Alex Sherman
  • Hello
  • Resume
  • Work
  • Blog

Every input should have an output.

10/19/2011

1 Comment

 
For the past two years, I have worked on a few different products ranging from Small Business CRM's to online business plan builders. As requirements and features are documented and created, it's very easy to overlook why certain features are requested or added. Sometimes you have to ask yourself (and others), what is the benefit of this feature?

To borrow a technique from Robert Dempsey (found while searching how other product managers document requirements) I created a Google document for each product that we have, and document the following requirements before we bring a feature to development:
  • As a (user, visitor, member, admin, etc)
  • I can (describe the feature in one sentence)
  • So that (And state the benefit) I tell everyone this, if you can't state the benefit, then it isn't really a feature.
After implementing this simple process, we are able to identify and prioritize our requirements more efficiently and turn them into features with the right benefit in mind for the customer. It's short simple and to the point. 

It was this simple thought process that led me to another simple question to ask yourself: For every input, what is the output? In other words, the feature is asking me to input information, what will the output be? This doesn't apply to every product, but is especially the case in CRM, where reports are imperative  and users rely on the system/software to tell them where their opportunities and sales (output) are based on the information (input) the user puts in.



1 Comment
Brent Oneal link
11/9/2024 07:26:26 pm

Your the besst

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    alex sherman

    Archives

    September 2015
    October 2012
    January 2012
    October 2011

    Categories

    All
    Features
    Product Management
    Requirments

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Hello
  • Resume
  • Work
  • Blog