How to build Product Strategy in Scrum and Agile companies

1. Product Strategy
Lukasz Banach, 20.12.2016

2. Problems
• No directions/foundations to decide about goals
and priorities
• Team/business areas split is suboptimal

3. Effects
• Big capacity, slow velocity
• No focus on real Product/Business Problems
• Team is unhappy with defocus
• We’ve to wait too long to deliver important things
for company

4. • “No longer see the woods for the trees”
• “Perfectly executing the wrong strategy”

5. Preface
• Vision <-> Strategy <-> Roadmap <-> Backlog

6. Strategy
• Who the product is for
• Why people/customers want to buy it
• What the product is
• What makes it stands out
• What the business goals are
• Why it is worthwhile for company to invest in it

7. Market and needs
Key features
Differentiators
Business Goals
PRODUCT
STRATEGY

8. Market
• Target customers, people who are likely to buy and
use
• Main problem of the product solves
• Primary benefit it provides

9. Key features/diff
• Aspect of the product that are crucial to create
value for the customers and push people to choose
it over competitors.
• Not a list of all features here, focus on 3-5 key
issues

10. Business goals
• How product is going to benefit the company
• Not revenues only

11. Vision
• Big
• Shared (motivates and unite people)
• Inspiring
• Consise (easy to communicate and understand)

12. Vision
WHY - Vision
HOW - Strategy
WHAT - Roadmap and Backlog

14. How to build innovative
products

15. Launch Product - market fit

16. Growth stage
• Penetrate the market to fend off (defend) the
competitors
• Keep product attractive and refine it
• Unbundle the product, create some variants
• Ensure profitability

17. Capture the Strategy

18. KPI’s for Strategy
• S.M.A.R.T
• Qualitative and quantitive
• Lagging and Leading (Backward and forward)
• Beyond financial and customers

19. Business Goals

20. Engage the Stakeholders
Collaborate
Consult
Involve
Inform

21. KPI’s for Strategy
• Head of Product should be open and collaborative
but decisive at the same time
• Make decision even if no agreement
• Great product ≠ weak compromises
• “A camel is a horse designed by committee”

22. Strategy development

23. Right Segmentation approach
Customers first
Benefits first

24. Right Segmentation approach

25. Make Product Stand-out
Strategy Canvas

26. Make Product Stand-out
Eliminate features

27. Make Product Stand-out
KANO model

28. Make Product Stand-out
• Customer experience
• Bundle/unbundle
• (Re)position

29. Strategy validation
• Identify and address the most risky project(s) first
• Create Product Discovery Team (PM/DEV/UX/Support,
Sales, Marketing, Scrum Coach)
• Be aware of failures
• Create an incubator (for innovative products)
• Talk and meet with Customers
• Don’t rely on one validation techniques (MPV, observation,
spikes…)

30. lukasz@codility.com
Thanks