Striking a delicate balance between creating the desired product and developing it flawlessly is a distinction often overlooked by those who question a Product Managers necessity or a development partner's qualifications. Building the Right Product: Conducting a thorough Product Discovery, addressing key questions, and understanding stakeholder goals and requirements are vital steps to mitigate faulty assumptions and deliver a successful solution. Building the Product Right: Only focusing on building the product right risks developer-centric outcomes. A PM's expertise is crucial for non-technical teams and Product Owners to balance technical requirements and product goals.

1. Building the
Right Product vs.
Building the
Product Right
Striking a delicate balance between
creating the desired product and
developing it flawlessly is a distinction
often overlooked by those who question a
Product Managers necessity or a
development partner's qualifications.

2. Building the
Right Product
Conducting a thorough Product
Discovery, addressing key questions,
and understanding stakeholder goals
and requirements are vital steps to
mitigate faulty assumptions and
deliver a successful solution. To
further ensure you are building the
right product, the PM is concerned
with the following:

3. 1. The Product Owner
The Product Owner holds the power to
shape the product, carries the weight
of its outcomes, and requires extensive
domain expertise. Choosing the right
Product Owner is crucial to avoid
pitfalls, especially for large product
teams facing high failure rates.
Building the Right Product

4. 2. Users
Understanding users is paramount for
building the right product, as its
success hinges on their adoption.
Solving user problems is the core
focus, utilizing research and analytics
to uncover and address their needs,
even when users struggle to articulate
their problems or solutions.
Building the Right Product

5. 3. Research
Effective research validates the worth
and accuracy of business problems
and evaluates potential solutions. It
encompasses diverse methods such as
competitive analysis, documentation
review, prototyping, shadowing, and
user interviews.
Building the Right Product

6. 4. Priorities
Prioritization balances value, risk, and
cost to determine the order of
problem-solving. De-risking high-value
yet risky areas and addressing
unknowns are vital. Once
accomplished, prioritization shifts
towards high-value features with
acceptable costs.
Building the Right Product

7. 5. Opportunities
Identifying opportunities requires
finding your differentiator in a
crowded market. Competitive analysis
plays a crucial role in understanding
the market and increasing the chances
of user adoption.
Building the Right Product

8. 6. Analytics
Analytics enable iterative
improvements to the product post-
launch and aid in course correction if
initial product-market fit is lacking. The
strategic setup of analytics involves
determining relevant business
questions, actionable outputs and
predefining potential answers to guide
product adjustments.
Building the Right Product

9. Building the
Product Right
Only focusing on building the product
right risks developer-centric outcomes.
A PM's expertise is crucial for non-
technical teams and Product Owners
to balance technical requirements and
product goals. Key PM concerns
include:

10. 1. Technology
Choosing technologies involves trade-
offs in aspects like speed and ease of
understanding. The agreed solution
should align with business
requirements, ensuring acceptable
trade-offs. Thorough vetting of
technologies, including third-party
integrations, is crucial.
Building the Product Right

11. 2. Architecture
Application architecture ensures
adaptable and scalable software,
balancing present execution with
future planning. PMs are crucial in
providing a roadmap, engaging in
trade-offs, and aligning architecture
with requirements. Architectural
design is continuous and time-
intensive, requiring regular review.
Building the Product Right

12. 3. Engineering
A successful project hinges on the
trust and collaboration between the
PM and tech lead, balancing skills, and
informed decision-making. Engineers
require clear requirements, frequent
feedback, and trust to excel. Building
the product right also entails ongoing
quality improvements and managing
technical debt with intention and care.
Building the Product Right

13. 4. Design
Designing the product right
necessitates iterative refinement,
encompassing information
architecture, workflows, wireframes,
and brand identity. Validating such
designs involves extensive user testing
while filtering out noise.
Building the Product Right

14. 5. Process
A well-defined development process
adheres to key principles: clear roles,
stakeholder buy-in, self-improvement
through feedback, and early error
detection. A successful process instills
confidence, reduces mistakes,
increases development speed, and
fosters enthusiasm among the team.
Building the Product Right

15. 6. Tests/QA
Ensuring a functional product is crucial
to maintain stakeholder and user trust.
A comprehensive approach includes
automated tests and manual QA, with
the QA team involved from the outset.
Thoughtful use of automated tests
allows for efficient verification,
enabling faster development while
considering maintenance overhead.
Building the Product Right

16. Using the Right Software
Development Partner
A development company's and PM’s
superpower lies in their ability to
advocate for every point above and
strike a balance between building the
right product and building the product
right. This ensures your software
functions well, delights users,
performs optimally, and provides value
long into the future.
www.mojotech.com
hello@mojotech.com