Alternative approaches to the development of new IT products
This is a continuation of the article: What if you need to create an innovative product in a traditional company?
Today I will tell you three alternative entrepreneurial behaviors that I most often see.
Farmer from Iowa, Ray Kinsella at a loss, so begins the film "Field of Dreams." Recently, he constantly hears a voice that advises him to build a baseball field in place of his corn fields. Someone, perhaps, such a proposal would seem completely devoid of meaning. But not Ray. After all, his late father was once just obsessed with this game. A loving son decides to follow the advice. And now the field is built, and a ghostly team of legendary players appears on it. Rey is not so much scared as puzzled. To understand the meaning of amazing events, he begins his own investigation ... What the hero hears is the phrase "Built it and they will come."
Similarly to Ray, sometimes entrepreneurs superficially study the possibilities, after which they devote all their energy to product development. Such entrepreneurs are guided by their vision of the perfect product. Their team, dominated by developers, is working tirelessly to translate the concept into reality, and work is stopped only when the product is ready to launch. The scale of the flight of the entrepreneur's imagination is wide, so there is no need to test the hypothesis of the business model. Sometimes the concept of “Built it and they will come” is rooted in the defense of one’s ego. The ego of an entrepreneur is largely invested in the success of his enterprise.
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One way to protect the ego is to guard against feedback, which indicates that there are problems. The other extreme is supposedly immersion headlong into product development as an excuse to sit out in the office. An introvert entrepreneur may experience a feeling of strong shyness by attacks from outsiders.
There is no feedback from customers until the product is created and launched. If the uncertainty about demand is large enough, then the probability of developing exactly the product that is needed on the market using this approach is quite small.
So we were taught at the university. So we worked with the TK. So we reported to the customer. So we made plans in Project. So we used to control.
Once accustomed, such entrepreneurs translate their vision into a plan, after which they systematically implement it. Works are performed in several successive stages. Efforts at the main stage are made only when the previous stage has been completed and the stage completion control point has passed successfully. Hence the name of this approach sometimes sounds like “stage-gate planning”.
Usually it includes the following stages:
The cascade model looks like this:
The development team that uses the cascade model begins by studying the maximum amount of information possible and only then creating the simplest product model. Research can drag on for months or even years, and the result will dictate the conditions to the team. Requirements will be fixed before the start of development and their revision is possible not earlier than the appearance of version 2.0 of the product created by them. This is exactly how a cascade model works. A complete plan includes stages that need to be completed in parallel with other functions. For example, marketers should prepare promotional materials immediately after completing work on product specifications, after which they should start developing a plan for a PR company, etc.
When developing and launching radically new products, strict adherence to cascading planning can often mean problems.
After the concept research stage, the development team using cascading scheduling will not receive sufficient feedback from customers until the start of the laboratory product launch. Similarly, when work with large batches is completed, errors that appeared at earlier stages may not be detected until the completion of additional works, as a result of which an additional amount of work aimed at their elimination is possible. In addition, with the rapid change in the situation within the company, the initial assumptions are obsolete by the time all phases are completed.
Thus, the problem is that the cascade model is in principle incompatible with the flexible approach. The basis of the flexible approach is fast iteration. As a result, every 2-4 weeks, a ready-made technological solution is born, and the product is constantly improving instead of making fundamental changes in its design once and for all. This concept is based on a hypothesis, conducting an experiment, quickly manufacturing a product, and conducting various measurements in real time.
The phrase that Nike used in its famous slogan: 'Just Do It'.
Some people hate planning at all and quench their passions for entrepreneurial actions through an improvisational approach. They plunge into the startup startup using their imagination and expectations, but without having a clear vision of the product or a detailed plan for its development. Such entrepreneurs rely heavily on constant feedback and on help from people they know and meet.
They often adapt their offerings to meet the demands of potential resource suppliers and customers and to cope with the surprises they inevitably encounter.
This approach to doing business has its advantages: it helps to cope with the lack of resources by adjusting the proposal to the preferences and capabilities of resource providers. However, without a clear vision, a detailed plan or hypothesis, it will be difficult to understand when to make adjustments to the work or in which direction to go.
Decision-making rules are very vague: “if the result improves, continue doing what you did before and think over the next few steps in this direction, if not, then stop and start moving in a new direction ... uhh, so how did we start there?” But what is this new direction? And what is the criterion you need to use to know when to change direction, and not expect a better result or not increase efforts?
Without a clear initial understanding of the direction of movement, the search for opportunities through incremental adaptation can lead to serious problems when an entrepreneur cannot envisage a serial relationship between decision-making results.
Consider the following examples of how product development decisions that depend on early feedback can misfire if they are not integrated into the global strategy:
The first two approaches have one common problem: both of them clearly indicate the initial direction of motion, but the feedback is unlikely to help them change it. In contrast, the third approach takes into account feedback, but the absence of an initially specified direction of movement means that some changes associated with feedback may be erroneous due to the serial dependence between the solutions.
In the case of hypothesis extension and testing, these traps can be avoided. Therefore, recently the Customer Development method and the Lean Startup approach have become so popular. This is confirmed by the results of the study, according to which startups that had to rebuild once or twice were twice less susceptible to an unsuccessful mass launch of the product, and at the same time, startups that had to rebuild more than twice were not affected by this problem. Consistent testing of a complete set of business model hypotheses ensures that the restructuring, i.e. adaptation based on the feedback received leads to the creation of a claimed product.
In the comments, write, what other typical patterns of product development do you know? Maybe I did not consider everything. Thank!
Today I will tell you three alternative entrepreneurial behaviors that I most often see.
Story number 1. "Built it and they will come"
Farmer from Iowa, Ray Kinsella at a loss, so begins the film "Field of Dreams." Recently, he constantly hears a voice that advises him to build a baseball field in place of his corn fields. Someone, perhaps, such a proposal would seem completely devoid of meaning. But not Ray. After all, his late father was once just obsessed with this game. A loving son decides to follow the advice. And now the field is built, and a ghostly team of legendary players appears on it. Rey is not so much scared as puzzled. To understand the meaning of amazing events, he begins his own investigation ... What the hero hears is the phrase "Built it and they will come."
Similarly to Ray, sometimes entrepreneurs superficially study the possibilities, after which they devote all their energy to product development. Such entrepreneurs are guided by their vision of the perfect product. Their team, dominated by developers, is working tirelessly to translate the concept into reality, and work is stopped only when the product is ready to launch. The scale of the flight of the entrepreneur's imagination is wide, so there is no need to test the hypothesis of the business model. Sometimes the concept of “Built it and they will come” is rooted in the defense of one’s ego. The ego of an entrepreneur is largely invested in the success of his enterprise.
')
One way to protect the ego is to guard against feedback, which indicates that there are problems. The other extreme is supposedly immersion headlong into product development as an excuse to sit out in the office. An introvert entrepreneur may experience a feeling of strong shyness by attacks from outsiders.
There is no feedback from customers until the product is created and launched. If the uncertainty about demand is large enough, then the probability of developing exactly the product that is needed on the market using this approach is quite small.
Story number 2. Waterfall in our life
So we were taught at the university. So we worked with the TK. So we reported to the customer. So we made plans in Project. So we used to control.
Once accustomed, such entrepreneurs translate their vision into a plan, after which they systematically implement it. Works are performed in several successive stages. Efforts at the main stage are made only when the previous stage has been completed and the stage completion control point has passed successfully. Hence the name of this approach sometimes sounds like “stage-gate planning”.
Usually it includes the following stages:
- A study of the concept, which ends with the development of a business plan, which describes the parameters of the product, the target audience, technical problems, competitors, financial prospects, etc.
- The product specification set forth in the Product Requirements, where, at least in theory, its functionality is adequately described, which will allow engineers to begin its development.
- Product Design
- Product development.
- Internal testing.
- Laboratory run with pilot customers to confirm specifications.
The cascade model looks like this:
The development team that uses the cascade model begins by studying the maximum amount of information possible and only then creating the simplest product model. Research can drag on for months or even years, and the result will dictate the conditions to the team. Requirements will be fixed before the start of development and their revision is possible not earlier than the appearance of version 2.0 of the product created by them. This is exactly how a cascade model works. A complete plan includes stages that need to be completed in parallel with other functions. For example, marketers should prepare promotional materials immediately after completing work on product specifications, after which they should start developing a plan for a PR company, etc.
When developing and launching radically new products, strict adherence to cascading planning can often mean problems.
After the concept research stage, the development team using cascading scheduling will not receive sufficient feedback from customers until the start of the laboratory product launch. Similarly, when work with large batches is completed, errors that appeared at earlier stages may not be detected until the completion of additional works, as a result of which an additional amount of work aimed at their elimination is possible. In addition, with the rapid change in the situation within the company, the initial assumptions are obsolete by the time all phases are completed.
Thus, the problem is that the cascade model is in principle incompatible with the flexible approach. The basis of the flexible approach is fast iteration. As a result, every 2-4 weeks, a ready-made technological solution is born, and the product is constantly improving instead of making fundamental changes in its design once and for all. This concept is based on a hypothesis, conducting an experiment, quickly manufacturing a product, and conducting various measurements in real time.
Story number 3. Just do it
The phrase that Nike used in its famous slogan: 'Just Do It'.
Some people hate planning at all and quench their passions for entrepreneurial actions through an improvisational approach. They plunge into the startup startup using their imagination and expectations, but without having a clear vision of the product or a detailed plan for its development. Such entrepreneurs rely heavily on constant feedback and on help from people they know and meet.
They often adapt their offerings to meet the demands of potential resource suppliers and customers and to cope with the surprises they inevitably encounter.
This approach to doing business has its advantages: it helps to cope with the lack of resources by adjusting the proposal to the preferences and capabilities of resource providers. However, without a clear vision, a detailed plan or hypothesis, it will be difficult to understand when to make adjustments to the work or in which direction to go.
Decision-making rules are very vague: “if the result improves, continue doing what you did before and think over the next few steps in this direction, if not, then stop and start moving in a new direction ... uhh, so how did we start there?” But what is this new direction? And what is the criterion you need to use to know when to change direction, and not expect a better result or not increase efforts?
Without a clear initial understanding of the direction of movement, the search for opportunities through incremental adaptation can lead to serious problems when an entrepreneur cannot envisage a serial relationship between decision-making results.
Consider the following examples of how product development decisions that depend on early feedback can misfire if they are not integrated into the global strategy:
- After receiving positive feedback from first customers, the company can develop a product to meet the needs of these advanced users only to later discover that you are too clever with the design of the product, making it too expensive and too “tricked” for those mass users whose Support is extremely important for successful product launches.
- After receiving pleasant feedback from the target audience, you can launch a product that solves a serious problem for only a small number of customers. Moreover, if you often do not keep in mind that: 1) direct contact with the client will be constantly needed 2) you can not get the planned revenue
What conclusions can be made?
The first two approaches have one common problem: both of them clearly indicate the initial direction of motion, but the feedback is unlikely to help them change it. In contrast, the third approach takes into account feedback, but the absence of an initially specified direction of movement means that some changes associated with feedback may be erroneous due to the serial dependence between the solutions.
In the case of hypothesis extension and testing, these traps can be avoided. Therefore, recently the Customer Development method and the Lean Startup approach have become so popular. This is confirmed by the results of the study, according to which startups that had to rebuild once or twice were twice less susceptible to an unsuccessful mass launch of the product, and at the same time, startups that had to rebuild more than twice were not affected by this problem. Consistent testing of a complete set of business model hypotheses ensures that the restructuring, i.e. adaptation based on the feedback received leads to the creation of a claimed product.
In the comments, write, what other typical patterns of product development do you know? Maybe I did not consider everything. Thank!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/352516/
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