Simplifya’s product management process rocks! It’s not because I created it, though that’s certainly a contributing factor. It’s because it fits Simplifya like a glove. We are a start-up with one product that is a combination of software and regulatory content. Our product management process should be a reflection of this, and I’m proud to say that it is!
The Process
Our company mission statement says, “Our innovative combination of software and regulatory content makes compliance easy.” From this, Shaughessy and I came up with a product vision that says, “To be the most respected and widely-used compliance solution in the cannabis industry.” This product vision helps direct our creativity by giving us a couple of aspirations. First, in order to be respected, we need to evolve our product in a way that we continually demonstrate our expertise in regulatory knowledge and guidance. Two, in order to be widely used, we need to evolve our product in a way where the quality of the user experience is constantly top-of-mind.
With our product vision in place, the rest of the product management process falls into place.
- Feature Development. The product management team meets every two weeks to discuss the latest ideas for enhancements and new features. The meeting includes inputs from investors (Marion), operations (John), sales (Tim), regulatory (Emily), and Vicente Sederberg (Jordan and Cassidy). I represent our product and development interests. It should be noted that in the long run the best source of feedback is our client base. When we have an established client base, we will formalize a feedback loop that ties our strongest users into our design process.
- Prioritization Matrix. As enhancements and features are identified, the team discusses their relative value to the company (high or low) and their approximate effort to implement (high or low). The high or low designations may seem too loose to outsiders, but it is in keeping with a lightweight prioritization model that matches our agile development process. We can prioritize quickly when we only have to make rough estimates of value and effort. You’ll occasionally see the prioritization matrix on the whiteboard in the Sativa room, but I am trying to make it a permanent feature of my office!
- Product Roadmap. The enhancements and features that come out of the prioritization matrix with high value are then moved to our product roadmap. The roadmap shows when something will become reality. Our roadmap is organized into four buckets: current quarter, next quarter, the quarter after that, and the rest. There’s little point in trying to predict a feature that is more than six months into the future, so we call it “the rest” knowing that the important features will eventually be pulled into the present. Like the prioritization matrix, I am trying to make the roadmap a permanent feature of my office.
So now you know what good product management looks like, and if you read the prior post about the case of Ember you know a little about what bad product management looks like. With that in mind, maybe you can appreciate the humor in this cartoon!
