You're about to start a new product engineering project. How can you ensure it's a success?

Make sure that there are marketing and finance team members. Engineers may have a “wrong” perspective on a problem, while marketing can bring a more customer oriented view. Also, cost is a critical factor. The product must make money in the long term, but the first generation could be a loser and still be ok. Understanding the value of volume is also critical. A product that sells in high volume is worth many times more than a low volume product. Finally it is important to understand the competition and thus know the value of speed versus perfection. Getting to market fast with a good product can be much better than slower with a perfect product.

If the problem is not defined properly then the chances of the product likely to be successful also reduce. Therefore look at the problem from the lens of each persona and then try to build the product - doing this will ensure that the users' issues will get resolved and therefore the likelihood of their using the product will be much higher.

Identifying the persona whose problem is being solved and validating that the problem actually exists is key. Understanding how that person achieves the intended tasks today, what issues they face, how they feel while working on those tasks, what workarounds if any, they use to accomplish the task are some of the essential deep dive areas to clearly understand the problem and then form our hypothesis around what could potentially solve that problem. Doing some early A/B tests or "back of the paper napkin" ideation and validating (cost benefit analysis) that with a user-group representative of the persona and investors, would help assert the direction before actually investing more time and resources.

Conduct MOM Test with potential users to sharpen the scope of MVP. Once done quickly build and engage with users and iterate with user feedback. Identify the motivation of Customer(Buyer) vs Consumer(User) for your Product and then tag your core product features to answer "How this is rewarding for them?". Design & Build for scale and sustainability in the long-term but for least path of resistance in the initial days.

One thing I have found helpful is to outline in and outs of the scope, discuss with stakeholders and work on solutions. This step saves a lot of time and makes the vision clear.

Before finalising final solution all possible ideas are to be evaluated with cross functional teams. The selected solution must be easily manufactured, implemented and cost effective to the end user. It is important that product is reliable and easy to use and maintain for end user. It will be great if it provides any additional features or benefits without much additional cost.

In one of my current projects, there is tension between designing from a global-first approach, where the product will handle all things for future growth, vs a minimal approach, where you can serve the first customer, and even then with some manual (non-scalable) work behind the scenes. It is a challenge to keep to the minimum, and my method is to write pseudo code for the whole algorithm but only implement the essential core parts. When that feature is needed, you have notes about how to add it to the structure, and having the notes satisfies the human need to keep the bigger picture in mind.

While looking at the problem, also can look at the potentials & opportunities. Defining the problem is critical, but also need to focus in the actual root cause of the problem. Otherwise, we will be focusing on the incorrect solutions, and may create another problem(s) while solving one... ??

Guerilla testing with selected users personas using (semi) clickable mockups is a great way to test the design before writing code! Use tried and tested architecture / components and do not re-invent the wheel. Keep design simple and avoid complexity ruthlessly so that the time to market can be shortened. A (semi) buy / adopt option can be a consideration - e.g. you do not need to design your own timeseries db with event tags, consider solutions such as Influx DB or similar. Focus on a design that can prove value quick but still sustainable post launch (hence the advice above).

Starting the design process necessitates a firm grasp of the requirements. From there, we can delineate the scope and craft a customer-centric solution alongside a proficient team. Generating prototypes to visualize the product and engaging in iterative improvements are crucial steps to achieve the desired design outcome.

From a ~$450k project we completed recently, we started with X number of user stories. By the end of the project, we had 1.8 X user stories (80% more), and we had implemented 0.97 X user stories. The moral of the story is: Don't define everything in detail at the start because you will likely find more valuable ideas as you go along in an agile way and only end up implementing about half of the original list of features.

Part of developing the product, that significantly impacts the profitability and ability to get it to market, is what level of prototype and associated timing is needed to provide potential customers for initial evaluations well ahead of production timing. Along with that, and of equal importance, is what viable supplier or suppliers are needed and to what extent those suppliers are qualified or certified according to the industry standards the potential customers expect. Without either qualified suppliers or the ability to meet customer timing and expectations, you have little chance of success.

We must initiate with the agile methodologies like Scrum or Kanban to manage the projects efficiently, with adaptability and quick adjustments. While documenting the process and steps at each and every point for future references and upskilling the teams.

Siempre es importante que en el paso anterior de dise?o podamos evaluar siempre la factibilidad, para llevar a cabo lo que pensamos o estamos proyectando. Si la idea es buena y no tenemos las herramientas o elementos, para desarrollar el camino no es ese. Puede ser que a veces existan ideas no tan buenas, pero en lo concreto y su factibilidad es muy importante, para dar vida a un producto, sino una gran idea, puede ser un gran desastre.

Before getting into development Set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for the project. These should encompass technical objectives and user experience goals. The focus on building a team with the necessary technical expertise, soft skills, and diverse perspectives. Most important are skills in architecture , engineering, design, Agile besides software development. Break down the project into smaller, manageable sprints with defined deliverables and deadlines. Embrace iterative development with frequent testing and feedback loops.

In my experience Testing is very much required for the Product but we should avoid too much unit testing [like 80% code coverage] when we are testing the market. While the Product market fit is being tested we should focus mainly on 1) Acceptance Testing 2) Performance Testing These should be integrated directly in Continuous Integration/ Continuous Development pipeline so that we can ensure seamless customer experience with faster time to market.

Back then, developers used to test their own code and take pride in having it function correctly, handle errors gracefully, and perform well under load. I don't think that has changed because of 'throwing it over the fence' to Quality Analysts. Rather, there is a lack of root cause analysis and reporting. The team needs to know where the issues are coming from. Is it in the design? Is there bad data? Sloppy coding? If you measured and reported on root cause analysis, this would enable the team to course correct on their own. Sports teams hold each other to high standards, they track stats. Let's bring some of that discipline into testing the product by 'shifting left' the measures, starting with root cause analysis.

Test automation should not be an afterthought and i recommend pairing of devs with QA engineers to make sure test coverage and automatIon is sufficient for the domain at hand. Unit tests should be written by devs. API tests suite can easily be automated using Postman. Functional test (UI) can be automated using tools like Cypress. They should be integrated into your CI pipeline for release management hygiene for test coverage and passing before deployment.

An effective test strategy should inculcate the following - Testing User Needs by Usability Testing: Throughout the design and development process, conduct usability testing with real users to identify usability issues, understand their workflow, and gather feedback on features and functionality. Also include User Interviews and surveys for more depth - Validate Business goals by measuring your product's performance in terms of speed, scalability, and resource utilisation. - To ensure that the product is meeting Technical Standards and requirements team should implement unit and integration testing practices to ensure individual components and their interactions function as intended. - Security and Compliance testing

Testing and Prototyping: Implement thorough testing and prototyping phases to identify and resolve issues early in the development cycle.

A good deployment needs planning and preparation in terms of defining the staging and production environments to test and verify functionality before reaching end users. Also its important to Implement robust automation tools to minimize manual intervention and human error during deployments. The deployment phase should be closely monitored with real time tracking of key metrics and effective roll back plan with a focus on minimizing downtime. To prepare a good method is to do some dry runs and for long term Invest in continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines.

Exactly, deploying the product requires a well-planned and executed process to minimize downtime, risks, and errors. Leveraging tools like continuous integration and continuous delivery automates and optimizes the deployment pipeline, ensuring a smoother release. Cloud services provide scalability and flexibility during deployment, contributing to a more efficient and reliable delivery to end-users. A careful and automated deployment process is crucial to delivering a product that is not only functional but also accessible and reliable for the end-users.

Muchos productos llegan hasta acá y a pesar de ser buenos siempre se caen con un elemento no menor y de mucha importancia, que es las post venta. Un producto puede ser bueno, pero si no tiene respaldo no tan solo de implementación, sino también de soporte en su vida útil, será solo un producto más del "montón". Tenemos que usar el elemento diferenciador, y eso implica que el ciclo de vida de un producto no tan solo radica en poner en circulación, sino también en un producto que en base a la experiencia del consumidor nos vaya entregando más información que tal vez no hayamos considerado antes. De esta forma tendremos un producto implementado y con retroalimentación constante, para siempre ir mejorando el mismo o generar futuras soluciones.

DevOps. But is that sufficient? We do DevOps so that the team developing the product are the ones (deploying and) supporting the product. DevSecOps. So, now we securely build code, rather than producing a product and then 'doing security' afterwards. But how do we know what the end-user experience is like with these controls? I'd like to propose: DevSecSupOps. Developers make products in a secure way, deploying and supporting not just from a technical point of view, but also doing an occasional rotation on the support desk phones. Even just taking an occasional day to listen in on support calls. The best feedback mechanic is hearing from your users.

A most elegantly designed product may not be most maintenance friendly. Most of the time development teams don't think on how this is going to be maintained. Keep cost of maintenance in mind while designing.

Absolutely, maintaining the product is an ongoing commitment to ensure continued value and satisfaction. Providing support, regular updates, enhancements, and fixes are essential components of post-deployment efforts. Tools like feedback mechanisms, user research, metrics, and roadmaps help measure and improve product performance and user experience over time. This iterative feedback loop ensures that the product remains aligned with evolving user needs and market demands, contributing to its long-term success and sustainability.

Creating the good team is also plays critical role in the success or the failure of the project/product.Try to Organise Together right people for right job, give them autonomy to work with transparency.

In my experience I learned that the Time to Market the product is very important. When you start off any product engineering project first fix the time to market. Right time to induct the product in to the market is more beneficial to gain high returns on product development. That include exceeding the bench marked competitors product . Ensure that the product is scalable and modular so that you can sustain any changes in the future can be adoptable. So in short, design a product considering current and future changes which can shield the product life.

There are many other aspects in Product Engineering that will vary as per type of product such as whether it is new innovation, new organisation or new product introduction in organisation. New Innovations requires fast Product Market fit and accordingly Product Engineering fine tuned to achieve targets of Time cost & quality. Again if it is a new organisation then in house product engineering capabilities may not be capable enough and this may need outsourcing to capable organisation. Further an NPI project within an existing established organisation needs product engineering tailored to specific needs of the product other than existing established products of the organisation.

Effective Planning: Develop a detailed project plan outlining tasks, timelines, resource allocation, and milestones. Factor in potential risks and mitigation strategies

La productividad nunca será degradar la calidad para maximizar las ganancias... Mantener la calidad en materias primas, tecnología y procesos siempre será la mejor opción, mejorar las ganancias se debe a la reducción de los desperdicios!!!