Breaking Silos_The Shift from a Software Delivery to a Product Development Mindset_Mihaela Draghici_ UXDX_EMEA_2023.pdf

Mihaela Draghici
Associate Director @SDC:LX, Volkswagen Digital Solutions
Breaking Silos:
The Shift from a Software Delivery to a Product
Development Mindset
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© VWDS 2023 - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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What problems we faced working in silos and how we got there
Team setup change to break the silos and how we implemented it
The results and key learnings

SDC Network
Build internal expertise in product
development
Shift culture towards agile and
user-centric product development
Respond to change and unstable market
environments
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The problem
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Working in silos

We need to be earlier in this process, when
defining what is needed; we are usually
involved too late; we want to define
together with the PO and our teams what is
necessary, and not only to implement what
was defined 2 years ago.
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Product teams:
For the Product team it's hard to:
• be included in vision and strategy decisions
• give visibility on the work progress
• advocate for our values & practices
Working in silos

We have no idea how an SDC works;
We are used to working with 3rd party
delivery companies that deliver against our
requirements, but the SDC team comes back
with something very different from what we
planned and requested.
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Business teams:
For the business team it's hard to:
• align on product decisions
• get visibility of and understanding of our
product process
• shift mindset towards agile & user centricity
Working in silos

For the Business team it's hard to:
• align on product decisions
• get visibility of and understanding of our
product process
• shift mindset towards agile & user centricity
WWW.VWDS.PT
For the Product team it's hard to:
• be included in vision and strategy decisions
• give visibility on the work progress
• advocate for our values & practices
Working in silos

How did we get there?

Product development process
Product definition & approval Software Delivery
Market research
Product research
Business case
Requirements definition
Designs
Budget approval
Delivery partner sourcing
Requirements presentation
Requirements negotiation
Research
Designs review
'Roadmap' planning
Delivery
Testing
IT approvals
Other approvals processes
Go-live (the end)

*Images show a near-production study. Vehicle is not yet offered for sale.

Product teams
Technology/Feasibility
Software Engineers
Usability/Desirability
Product Designers
Business/Viability
Product Managers

How we work
Product discovery
User research, competitor
benchmarking, technical research,
problem prioritization…
Product delivery
Design reviews, prioritisation,
estimations, infra setup…
Solution ideation
Solution ideation workshops, wireframes
and prototypes creation, user validation,
technical POC...

Product onboarding
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Present our product process, principles,
frameworks and practices to our stakeholders.

Software
Engineers
Product
Managers
Product
Designers
Product team

Software
Engineers
Product
Managers
Business PO
Architects
Marketing
Legal
Product
Designers
Product team Business team

Software
Engineers
Product
Managers
Product
Designers Business PO
Architects
Marketing
Legal

How might we…
Have a better
collaboration with
our stakeholders
Be included in vision
and strategy
decisions
Advocate for the value
of a user centric agile
approach
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Break silos in order to...

The solution

New working model

New working model
4 new products & product teams across multiple VW Group domain areas:
Sales & Marketing Procurement Production

Software
Engineers
Product
Managers
Product
Designers Business PO
Architects
Marketing
Legal

Product team
Technology/Feasibility
Software Engineers
IT PO
Software architects
Data scientists
Usability/Desirability
Product Designers
Product Owner
Sales/Marketing
Business/Viability
Product Managers
Product Owner
Sales/Marketing
We have shared ownership and take over responsibility together to
discover a solution that works for our users and the business.

At which stages are we working together?
Product vision
User research
Problem
prioritisation
Defining success
metrics
Solution design &
User validation
Technical solution
Delivery
Ongoing product
development

Change is hard…but it’s worth the effort

Working model agreement
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‘Who does what?’ workshops
RACI
Expectations Map
Alignment matrix

Repeat
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at various stages in the product lifecycle
Product
discovery
Product delivery
Solution
validation

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• Daily stand-ups
• Retros
• Iteration planning
• Ideation workshops
• Quarterly planning
• Strategy meetings
• Executive committees
Common team activities &
ceremonies

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How do we measure success?
Feedback
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Product success Future investments
Team health checks,
continuous feedback,
surveys

Product development process
Product definition & approval Software Delivery
Market research
Product research
Business case
Requirements definition
Designs
Budget approval
Delivery partner sourcing
Requirements presentation
Requirements negotiation
Research
Designs review
'Roadmap' planning
Delivery
Testing
IT approvals
Other approvals processes
Go-live (the end)

Are you still with me?
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Key learnings &
achievements
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The people & the mindset
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Even after involving the PO in the research, collecting and reviewing
findings together - the PO still insisting on building features that they think
are valuable; tough negotiation; we had to stick to our values and our
recommendations based on the findings.
Here's the list of planned features, you deliver it and that's it, we move on
to the next thing.

Internal processes
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That still slow us down
Planning rounds
Go-live software
approvals

Production
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Waterfall
1. Hard deadlines
2. Strict lists of functionality requirements
3. Advance planning
4. No experimentation
Now: Give more importance to user
research & user validation

User-centric
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Understanding the value of user research &
continuous feedback loops

Product ownership
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Working together on
product vision, strategy
and long term
objectives.
We are included in
planning & steering
committees.
More autonomy/flexibility on defining the roadmap and more
ownership of what we build.

VW Group IT Symposium
One of our products was selected to
be showcased at the
VW Group IT Symposium.

Team credits
Joana Esteves
Product Manager
Jack Higgins
Product Manager
Chloe Humby
Product Designer
Caio Arruda
Product Manager
Tiago Machado
Product Designer
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Flavio Santana
Product Designer

2020.10.23
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Thank you!

Breaking Silos_The Shift from a Software Delivery to a Product Development Mindset_Mihaela Draghici_ UXDX_EMEA_2023.pdf

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