In this installment of my blog series on “Anti-patterns that Doom a Product Owner to Fail” I cover the topic of value. Value is often hailed as the most important factor to consider when creating a new product, but “value” is often misunderstood or misused. Read on to find out how Product Owners can get it wrong (or right).
Not understanding what value is in the customer’s context
Problem
Value is a tricky thing. It’s hard to nail down and can be based on many different factors. But, when you are the Product Owner, you need to have a deep understanding of your product. If you can’t articulate and measure value, either using numbers or feelings, you won’t be able to define any goals or objectives for the product. And you certainly won’t realize the expected benefits of your product.
Solution
Every product is unique. To maximize the value of a product, the Product Owner must understand what value means within the customer’s context. What is “context,” you ask? According to dictionary.com, context is:
“The set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, etc.”
It’s not enough to build a great product; you also need to create a great product that people want. You need to consider a lot more than just one set of circumstances of product use. You should think about the many situations a customer might encounter and design your product to meet the user’s underlying need.
Acting as an Order-taker rather than Value Maximizer
Problem
A stakeholder tells you what they “want” or what they “think” the customer wants, so you jot it down and add it to the Product Backlog. But, how do you know if the idea is worthwhile? Do you build the feature just because someone asked for it?
Solution
You aren’t a server in a restaurant, and you shouldn’t just “take orders” without considering the underlying need. Most people don’t know what they want until they see it, and as the Product Owner, it’s your job to elicit the actual needs of your customers. You shouldn’t act on unvalidated assumptions. Instead, use data and evidence to decide what’s important and valuable to your customers and use that information to drive product development.
Focus is on Outputs over Outcomes
Problem
Have you ever prepared a document so you could “check the box” and call it done? This is a common occurrence, especially in older organizations that haven’t truly embraced Agile. We call this an “output.” Outputs are only helpful if they support positive outcomes.
Solution
Don’t worry about the outputs – DO worry about the outcomes. The outcome is the measure of whether your product is successful. Did you meet your objectives? Does the customer like or love your product? These are the types of things that matter – not the silly documents produced along the way.
Use of inappropriate criteria to measure Value
Problem
As I said before, determining value can be tricky and measuring it might be even more challenging. If you are focused on the wrong things when measuring whether your product is successful, you may skew perceptions. Not only that, but value can mean different things to different people. As the Product Owner, it’s your responsibility to decide what value means to your customers, given their context.
Solution
Define your success criteria up front. Like Steven Covey said in his famous book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People“, you should: “begin with the end in mind”. That said, you should determine what metrics you will need to capture, both qualitative and quantitative, and get them down in writing. The expected value will be realized when you have met your targets for these pre-determined criteria.
Final Thoughts
As a Product Owner, be laser-focused on your customers, in their context. Don’t simply accept stated requirements as needs – validate before doing anything. Focus on what you’re producing, not the documents created to get you there. And finally, start with the end in mind and pre-define how you will measure success. And that’s a wrap!
Now, it’s your turn. Value is an elusive topic to cover. What are your thoughts? Do you have a clear way to determine the value of your products? What best practices do you have for determining and measuring value? I’d love to hear your thoughts!