5 questions to build a great product

From product vision to road map, release planning, sprint planning and sprinting to go live… as a product team, many a time, it is a race to get the features out to production. In such a scenario, to keep focus on building a great product, here are five questions to keep in mind:

1. Which are the most needed features?
   It is easy to build a lot of features and make your product fancy. However, which of those will your user really need and use? Identify and build what the user really needs.
2. How simple can we make it?Simplicity and ease of use go a long way in building up the user base and increasing adoption. Build workflows into the product wherever needed. Users should be able to easily learn the product features and how to use it. It is not easy to build a simple product, but it is worth it.
3. Are we using the language of the user?
   Make sure every aspect of the product is in the user’s language. If possible, involve a few users to co-create the product with them.
4. What feedback do users have?
   Periodically (at least every quarter), reach out to users and ask them:
   a) which are the most helpful features
   b) the least helpful features
   c) what can be improved in the product
   “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning” — said Bill Gates, hence, pay great attention to feedback for improvement.
5. Can a new user learn about the product easily?Identify someone new to the product to run through the product guides and validate whether they will help a new user to easily learn and start using the product. Along with product launch, ensure you build in ‘Getting started’ guides and videos which can be easily referenced.

You can build a product with great engineering, fancy features and do a lot of attractive branding and marketing. However, if the product is not valuable, then all the engineering and marketing is of no use. Therefore, pay attention to the features, the building blocks. Aim to make customers love your product!

“If you keep your eye on the profit, you’re going to skimp on the product. But if you focus on making really great products, then the profits will follow.”
– Steve Jobs

WITFluence 2020 - historic moments, inspirations...and much more!

It was great to participate in WITFluence - a conference for Women in Technology which was held on 20th Feb with the theme of 'Role Models for Women in Tech'. The conference had a stellar list of speakers on various topics, and also witnessed the launch of Wequity (a collaborative to promote Women in Technology).

Here are some of my takeaways from the sessions I attended.

"It is important to be vocal about what you want to be" - said Kalavathi G V, Head, Philips Innovation Campus, in her keynote address. She spoke about her journey in technology, challenges and the single minded goal focus that has helped her become what she is today.

"There is a big shift in marketing because people are moving to online forums", said Geetha Koushik, Director of Engineering, Gibraltar India. She said a lot of marketing focus has shifted towards social media marketing, because that is where the audience is.

"Have pride in yourself and what you do, stay flexible, design your own idea of success, put aside the 'good woman template' and don't feel less entitled to success" - said Nirmala Menon, founder & CEO, Interweave consulting, in a highly energetic and humorous talk.

One highlight of the evening was a CXO panel discussion on what equality really means in the technology ecosystem. Manjula Muthukrishnan (MD - Avalara India), Hari Vasudev (Country Head & VP Technology, Walmart Labs), Atul Jalan (CEO & MD, Manthan) and Vidya Laxman (Technology Director - Tesco) were the panelists in conversation with Priya Chetty Rajagopal (Founder & Managing Partner, Multiversal). "It's all about educating the girls and boys with equality" - said Vidya, in a powerhouse exchange of thoughts.

As the evening set in, the Plenary Hall got packed for the much awaited performance by Usha Uthup.  "You are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream", said the ever-young and fabulous Usha Uthup, as she held us spellbound with her inspiring, peppy talk. This was followed by her mesmerizing performance….a perfect evening that had the audience clapping, cheering and a few dancing as well!

A fitting finale to the day was witnessing and getting inspired by the awards given away to Women, and Men in Technology. The categories were: Tech Beacon, Tech Exemplar, Techinist (given to women who excel in technology), Solidarity idol and the Equalizer (for a male sponsor who has driven gender equity and progressed women in tech). Amazed to see the Techinist award recipient, Seema Nagar, who is an Advisory Research Engineer in IBM and has 100 patents to her name!!!

Will this day be a game changer in my life? Too early to tell....but definitely a memorable one, with speakers who will inspire me forever!