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Feedback Should Not Be An Echo Chamber<br />Tom Grant, Senior Analyst, Forrester Research<br />Silicon Valley Product Camp 2011<br />

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My research agenda<br />Do our ideas translate into customer value?<br />INNOVATION<br />CUSTOMERS FOR<br />THE TECHNOLOGY<br />What should we be delivering?<br />PRODUCTS<br />How can we adapt and deliver quickly?<br />AGILE<br />REAL CUSTOMER VALUE<br />How do we understand what the customer values?<br />SOCIAL MEDIA,REQUIREMENTS<br />THE DEV TEAM<br />Isn’t software part of every product?<br />“DIGITAL PRODUCTS”<br />Who’s ensuring that the overall process works?<br />PRODUCT MANAGERS<br />What’s the best timeline for delivering?<br />ROADMAPS<br />How can we make better decisions?<br />SERIOUS GAMES<br />MANAGE WITHIN<br />EXTEND BEYOND<br />

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The echo chamber<br />Preference for own ideas<br />Internal politics within a team<br />Unrepresentative internal betas<br />Leading questions<br />Customers who are not 100% honest<br />Lack of context for a request<br />Wrong language for explaining request<br />

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WHAT ASPECTS OF REQS. MATTER<br />Source<br />Type<br />Audience<br />Outcome<br />Accuracy<br />

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OUR SCENARIO<br />Internet and intranet collaboration tool<br />Add-on to MSFT SharePoint<br />Designed for cross-functional teams<br />Shipped version 1.1<br />Considering an add-on for MSFT Office Live<br />Also considering support for Google Docs, Zoho<br />First adopters = professional services companies<br />In particular, 5 big customers<br />Strong opinions in the development team<br />

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SOURCE<br />What are the plausible sources of requirements?<br />How do you collect this information?<br />How reliable is the information?<br />How much work is required for a sufficient level of reliable information?<br />

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TYPE<br />Is this information about you or the customer?<br />How much depth does this information provide?<br />How can you ensure that the information is representative?<br />What sort of impact does this information have?<br />

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AUDIENCE<br />For whom is this information intended?<br />What data model works for them?<br />Is it possible to standardize the information?<br />

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OUTCOME<br />What are the decisions or actions in which this information will be used?<br />When do you know that this information had a successful impact?<br />How might you need to adjust the information, over time?<br />

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ACCURACY<br />How many sources of requirements do you need?<br />Which information do you need to build over time?<br />Which information do you need to update regularly?<br />How do you do retrospectives on this information?<br />How can requirements shake up comfortable assumptions?<br />

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Thank you<br />Tom Grant<br />650.581.3846<br />tgrant@forrester.com<br />Blogs.forrester.com/tom_grant<br />@TomGrantForr<br />www.forrester.com<br />