How can you promote innovation and experimentation as a product manager?

Understanding who are your customers is crucial before attempting to understand their needs. For large scale B2C products, it is important to differentiate customers from users and define them before getting into their needs.

It’s essential to understand the Venn Diagram of nice to have, need to have, expertise/resources within the group and expertise/resources to bring back to the group. Evaluation of this diagram should lead to a better appreciation of the available solutions and a feasible product. The toughest part can be agreeing upon a minimum viable product with scalability, because the truly desirable audience will be partially in house and majority out of house. Gaining new audiences can be tricky and expensive. Growing them through scalability of format and general topical coverage can help in development of the “ultimate product.” But if you immediately seek out the ideal, it can be tricky to split attention and build the audience along the way.

"Life is too short not to experiment". For the situation at hand, fostering innovation as a product manager entails a blend of advocacy, agility, and risk management. 1. Pitch with Purpose: Draft compelling proposals showcasing the potential value of innovative ideas to gain management buy-in. 2. Iterative Approach: Instead of aiming for perfection from the start, prototype rapidly, test for market fit, then refine or pivot based on feedback. 3. Embrace Calculated Risks: Recognize that not all experiments succeed. Promote a culture of experimentation, but ensure each venture is a well-informed, calculated risk.

Understanding your customer needs is a 'loaded' statement. Sadly, the way textbooks theorize it is is synonymous to snaking down a rabbit hole of processes causing analysis-paralysis. In reality, the delta between the customer's stated intent vs. the observed behavior can vary widely. It is therefore critical that to deliver to your Product's UVP, a good Product Manager employs a combination of t methods to narrow down the delta thereby DELIVERING features that address those unmet customer needs that most fail to define. I have personally employed a combination of methods - customer interviews, customer surveys, click stream analytics, usability tests, multi-variate testing, 80/20 rules etc. etc.

Understanding customer needs shouldn't just be about listening to what customers say they want. Steve Jobs once said, "People don't know what they want until you show it to them." Sometimes, as product managers, we need to think beyond what customers articulate and anticipate their unexpressed desires. This requires intuition, foresight, and a deep understanding of human behavior. It's risky because you might get it wrong, but when you get it right, the payoff can be huge.

I've found that the ideation and prototyping phase is crucial for innovation. We employ a "Concept Sandbox," a dedicated space—which can be physical or digital—where team members can freely brainstorm and sketch out ideas. This encourages a culture of open innovation and allows us to explore a wide range of solutions without the constraints of immediate implementation. Once we have a list of potential ideas, we use a "Feasibility Matrix" to evaluate them based on impact, cost, and alignment with business goals. The most promising ideas are then turned into low-fidelity prototypes, which could range from paper sketches to digital wireframes. This approach allows us to quickly validate or discard ideas before investing significant resources.

To be innovative you need to come up with many ideas to solve the problem. You need all the widest ranges of idea possible. So you and team needs to get creative and think of many different ways you could solve the problem. Next you need to choose the best ones, and making simple models to test if they'll work. It's like brainstorming, picking the top ideas, and creating a small version of your solution to see if it's a good fit for your customers. This process helps you learn and improve your ideas before fully developing them. This can lead to innovation.

When it comes to selecting and prototyping ideas, focusing on feasibility, desirability, and viability works to a degree- but what you really want to be focusing on is return-on-investment. Whether it's paper, wireframes, or code - bringing your ideas to life creates something that is tangibly valuable, and it should therefore be measured by the value it creates. One more test, one more prototype, is one step closer to achieving product-market-fit and the spoils that come along with it ??

Understanding customer needs is pivotal for promoting innovation as a product manager. It involves delving deep into their pain points, going beyond what they explicitly express to uncover underlying problems and desired outcomes. This exploration can reveal insights into adjacent markets, where innovative solutions may already exist. Utilizing interviews, surveys, and real data, product managers can validate assumptions and identify market gaps. This approach not only aids in developing new products but also in reimagining solutions that align with customer expectations. By focusing on the root of customer needs, product managers can create impactful, innovative offerings that resonate in a dynamic market.

Ideation is an important step in the product lifecycle. During the solution discovery phase, don’t restrict with one idea or approach of solving the targeted problem rather be creative and think holistically of different ideas. Create user flow charts, do journey mapping and white boarding sessions, list down all good ideas and run pros/cons analysis with your key stakeholders and partners. More ideas could be confusing in the starting but usually makes you build the best at the end making sure you have covered all the important basis. Additionally, taking ideas in front of users early with prototypes always helps gather the useful feedback and choose among the selected options resulting into higher ROI when you launch the product.

Most people wait until they have a finished product before going to the market. Your MVP can be as simple as a prototype or a video explainer just like Dropbox did. Also be open to how customers adopt your product. For example, in the early days of Groupon, customers adopted it to share coupons and formed a community from that which wasn’t Groupon’s goal at the time but they were open to it and iterated their goal/brand message to fit how customers perceive it. Conduct A/B testing, usability testing with real life users and analyze the feedback you get to make an informed decision.

Testing and learning are integral parts of our innovation process. In my role, we use Scrum methodology that involves quick cycles of testing, feedback collection, and iteration. Instead of waiting for a fully polished product, we put our prototypes in front of real users as early as possible. We design our tests to capture both qualitative insights and quantitative metrics, focusing on key performance indicators that are aligned with our business objectives. This iterative approach allows us to adapt and refine our solutions in real-time, ensuring that we are always aligned with customer needs and market demands.

Counterintuitively, running some experiments might also the FIRST thing you want to do, conditions permitting. At Spotify we ran some hacky AB tests on the existing navigation to see if this would meaningfully change the way users navigated the app. Only when we saw that this was indeed the case did we embark on a classical design sprint, already knowing that there was potential here. This exact process may not be possible in your environment but don’t simply assume AB testing is only for the end!

Testing and learning means you don't wait until your idea is perfect. It's like making a cake, you don't wait until it's fully baked to taste it; you check the batter along the way, ask your friends if they like the cake batter's taste, texture, and sweetness. You want to know if it's getting closer to what they'll enjoy. This is feedback you need. And, just like you're not discouraged if the cake batter doesn't taste perfect the first time, you're okay with learning from any mistakes or problems in your idea. You improve it based on what you find out from customers, making it better each time. This is a chance to iterate. By doing this, you ensure your final product is more likely to meet real customer needs and preferences.

1. A/B Testing: Implement A/B tests to compare different versions of your product or features. This helps you understand user preferences and make data-driven decisions. 2. User Feedback: Collect user feedback through surveys, interviews, and usability testing. This direct input provides valuable insights into user needs and pain points. 3. Iterative Development: Continuously iterate on your product based on test results and user feedback. This agile approach allows you to refine features and enhance the user experience over time. By incorporating testing and learning into your product management process, you can optimize features, enhance user satisfaction, and drive long-term product success.

One strategy I've found invaluable is "Micro-Experiments," quick, small-scale tests to validate assumptions with minimal resources. In a fast-paced setting, extensive testing isn't always feasible. Micro-experiments offer a rapid way to gain data-driven insights for larger decisions. For instance, in a previous project, we tested a simplified workflow for user onboarding. By reducing the number of steps required to complete a profile, we observed a marked increase in the number of completed profiles within a week. This quick win justified further investment in optimizing the workflow and provided the data needed for an informed pivot. Incorporating micro-experiments can enable agile and effective decision-making.

To further enrich this, I'd emphasise the importance of creating a safe space for experimentation. Encouraging your team to take calculated risks without fear of failure can lead to breakthroughs. Moreover, actively involve cross-functional teams in experiments to gather diverse perspectives and ideas, enriching the innovation process. This collaborative approach enhances your ability to pivot effectively when needed, ensuring your product remains aligned with evolving market dynamics.

Incorporating a dedicated set of story points for spikes (innovation) for every release cycle (or few sprints) in your agile/SDLC process creates a sense of need to always ensure some type of innovation becomes part of the roadmap/planning strategy. Oftentimes, it encourages the teams to find creative ways to add something new that otherwise would never gotten prioritized due to business needs. The limited time often leads to get things done smartly by doing more with less.

This is exactly why an iterative ideation process is so important. It's much easier, faster, and cheaper to pivot to a new idea or a new layout in Figma, than it is to rebuild an entire system. Every single step of the way should be validated against the most real-world conditions and users possible.

I always recommend product managers create some sort of swimlanes for different sources of ideas. For example, they might allocate 70% of the sprint to market-facing stories that have an external ask, 20% to the architects for reducing the technical debt (because a 100% elimination is simply not going to be possible!), or refactoring the code for better performance, etc. Basically, respect the team for them to build the product for long term rather than simply ship the features in short term alone. The final 10% is for team members to bring in their own innovative ideas - so you signal that as a PM, you are not the only source of ideas, but you recognize that anyone can bring ideas to the table. That's a powerful catalyst for innovation.

My CEO would always encourage us to read far and wide about what’s going on in the tech space and beyond. An ice breaker for us before most meeting could just be about discussing recent news in the FinTech, entertainment, finance space. Anything at all!! So we get to learn from each other this way. Other things that has been instrumental in driving innovation for us is the autonomy we have in our individual roles and creating a judgement free environment for people to share their opinions. There’s a shared overarching goal and everyone know what it is they have to do to contribute to the achievement of that goal!!

I did a talk recently on creating a culture of innovation. Want to know the secret for unlimited ideas? Purpose + Psychological safety. Motivate those around you. Give them a reason to take action. Show them why they matter and why their ideas matter. Measure and celebrate or work together to improve. Create a culture where impact of what you do as an individual, team and business.. matters. Combine that with an environment where it’s ok to ask dumb questions, to be curious, to have an opinion, to challenge ideas, to try and fail and try again. If you are able to pull these levers like I have countless times. I promise you won’t run out of ideas, dozens of those will be great, value adding ones too. Never discourage ideas.

Cultivating the right culture is key. As a product leader, encourage 'out-of-the-box' thinking and allocate dedicated time for experimentation and challenging established beliefs. Without a culture that champions original thinking, fostering innovation is difficult. Start by prioritizing customer empathy. Consistently probe and apply first principles thinking to uncover core customer pain points and jobs to be done. This approach encourages exploring unconventional sources for solutions, fostering an innovative culture.

'Sharing' is a critical piece of fostering innovation of culture. For example, create sub-channels on sharing fun and culture related items on communication platforms adopted by your team.

Get yourself around other Product folk who have skills you aspire for. Never be afraid to share your knowledge, and you'll find that your opportunities for learning grow. Communities are a great place for this - the one I am involved with for Product leaders has added value for everybody. ??

Adopting continuous learning and DevOps principles is crucial for innovation in product management. This approach involves seeking insights about customers and markets and engaging with experts for feedback. DevOps, emphasizing continuous integration and delivery, streamlines all phases, from discovery to innovation. This method transforms product management into a sophisticated craft, ensuring consistency and efficiency. Continuous improvement across the product lifecycle enhances skills and maintains market relevance. This comprehensive approach is key to excellence in product management.

Imagine you're a chef who wants to make the best dishes. You should keep trying new recipes, learn from other great chefs, and asking customers for feedback on your food. For example, if you notice that people love spicy food, you might decide to learn more about different types of spices and how to use them in your cooking. You could take cooking classes from expert chefs to improve your skills. And, from time to time, you might ask your customers what they like or dislike about your dishes to make them even better. By constantly learning and improving, you become a better chef (or in this case, a better product manager) and can create more exciting and satisfying dishes (products) for your customers.

One of the beautiful way to drive growth and stay competitive in market is keep innovating, and every org can have different template for this. But some of the common practice would be as below- 1. Set a culture of innovation 2. PM need to lead by example 3. Provide a "Bias Free" idea generation platform 4. Enable people with autonomy and ownership 5. Draft and build some prototype/MVPs 6. Keep feedback and review loop open to all 7. Don't hesitate to take external inspiration And there could be many more ways to bring innovation and this could be even done in more simpler way based on need or type of business.

Distinguishing between customers and users is fundamental (and one of the hardest things to get right, particularly in SaaS). You must understand their unique needs in order to deliver value effectively.

In brief, here are the main points to promote innovation and experimentation as a product manager: 1. Cultivate a Culture of Innovation 2. Set Aside Time and Resources 3. User-Centered Design 4. Rapid Prototyping 5. Cross-Functional Collaboration 6. Data-Driven Decision-Making 7. Embrace Emerging Technologies 8. Celebrate Successes and Learn from Failures 9. Iterate Continuously 10. Clear Communication

In my experience, as a product manager, promoting innovation and experimentation requires creating a culture where curiosity is welcomed, and failures are seen as valuable learning opportunities. Think of it as the "try, fail, learn, repeat" dance. my product lead always encourage our team to explore new ideas, even if they sound a bit crazy at first. Remember, some of the best innovations started with someone saying, "What if we tried this?" Embrace a mindset where taking calculated risks is celebrated, like a chef trying a daring new recipe. And when experiments don't go as planned, don't point fingers; instead, have a re-evaluation like detectives solving a case.