Presented at ProductCamp Singapore #1 Conversations driven so slides would only provide half the story Sharing my experience with Lean thinking in two different organisations at iProperty (250+ people) & bellabox (20 people) Great to hear feedback from participants in unconference sessions

1. Lean in
Product Management
Presented at ProductCamp Singapore
Saturday 28th September 2013
Michael Ong @michaelon9

2. @michaelon9
I believe “change is the only constant”
• 1999 - Freelance Web Design /
Development leading to web hosting for
SMEs
• 2002 - Research & Development - A
Robust Rule-based Event Management
System for Call Data Records
- Société Générale
• 2003 - Network Engineer
- NEC Solutions
• 2004 - Full-Stack development
- Palm & Windows Mobile
- K.C. Dat, Nippon Express, Air Asia ,
Singapore Zoo, Jurong Birdpark, Changi
Airport Terminal 1 & 2, M1, Mapletree ...
• 2005-2007 - Business Process Consulting
- VISA International
- Robert Bosch SEA
• 2008 - Took a break in EVE Online
- Internet Spaceships is serious business
• 2009 - Portal Development
- ST701, SPH, Online Classifieds
• 2010 - Scrum Master
- iProperty Singapore
• 2012 - Mobile & UX Lead
- iProperty Group
• 2013 - Senior Product Manager
- bellabox Australia & Singapore

3. Before we begin, what type
of organisation are you in?
http://www.product-arts.com/resourcemain/articlemenu/1246-company-evolution-a-
the-organizational-life-cycle

4. Let’s define:
what is ?
• Maximize customer value while minimizing waste
• Focus on Purpose, Process, People
• What customer problems are we trying to solve?
• What process do we use to ensure we solve the
customer problems?
• Who are the people actively engaged in the process of
solving customer problems?
http://www.lean.org/whatslean
http://technorati.com/business/article/lean-saves-hospital-nearly-50-million//

5. and ...
What is Product Management?
• The role of product management
is to define, develop, deploy
and maintain products that:
• Provide more value than the
competition
• Help build a sustainable
competitive advantage
• Deliver financial benefit to
the business
http://www.slideshare.net/brainmates/what-is-product-management-4905498
http://www.mindtheproduct.com/2011/10/what-exactly-is-a-product-manager/
it’s hard to do product management well!

6. If Lean aims to reduce Waste?
Does this mean we can ditch
requirements documents?!
• First we need to understand why are
requirements needed?
• Requirements however often
• Miss market & business drivers
• Focus on features, NOT on Users
accomplishing goals
• Miss or having poorly defined
Quality or Constraints of a
product
• Lack MarketValidation
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/shredder-technology-53301.html

7. How does being Agile fit into the picture?
http://agilemanifesto.org
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f48/characteristics-of-the-perfect-cat-85361-4.html
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan

8. Wait! What about UX?
Let’s talk about Lean UX instead
• Lean UX breaks the stalemate
between the speed of Agile
and the need for design in the
product-development lifecycle
• Foundations of Lean Startup,
Design Thinking & Agile
• It aims to bring the true
nature of a product to light
faster
http://www.kickerstudio.com/2008/12/the-disciplines-of-user-experience/

9. So how do we measure
all this? Lean Analytics
• Lean is a great way to build a business, but don’t
forget to close the loop
• Measure & Learn with the right metrics
• A good metric is comparative, understandable, a
ratio or a rate
• A good metric changes the way you behave

10. Putting it all together:
Lean in Product Management
This perhaps
the most
important

11. Remember,
it’s all about the Flow
• Queues are the root cause of problems
• Limit WIP (Associated usually with Kanban)
• Large queues delay the feedback cycle -
shorten it! (Scrum sprints are great for
this)
• Visible work product
- increases communication and feedback
http://blog.jackvinson.com/archives/2010/10/25/flow_in_product_development.html

12. How do I get started?
• Ask yourself, what does
it take for Lean to
become part of your
company’s culture
• Thinking Lean is not
that obvious, it is a total
perspective
http://www.lean.org/WhatsLean/CommonLeanQuestions.cfm
http://www.knowlton.org.uk/index.php?id=23

13. What to watch out for
• Lean is not a tool for headcount reduction
or mindless cost-cutting
• Don’t forget the “why” of lean tools
• Lean is difficult when beginning for the first
time, limit the scope of your initial project
• You will uncover new problems and greater
challenges through this process, never relax
in your efforts
http://www.lean.org/WhatsLean/CommonLeanQuestions.cfm

14. Lean Tools I’m using

16. Let’s share:
What’s your experience with Lean in
Product Management?
http://www.mindtheproduct.com/2013/09/validate-or-die-using-validation-to-build-the-
right-product/

17. Take action:
How do you think you can apply Lean
Thinking to your area of work?
http://www.mindtheproduct.com/2011/09/being-a-lean-product-manager/
http://www.symbolbv.com/en/lean-manufacturing.html

18. Great books to read

19. Thank you
Talk to @michaelon9 about Agile, Scrum, Lean UX, Mobile and better Products
http://goodmoneying.com/financial-planning/are-you-working-towards-your-financial-freedom