Where Do Good Product Ideas Come From?

Good ideas can come from customers, product managers, engineers, salespeople, technical support staff, or really anybody in your company.  Generally, a good idea will solve a problem or fulfill a need, whether current or anticipated, and its implementation will provide a benefit which preferably can be quantified.   A good product idea therefore is often a result of good problem understanding. 

So how do you identify and understand problems or unfilled customer needs?

First, you need to get out to see the target customers - in their environment.  This could be an informal visit or tour, or it could be part of a more structured market research project.  While on site, it is advantageous to talk to as many people as possible, in a variety of roles.  It is possible that the higher level people may not be aware of all the problems in their organization. 

It is important that you are open to listening and observing.  Now is not the time to be selling.  You are asking about problems and looking for opportunities.  Some problems may exist but are never identified as a problem because "it has always been done that way."  If the customer is not aware of a better solution, they may not consider their current method to be a problem.  They may also have a need that is being filled, but not to the extent that a newer, enabling technology will allow.

This brings us to the next point - perspective.  You bring a different perspective to the scene, which will also be different from other people within your own company. So it is beneficial to have a variety of people from your company visit customers to observe and listen.  And by all means, solicit thoughts and ideas from those individuals (salespeople, technical support, customer service) that interact with customers on a regular basis.

Many companies today focus on a vertical niche.  This gives them the advantage of focusing their time and attention so that they can more completely understand the customer's environment.  This will yield solutions that fit better into the environment and have features that may solve multiple problems or fulfill critical needs.

If your company is trying to play in too many markets, you may find that you are getting beat by competitors with more focus on the vertical, and a as a result, are implementing better ideas at a faster rate. 

Initial Blog Entry - NCR Checkout Scanner Cases

With the completion of the first two case studies for the new Product Strategy web site, now is the time to start the blog portion of the site.  The purpose of this site is to explore best practices in product strategy and product management through extensive use of case study.  I am hopeful that this site will be a repository for product strategy case studies - each with lessons to be learned. 

I am encouraging comments on the first two scanner related case studies, both originating from my time at NCR Corporation. Please post your comments about these cases.  If you have some familiarity with the cases, I would like to understand your perspective as well. 

If you have experience with product strategy, and have an interesting story that should be told, please initiate contact with me via the contact me page.    We can discuss publishing your story as a case study on the site.