Title - Subject
to Change Author - Dave Roman, GCPCUG Member Category - Book Subject - Creating great products and
services for an uncertain world Date - July 2008
There are 8 chapters, a Bibliography and an
Index, so I will review the book chapter by chapter.
Chapter
One is titled “The Experience is the Product”. They talk about the
product here and use the original Kodak camera as an example. It was simple.
Push the button and we do the rest. Kodak developed the film. As technology
advanced, product design changed. The power of design is defined. To the
authors, design is complex. Design involves empathy. It solves problems and
design produces things. When you buy a product you experience it!
Chapter
Two is “Experience as Strategy”. Technology itself may not sell your product.
Companies want to know WHY they buy it. What is their motivation? What do they
expect from your product? How does your product affect their senses (see, hear,
touch)? Do they have the skills to use it? (Have you ever tried programming
with a remote?)
The authors state that “being the best is not
a strategy”. They claim that reaching your target market is a better strategy
than trying to be better than everybody.
Chapter
Three is called “New Ways of Understanding People ”. The authors say that
“we must understand people as they are rather than as market segments or
demographics.” They just contradicted the last chapter. They make the claim
that people are “sheep” and they are led around by marketing strategies. They
are “marketed” to. Marketing has become a verb.
Chapter Four is about market research and
incorporating research into prototypes and design. They want you to build
empathy with the marketing model or target.
Chapter
Five is called “Stop Designing Products ”. Products are only
elements of a much larger system, so ask questions like “what do people want to
accomplish?” How can I deliver on those desires? How does this activity fit
into their lives? This helps you create a system, not just a product.
Chapter
Six is “The Design Competency ”. Can you have problems with a product that is
new, better and different? Sure, especially if you look to your competitors.
Are you designing against their product or are you creating a “system” for your
market? Remember design isn’t only for designers. It can come from marketers,
writers or even business leads. You can even get great designs from your
customers.
They try to explain what WOW is. We all know
what WOW is, don’t we? It’s product that exceeds all expectations. It’s a
product manufactured in China with a help desk in India and sold by non-caring
clerks, but it still generates a WOW when you use it!
In Chapter Seven they define the “Agile
Manifesto ”. It is a method of developing products and services for the
market that creates fast prototyping and rapid iteration cycles. It sounds like
the “consumable” approach where all products have a built in life cycle or are
consumable. Don’t build a quality product. It might last too long and
consumption will go down, as will the economy. Myself, I prefer quality and would
be willing to pay the price. Maytag had good ads and a good concept behind
them, but like most companies that started with quality products, they have
joined the life cycle team.
Chapter Eight talks of an uncertain world.
Isn’t that the truth! They quote an old Chinese proverb, “To be uncertain is to
be uncomfortable, but to be certain is to be ridiculous”. The world in which we
live and work is subject to change without notice. Succeeding in this world
requires continuous improvement. First in our minds and then in our outputs.
The products!
They reference their research in the
Bibliography, but it is a concept book that tries to help us with ideas for
business and personal success.
SUBJECT TO CHANGE:
Creating Great Products & Services for an
Uncertain World
Authors: Peter Merholz, Todd Wilkens, Brandon
Schauer, David Verba
Publisher: O’Reilly Media, Inc.
April 2008, 178 pages, US $24.99
ISBN 978-0-596-51683-3
Discount of 35% for User Group membershttp://www.oreilly.com