Managing Feature Requests – Project Manager’s View
Why Less Features Might Be Better for Your Product
As project managers we get the luxury to overview several projects from the leadership level.
I call this luxury because we tend to see on a day to day basis several decisions made, several ideas giving birth and how these ideas and decisions go to execution at the ground level to produce outcomes. But it's what happens after this execution that brings light to all the decisions. We see products taking shape and how it goes out to impact these initial decisions.
Most often we see patterns in these decisions and outcomes. Today I’ll be walking you through one such pattern of decision that can make or break your product!
Features! Yes, your product features!
Let’s take a look at common thoughts founders share about their product upon review.
“We need to use the latest technology to develop this so we can cope with new trends”
“If this is not available our users may drop off”
“What if a user wants to do this?”
“Maybe a users might want this feature so that they can come back to our app”
These are just a few! Do you see a pattern already?
“Might” “May” “If” – who says these? Users? Definitely not!
None of these requests are from actual users. These are just raw thoughts and idea dump of the brains involved in the creation. While ideas are crucial it is also extremely important to know if and when your users really need it and if they really add any value?
“You have enough ideas to destroy Amazon” – This was Jeffrey A Wilke’s words to Jeff Bezos during the early days of Amazon.
Jeffrey A Wilke – CEO Worldwide Consumer of Amazon.com Inc.
Bezos has discussed in interviews how, in the early days of Amazon, his tendency to generate a constant stream of new ideas every instant, until the said senior executive Jeffery brought him to realization on how this can negatively impact the organization's growth.
The same applies to your product. Your ideas are important, but are they to your users?
What’s Your Takeaway?
Ask these questions:
1. What is the core offering of your product?
Remember this is a clear single answer and there must be only one.
2. What value does your user get from using your product?
What additional or new value do they get if your product has competitors? Again a single clear answer, no bullet points or list.
3. Do the listed features deliver that value effectively?
This must address the answers of question 1 & 2.
If you already are through product development and have a long todo list already, ask yourself the same questions and segment them into must have, should have and could have.
Must have – Is a core offering and value
Should have – Added conveniences, your product can still deliver value without this
Could have – Might look good if available, no impact if not available
Remember your “must have” list should never cross 20% of your entire list of features.
By answering and segmenting based on the above question you’ll now have a very lean, focused set of tasks that you need to work on for your first version.
With growth in technology and the recent trends several mundane recurring tasks of a project manager can be done with the help of tools and AI assistants and I believe one needs to go beyond just executing task management to guiding stakeholders in decision making with insights around these.
Outcome for Different Stakeholders Involved
Founders – Faster go to market, early validation from users, prompt iterations.
Users – Early access to solutions for their pain point, accessible faster alternatives to monolithic competition.
Development Company / Team – Clear and focused deliverables served in good quality in turn leading to better long term associations.
I hope this helped you in some way to bring clarity and streamline your product's first version.
Happy building!