How do you specify a product engineering project?

Begin by thoroughly understanding the problem that the product aims to solve. Engage with stakeholders to gather comprehensive requirements and expectations. Define clear and measurable objectives for the product's functionality and performance. Establish a list of must-have features and functionalities that address the core problem. Create user stories or use cases to articulate the product's intended user interactions. Determine technical specifications. Identify constraints such as budget, time, resources, and regulatory compliance requirements. Document all specifications in a detailed product requirement document (PRD) for reference throughout the project lifecycle.

Identifying a problem is a problem in itself. We may want to solve a problem but whose problem? To understand the problem, it is important to identify the stakeholders and their expectation from solutions. A difference needs to be maintained between customer and user. Not all customers are users and vice versa is also true. User specific problem needs to be looked holistically to create a big picture which includes packaging and build/release process not to mention scalability.

Step-1 is so much easier when there is a clear Problem to be solved. However, if your trying to develop something new to address a problem that may not be widely known, or add advanced features to something to address the technology train you see coming and want to stay in front of, it can be much more difficult. The lack of quantifiable data makes it difficult to arrive at a clear outcome that includes a good value proposition, and often times that will kill or table things until the train is much closer with the necessary data to support development.

Long back we defined a framework that integrates product development lifecycle and project management lifecycle. What one needs to understand is these lifecycles are completely different but they need to collaborate to deliver! A product before development can be classified into multiple types - product from scratch (idea-GTM), various forms of tinkering existing products for maintenance, upgrades, bug fix, etc. Based on these classifications, the scope of the "project" has to be defined based on the understanding of the problem, etc. This "scope" should be the bible until the "project" is delivered! An integration framework between product and project has to be arrived to ensure that the delivery is repetitive and sustainable!

Once the "product" is classified and scoped as a project, the project management framework must take control! SMART, OKRs, KPIs for the project (that includes the product) must be defined to ensure effective delivery! The trick is to define the scope of the product as a project!

When we start the requirement specification, it should not be only features or functionalities, but also manufacturability! This would be related to how much of the cost for solving the problem or value delivered to your customer. The manufacturability should cover design for automation and for material availability. The designer needs to have understanding of the component market and also how the product can be designed in a way that can be assembled through automation with as less vision assistance as possible as it is expensive.

Goals identified should be further defined as milestones which helps in delivery planning. This should include MVP. Creating a horizonal engine core solution is a key as various use cases can be implemented using this core engine/framework. For example – a booking engine can be used to create a solution for booking an appointment with spa, doctors, lawyers, hotel room, vacation etc. Important thing is to create a delivery plan which is aligned with the milestones which needs to be derived from goals.

As mentioned earlier, it is imperative to classify and identify the type of the product (based on the lifecycle) and marry it with project management framework. They have to handshake, to ensure delivery is effective. You could follow agile, waterfall or any methodology to deliver, but the integration points have to be defined as a process much before, so that you don't reinvent the wheel during every product or project! All product managers must be aware of project management methodologies and vice versa. This will ensure tight delivery checkpoints and guide for flawless execution!