.

Testing means talking to people… which means getting on their schedules...

And that’s easier said than done.

First of all, you have to make sure you’re talking to the right people.

Then, just because you invite someone doesn’t mean they’re going to be available right away. Or at all.

What if you find the perfect candidate, and they don’t respond? Or what if a key stakeholder you want to interview has a crazy schedule (hint: they usually do)?

Not to mention prepping for the interviews. You’ll need to know what you’re asking these people, which means putting together interview guides.

So plan ahead, test with users, and make that one-of-a-kind product a reality 💪.

Product leaders: write your own obituary!

Figuratively, of course ;)

Imagine you’re at the end of the project. You’re having a wild launch party celebration with the team because your product just nailed it. What does that mean the product is achieving?

Now, work backwards. To achieve this result, what was in the deliverables? Then, what information did you need to make those deliverables? Therefore, what questions did you need to ask in the research to achieve that?

Reverse engineering is the key to a successful product.

Questions? Let us know in the comments.

Knowing what you want is a CRITICAL first step to accomplishing pretty much anything in life.
..And having a great product is no exception to this rule.

That’s why knowing what you want to uncover in the research phase was one of the key takeaways from Chris Varosy’s recent talk on Insight-Based Research.

If you set your intention on exceptional results, you can listen for the right information in the research phase that will get you to that result.