Steve Johnson on product management

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Product management evangelist and guitar player.

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October 2010

 

How Apple Cracked the Top 5 in Global Handsets: Tech News «

Just over three years since introducing its first phone, Apple is now among the top five handset vendors on the planet, passing Research In Motion for the fourth spot, although still well behind the incumbents of Nokia, Samsung and LG. Research firm IDC noted Apple’s leap past RIM, based on reported third quarter sales.
via gigaom.com

Think you've got the market covered? Be watchful of a new contender who ignores the status quo and builds something that makes the others irrelavent. Amazingly (even to me, an Apple fanboi), Apple went from nowhere to #4 in only three years.

Cable lost an amazing number of customers to satellite. Many of us bypassed blue-ray to go straight to streaming. Amazon's Kindle doesn't really compete with B&N's Nook e-book reader or Sony's PRS-505a; it competes with paperbacks.

Where's YOUR next competitive threat coming from?

Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Product Management Peer Group: Strategy to Execution in These Trying Times - RegOnline

Strategy takes time that we don’t have. Connecting the detailed tasks to the strategy slows down execution. We can’t afford to stop executing for a minute because we have limited time, money, and resources. During these tough economic times, our philosophy is to just do it!
via regonline.ca

My pal, Barb Nelson, is leading a session on product management connecting Strategy to Execution for the Product Management Group on Tuesday, Nov 16 in Vancouver. Come see a great session if you're in the area.

Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Marissa Mayer on product management

When I met with Googlers in Haifa a few months ago an engineering manager commented that most product managers were idiots at all other companies where he had worked but at Google the product managers were all smart and technical.
via managinggreatness.com

Some great ideas about products and product management Marissa Mayer of Google. She is one of the more visible product management advocates in technology.

Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

» The “Who” and “Why” of your Target Customer The Experience is the Product | Better product management and products

This week’s blog post is inspired by a reader who asks, “if we have a product that appeals to a wide swath of users — say, any small business owner — how do we narrow our focus?”

Here’s the secret:  your Target Customer Hypothesis itself is not as important as the reasons why you came up with that hypothesis.

via cindyalvarez.com

Nice piece by Cindy on the focus and insights that come from interviewing customers. Who is our target customer? Interview a few to refine your buyer and user personas.

Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Friday fun: The keyboard of the future

I'm sad to see that in the future--at least Caprica's vision of the future--we'll still be using QWERTY keyboards. 

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What standards and approaches do you adhere to that you hope will be obsolete in a decade or more? Windows Explorer? Google Instant Search? Scroll bars? Have you adopted swipe? or speech?

Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

ProductCamp Montreal: Nov 21, 2010

Pcamp_icon

ProductCamp Montreal now accepting registrations at http://www.productcampmontreal.com/

I'll be there. Will you?

Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

John Milburn at PIPELINE 2010

Register Now!What is PIPELINE 2010? A virtual meeting ground for experts and colleagues to promote the knowledge and practices of innovation, product development, and product portfolio management.
via pipeline2010.com

Pragmatic Marketing's John Milburn will speak on November 10 at Pipeline2010. Learn more about the conference at http://www.pipeline2010.com/

Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

Most Software Product Road Maps Are Harmful Evil Lies!

There may be no greater ongoing source of confusion, mis-set expectations, and outright deception than the ubiquitous software product road map. Are you tired of road map heartburn? Then take the Road Mapper’s Anonymous pledge and swear off bad habits forever!
via voximate.com

A roadmap can be a commitment OR a plan, but not both. While execs and product management see a roadmap as a rough plan, those in the field frequently present it as a guarantee. If it’s a plan, it can be changed; if it’s a commitment, it cannot be changed. And many want both–”I want the commitment and I want carte blanche to change it.”

One product manager found recently that her roadmap, delivered in PowerPoint format, was routinely being changed by sales people and the president, yet it still had her name on the roadmap. I suggested she use PDF format from now on.

Read the full article for some great ideas and tips.

Posted by Steve Johnson 
 

17 Mutable Suggestions For Naming A Startup

One more reason why spending calories on picking a great name is important:  It’s a one-time cost to get a great name — but the benefit is forever.  Conversely, if you short-change this and dismiss it completely, you’re going to incur what I’d call “branding debt”.  Not bad at first, and maybe not a big deal for you ever, but every year, as you grow, you’ll have this small voice nagging inside your head “should I change the name of the company…”.  It’s going to be annoying.  And the longer you wait, the more expensive the decision is, and the less likely you are to do it.  Save yourself some of that future pain, and invest early in picking a decent name.  You may still get it wrong, but at least you’ll know you tried. brand stamp
via onstartups.com

Good suggestions for company (and product names). Apple product names are notoriously bad, like iPod, iPhone, and iPad, but their feature names are usually great: Facetime, AirPort, even Time Machine.

A good name should be available, spellable, and speakable. And for B2B, it should be meaningful. Read more tips on naming.

Posted by Steve Johnson