The story of three digital products at Canada's national newspaper, The Globe and Mail. One is about a mobile app, one is about covering breaking news with new tools, and the last talks about the risks of innovation. Each story ends with some lessons learned. The second half highlights how the product management team has been evolving at The Globe based on four key ideas. Presented at TorCHI in April 2012

1. Producing pixels
The story of three digital products
(and one product team)
Craig Saila / @saila
For TorCHI on April 4, 2012

3. Soundbite
February 2011 –
Constraints made the
election effort mobile,
pitch was one page
Thoughts? Tweet @saila with #TorCHI

4. Politics
Late-March 2011 –
App is in market, with a
reduced but viable,
feature set and a bold
new design concept
Thoughts? Tweet @saila with #TorCHI

5. Lessons learned
Stick to the core goal of the product
Define product leaders and rules
Move fast and confidently
Thoughts? Tweet @saila with #TorCHI

8. Live
August 22, 2011 was a
quiet Monday morning
and a perfect time to
test a new technology

9. Grief
Within 12 hours,
thousands had shared
their feelings about
Jack Layton’s death
with atypical
sensitivity

10. Lessons learned
Pick the right vendor quickly
Look for flexibility and simplicity
The Globe resonants for Canadians
Comments? Tweet @saila with #TorCHI

13. Big
picture

14. Tiny details

15. Post-Its

16. Lessons learned
The vision must be anchored
Collaborative design requires trust
There is no perfect answer

17. Neither succeeded

18. Thoughts? Tweet @saila with #TorCHI

19. Editors
Revenue Generators
Product Managers
Design

20. Fear
paralyzes decisions and prevents risks

21. Editors
Product Revenue
Managers Generators
Design

22. Fail
small, learn
Fast

23. Editors
Product Revenue
Managers Generators
Design
Comments? Tweet @saila with #TorCHI

24. Focus
on the one important thing

25. Audience
Product Revenue
Editors
Design Generators

26. Executive support
to clear blocks
Agile development
and product management
Lean UX practices
including paper prototyping, guerrilla testing

27. Countless outlets
for one product
Journalism

28. In the end...
Vision must be anchored,
core values must be constant
Collaboration requires understanding
Acknowledge failures fast,
readjust quickly and confidently
There’s no perfect answer
(but the simplest is probably the best)
Thoughts? Tweet @saila with #TorCHI

29. Thoughts, questions, comments
Thank you are always welcome
Twitter –@saila