This session was presented by Torrie Adams, Product Manager at Kickboard. Find out more at http://www.kickboardforteachers.com.

1. +
Beyond Your Bright Idea:
A guide to market-driven
product development
Torrie Adams, PMP
Product Manager, Kickboard
President, New Orleans Women in Tech

2. + Some Bright Ideas
(and some not so bright ones)

4. +
Pepsi Product History
Fountain soda
1893
6 oz. bottles
1904
12 oz. bottles
1936
Diet
Pepsi
1964
Caffeine Free
1982
Wild Cherry
1988

5. +
Pepsi Product History
Fountain soda
1893
6 oz. bottles
1904
12 oz. bottles
1936
Diet
Pepsi
1964
Caffeine Free
1982
Wild Cherry
1988
Pepsi AM (1989)
Pepsi Raging Raspberry (1991)
Crystal Pepsi (1992)
Pepsi Candy (1999)
Pepsi Blue (2003)
Pepsi Vanilla (2003)
Pepsi Clear (2005)
Pepsi Lime (2005)
Pepsi Fresh (2007)
Christmas Pepsi (2007)
Pepsi Summer Mix (2007)
Pepsi Natural (2009)

6. +
37 Signals / Basecamp
Web design firm
1999 Basecamp
2004
Ruby on Rails
2004
2005
Ta-da List
Writeboard
Backpack
2006
Backpack
Campfire
The Job Board
Highrise
2007
2009
Sortfolio
Basecamp 2.0
2012
2013
Know Your Company
We Work Remotely

7. +
So how do we
remain innovative,
while protecting our bottom line?

8. +
Market-Driven vs. Market-Driving
Understand customer
(and potential customer)
needs and satisfy them.
Fulfill needs that the
customer doesn’t even
realize exist.

9. +
Self Assessment
Where do your product ideas come from?
 Sales team
 Engineering team
 CEO
 Customer interviews, focus groups, & surveys

10. +
Self Assessment
Do you feel like you’re stuck?
 Doing incremental enhancements with no clear
end goal
 Feeling hostage to your customers
 Not believing in what you do
 In your current market, with no idea of how to
break out

11. +
Market-Driven
Product Development
Understanding & satisfying needs:
 Listening
 Managing expectations
 Translating to profit

12. + “You’re not
listening to me!”

13. +
Where to Listen
Data
Surveys
Conversations
Focus Groups / User Groups

14. +
How to Listen
Go beyond simply hearing
Validate assumptions, but don’t try to
convince
Manage expectations

15. +
When we hear
I need ABC.
And 123.
And also XYZ.

16. +
When we listen
I need ABC.
What problem are
you looking to
solve with ABC?
Well it’s to fix this
issue downstream
with…
Underlying Need

17. + Ass + U + Me

20. +
Bias Check
Leading with assumptions:
 Do you drink soda?
 Would you say that you like
to live a healthy lifestyle?
 Wouldn’t you prefer to drink
a Pepsi that is free of
coloring additives, or would
you prefer one that has
artificial coloring?
Validating the facts:
 Do you drink soda?
 What type of soda do you
prefer?
 How many sodas per day
do you drink?
 If I replaced those sodas
with a clear Pepsi, what
would your reaction be?
Why?

21. +
“Your opinion,
while interesting,
isn’t relevant.”
- Pragmatic Marketing

22. +
Key Point
Be cautious not to bias
your research with your
assumptions.

23. +
Exercise
Free Market Research!
Write down 3 questions
that you need validated
from our audience.
We’ll take 3 people to
share.

24. + Managing
Expectations

25. +
Listening Has a Down Side
I need this.
I need this
other thing.
I need
something else!
Backlog

26. +
Managing expectations
Setting up for
disappointment
 “Definitely!”
 “I hear that a lot.”
 “That’s a really good
suggestion!”
 “I’ll send that to the
development team.”
A better approach
 “Thank you for the
feedback.”
 “Thanks for sharing
your concerns.”
 “That’s not where we’re
focusing in the near
future, but I’ll record it
so it can be considered
if we circle back to that
area.”

27. +
Exercise
Think of a story where
expectations got out of
control
and/or
Prepare some canned
statements that you can
use to let people down
softly.
We’ll take 3 people to
share.

28. + Profit

29. +
Translating into profit
I need ABC.
Market
research
Req/Sp
ec/
Design
Feature
rollout
$$ Resell $$