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TPMA           Toronto Product
                                Management Association




                    FOCUS                            Issue #10: 3Q 2012


 What is the TPMA?
"Creating Insight through




                                                              O
  Shared Knowledge"




                                                          NT
                                        p
Founded in March 2001,




                                                         RO
the Toronto Product Man-
agement Association is




                                      am           TO
a non-profit organization
formed to create an en-
vironment that facilitates
learning, mentoring, & net-
working opportunities.




                                    tc
Visit: www.TPMA.ca




     KEY DATES:

ProductCamp Toronto
                                  uc
- Sat, Jul 28th 9:00am
- Rogers School of Mgt
                                od
- 55 Dundas St. W.

Manage Your PM Career
- Tue, Sep 25th 6:15pm
- Metro Hall, 55 John St.
                              pr


Lean Startups in T.O.
- Tue, Oct 30th 6:15pm
- Metro Hall, 55 John St.




    THIS EDITION:

Snapshot		              2
ProductCamp Photos	     3
Mobile Design 	         5
Crowd Wisdom 	          7
Wild Apricot Power	     8
News: Macadamian	       8
TPMA Social Photos	     9
Inside Product Mgt	     10
LinkedIn Stats		        11
CoolTools		             12
SNAPSHOT                                     President’s Awards for 2012




                                             T   o introduce the TPMA “2012 Presi-
                                                 dent’s Award,” it was a great honour
                                             to present it to two enormously deserv-
                                             ing, and long standing executives of the
                                             association. Our two recipients being Al-

T  hank you, my fellow members of the
   TPMA. This season has grown to be
memorable, from powerful new topics to
                                             lan Neil and Lee Garrison.

                                             Allan Neil, stepped up to the plate this
a well deserved social-networking break.     year to volunteer as an executive, after
                                             many years of dedicated service. Allan
Toronto ProductCamp is upon us again,        thought up, and took the action of re-
and I look forward to learning from col-     cording TPMA meetings. This started as
leagues across various industries. In        an audio recording, then grew to the oc-      Lee Garrison (right) receives 2012 Presi-
this extended edition you will find photos   casional video recording, and has now         dent’s Award from Charles Dimov (left)
from Toronto ProductCamps 2010 and           become an audio / video podcast for the
2011. It is particularly exciting to have    TPMA. More on TPMA podcasting in a            contribute his creativity, and energy to
Steve Johnson opening this year’s Pro-       future article.                               our regular monthly meeting schedule.
ductCamp, as the Keynote speaker.                                                          Simply put, we could not have pulled off
                                             Beyond the recordings, this year had us       such a smooth migration without Allan’s
It gives me great pleasure to welcome        take on the challenge of updating our         skill, hard work and sheer determination.
OneDesk, WildApricot and Macadamian          web hosting platform to provide some
- as our newest sponsors of both the         much needed functionality. Superficially,     Lee Garrison, also received the Presi-
TPMA and of Toronto ProductCamp.             this may seem straight-forward. How-          dent’s Award for his years of work with
                                             ever, the reality is that it takes an enor-   the TPMA in various functions, including
In this edition of TPMA Focus, you will      mous amount of analysis, investigation,       having been our long standing president
also find interesting tips on the 4 mind-    and labour - to migrate to a new platform     for several years. This year, Lee took
sets of mobile design, a view inside         seamlessly. With Eli Alston’s help, Al-       a supporting role as Secretary of the
Product Management at SpeechBobble,          lan took on this challenge, head-on. In       TPMA. His passion for the TPMA and
and photos from the Summer Social.           little over two months, the TPMA was          the good it does for the Product Manage-
                                             smoothly transitioned onto a new host-        ment community - has been inspiring.
Most importantly - thanks to the vol-        ing platform, designed for non-profit or-
unteers and executive volunteers who         ganisations like ours.                        Behind the scene, Lee’s efforts this year
have given freely of their time, to keep                                                   have kept the team on schedule, consis-
our programs and association humming.        Allan pulled this off, while continuing to    tent and driving in the right direction.
As always, your efforts are needed and
dearly appreciated. Thank you!                                                             Beyond all his effort at the TPMA, Lee
                                                                                           has been one of the initiators and the or-
I hope to meet you at ProductCamp. Be-                                                     ganising force behind Toronto Product-
yond learning in this grass-roots, FREE                                                    Camp. This alone takes a huge amount
un-conference; remember to network,                                                        of co-ordination, effort, dedication, and
meet new friends, and most of all - enjoy                                                  time. All of which Lee has contributed,
the experience!                                                                            year after year, without question.

See you there!                                                                             Gentlemen, thank you for your help, self-
                                                                                           less dedication and service in keeping
                                                                                           our TPMA running smoothly.

                  Charles Dimov              Allan Neil (right) receiving 2012 Presi-
                                                                                                                    Charles Dimov




                                                                                   TPMA
                  President                  dent’s Award from Charles Dimov (left)
TPMA
Toronto ProductCamp

 All photographs are from
 Toronto ProductCamp 2011
 and 2010.

 Event Photographers:
 	     Michael Campbell
 	     Denise Charlesworth




TPMA
4 Mindsets of Mobile Product Design
W     ith the recent popularity of smart
      phones and tablets, software prod-
uct managers are under pressure to cre-
                                             work together and follow these time-test-
                                             ed user research techniques:
                                                                                           A mobile version with extraneous func-
                                                                                           tionality will force users to sift through
                                                                                           unnecessary data. To help users get the
ate mobile versions of their products for                                                  most value in the least time, keep the
                                              •	 Contextual Interviews and Fo-
the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.                                                     denominator of the equation as small
                                                 cus Groups uncover actual
                                                                                           as possible by focusing on their context-
                                                 needs and opinions and can be
Today’s mobile users bring high expec-                                                     specific, immediate needs.
                                                 done either in person, on the
tations to the table. In a 2010 study by         phone or through surveys.
eMarketer, 73% of users indicated a                                                        Environment influences interaction
company’s mobile software should be           •	 Task Analyses break down all
                                                                                           Users may interact differently with a mo-
easier to use than its desktop or web            the steps a user takes to fulfill
                                                                                           bile product than they do with a desktop
product. And 69% said their percep-              his or her goals.
                                                                                           or web version. In an office setting, for
tion of the company’s brand would be          •	 Field Research offers insight             example, a user has the time and the
negatively affected if the mobile version        into the way users would inter-           ability to perform data entry. This same
wasn’t easy to use. In an increasingly           act with your mobile product in           user would likely not want to do this on
crowded mobile market, an application            the real world.                           a small touchscreen while waiting in an
that immediately captures the user’s                                                       airport lounge.
attention, is easy to navigate, and of-       •	 Usability testing follows a for-
fers real value is critical to market suc-       mal usability protocol, to iden-
                                                 tify and correct any gaps be-             In the case of a mobile product for busi-
cess. From our experience with helping                                                     ness use, there may also be regulatory
product managers design and develop              tween users’ goals and the
                                                 actual experience your product            or legal constraints to be taken into con-
mobile apps, there are four important                                                      sideration. In a hospital setting, for ex-
principles for successfully meeting and          is delivering today.
                                                                                           ample, it may be appropriate to store
exceeding these criteria.                                                                  sensitive patient information on a secure
                                             These, and other user research meth-
                                             odologies described at macadamian.            desktop computer, but illegal to house
Mindset One: Don’t Port — Create                                                           it on a smartphone that could leave the
                                             com provide product managers with the
Brian Fling, author of the book Mobile       insight they need to envision, and create     hospital, and easily fall into the wrong
Design & Development, advises: “Cre-         a mobile product, not simply port an ex-      hands.
ate a product, don’t reimagine one for       isting desktop or web service.
small screens. Great mobile products                                                       Design for partial attention and inter-
are created, never ported.”                                                                ruption
                                             Mindset Two:         Understand         the
                                             User’s Context                                Mobile device users are frequently inter-
Focus on the most important tasks and                                                      rupted mid-task, either by a device re-
user goals                                   Because a mobile device can be used           lated interruption (such as an incoming
In general, a successful mobile prod-        anywhere, your application’s design           call or a lost network connection) or an
uct offers only a fraction of the features   should be able to suit a variety of envi-     environmental distraction. A good design
and capabilities offered by its equivalent   ronmental, organizational, and personal       will accommodate these interruptions by
desktop or web version. These capabili-      contexts. For example, think of the dif-      including shortcuts that allow for simple
ties could be a subset of existing desk-     ference between a Travelocity user at         and efficient multitasking. iPhones for
top features, a set of new features that     home planning a vacation, and a Trav-         example, make it easy to switch between
better address a mobile user’s needs, or     elocity user running through an airport       a phone call and an application.
a combination of the two. Only the most      looking to confirm a connection time on a
relevant and important features should       smart phone. Mobile users want to com-        When designing your product, be sure
be included in a mobile version of an ex-    plete their tasks quickly, and can easily     to identify the most common forms of
isting product — all other features should   become frustrated if a mobile product         interruption and include graphical dis-
either be discarded entirely, or moved to    doesn’t work as expected, or is slow to       plays that simplify context switching and
secondary screens.                           perform.                                      multitasking. Be sure to also help users
                                                                                           understand where they are at all times,
To determine what’s important to users       The value-for-effort equation                 where they can go, and how they can
in a mobile context, you study their be-     When evaluating the efficiency of your        ‘get back’.
havior in order to discover their needs,     mobile design, use the following formula:
goals, workflow, and workplace process-                                                    Point to priority information
es. We recommend Product Managers            VALUE = Ability to fulfill an immediate       To ensure hurried or interrupted users
and User Experience (UX) Designers           need /the time required to accomplish




                                                                                     TPMA
                                             the task                                               (continued on page 6)
4 Mobile Design Mindsets                                                 (from pg 5)
                                                                                         The primary real estate of each screen
                                                                                         should relate directly to the task in ques-
don’t become lost, it’s also important      Mindset Three: ‘Surface’ Informa-            tion.
to provide easy access to the most fre-     tion Quickly
quently accessed features and infor-                                                     Provide hints and clear feedback for
                                            As the saying goes, you only have one        every action
mation. Once you have identified what
                                            chance to make a first impression. This
these are (through usability testing, de-                                                Some actions on a mobile device —
                                            is especially true in the mobile world
scribed earlier), ensure they are easily                                                 such as downloading an update — take
                                            where users have an array of apps to
accessible from any screen. This can be                                                  longer than others. Ensure your UI offers
                                            choose from. In the competitive app
done via prominent buttons or icons.                                                     feedback and progress updates on ac-
                                            market, value must be apparent imme-
                                                                                         tions that take more than a few seconds.
                                            diately and easy to access, so users can
Avoid or limit free-text entry when-                                                     On Android, for example, you can quick-
                                            accomplish their desired tasks.
ever possible                                                                            ly see the status of apps being updated.
Just like mobile screens, mobile key-       With a limited screen size, it isn’t pos-
boards are small and not well suited to                                                  One way to provide quick access to ad-
                                            sible for an application to display all
data entry. Research the most common                                                     ditional information is to use dashboards
                                            areas of interest to users at once, and
tasks that will be performed by your us-                                                 and ‘push’ notifications to reveal higher-
                                            they won’t have the patience to search
ers, and then design pre-defined lists,                                                  level information.
                                            through dozens of screens for informa-
auto-complete forms and/or suggested        tion. You need to design an interface that
text to speed and simplify their interac-                                                Be predictable
                                            quickly brings relevant information to the
tions.                                      surface.                                     You can also surface information quickly
                                                                                         by leveraging the user’s familiarity with
By understanding your user’s context        Rule of thumb — one task per screen          existing visual cues. For example, a mo-
and tailoring your UI to support it, you                                                 bile user won’t want to hunt for the Close
                                            Because it can be difficult or time con-
will reduce the risk that your applica-                                                  or Next button, so it should be in a pre-
                                            suming to scroll, pinch, zoom-in, or click
tion will confuse or frustrate customers.                                                dictable location.
                                            links on a small screen, it’s important
Users who can access critical informa-
                                            to create individual, focused screens
tion in seconds, and resume their tasks                                                  As the mobile device market has ma-
                                            for each task you’ve identified through
quickly, will be more likely to view your                                                tured, many visual attributes have be-
                                            user research. While a screen can ex-
mobile product as a trusted resource at                                                  come standardized across platforms and
                                            pose multiple tasks, it should help the
work, home, and on the move.                                                             operating systems. The battery indicator
                                            user complete only one task at a time.
                                                                                         on smart phones, for example, is al-
                                                                                         most always found at the very top of the
                                                                                         screen. Soft keys that perform similar
                                                                                         functions like Back and Forward should
                                                                                         always appear in the same position from
                                                                                         screen to screen.

                                                                                         Mindset Four: Recognize the Per-
                                                                                         sonal Nature of a Mobile Device
                                                                                         A mobile device clearly differs from a
                                                                                         desktop or laptop in size, but it’s also
                                                                                         viewed by users as a more ‘personal’
                                                                                         device.

                                                                                          •	 A smartphone is always on
                                                                                             your person because it’s small
                                                                                             enough to travel with you ev-
                                                                                             erywhere.
                                                                                          •	 It’s always on in the sense that
                                                                                             it’s always connected to the In-
                                                                                             ternet/network and can notify
                                                                                             you immediately of a new mes-
                                                                                             sage, tweet, or status update.




                                                                                 TPMA
                                                                                                 (continued on page 7)
4 Mobile Design Mindsets                                                   (from pg 6)        Wisdom from the Crowd
 •	 It is the most social commodity           An intuitive UI that acknowledges the           Quotes directly from YOU
    we own, allowing us to commu-             personal nature of the mobile device
    nicate with friends, colleagues,
    and strangers via voice, text,
                                              and anticipates user intent can mean the
                                              difference between an app that collects      Q  uestion: What is your MOST im-
                                                                                              portant lesson in Product Man-
                                                                                           agement?
    videos, and imagery.                      dust, and one that becomes part of your
                                              customer’s daily routine.
If your application is one you foresee us-
ers using multiple times a day, it’s a good   Mobile UI design best practices              "Always make sure you are in a situation
idea to provide the ability to save pref-                                                  to get lots of feedback quickly so you can
                                              When designing a mobile product, there
erences, and automatically “remember”                                                      learn. Works for your career and your
                                              is almost never a need for a one-to-one
recent entries.                                                                            products."
                                              relationship between its capabilities and
                                                                                                                   --- Charlie Trainor
                                              the desktop product. User needs differ
Allow users to easily control notifica-       greatly from one platform to another be-
tions and alerts                              cause a user’s goal on a tablet or smart-
                                                                                           "Dedicate an appropriate amount of time
Users also expect the ability to personal-    phone can be quite different from his or
                                                                                           to providing the voice of the customer to
ize aspects of your application. A good       her goal at a desktop. For this reason,
                                                                                           product development teams."
design will allow them to:                    you must always create a mobile product
                                                                                                                        --- Peter Cop
                                              — and not just ‘port’ it from an existing
 •	 Modify the alert notification
                                              solution.
    (whether it is a sound or a vi-
    bration)                                                                               “Product Management is a difficult
                                              By understanding the context in which
 •	 Easily turn off alerts                                                                 job, with many paradoxes to juggle,
                                              the device will be used, obtaining a deep
                                                                                           teams wanting your decision and bless-
 •	 Quickly respond to the alert di-          and objective understanding of your us-
                                                                                           ing, and times of enormous pressure.
    rectly from the alert screen              ers’ needs, and tailoring your design
                                                                                           Learn to meditate!”
                                              to meet user goals, you can success-
                                                                                                                --- Charles Dimov
Anticipate user intent                        fully translate an existing product into
                                              a streamlined mobile application that is
Today’s mobile users expect their smart-      intuitive, quickly adopted by users and,
phone or tablet to be ‘smart’. So you                                                      “Start with Why.”
                                              in turn, successful in the crowded mobile
should design your product to recognize                                                                           --- Aldwin Neekon
                                              marketplace.
input already provided and focus the
next set of choices accordingly. If, for
example, your usability tests show us-                                                     "If it's not working - give up! Try some-
ers almost always wish to perform task                                                     thing else - don't feel like you have to
‘B’ upon completion of task ;A’, ensure       About the Author                             continue because of prior investment."
your design shepherds users directly to       Scott Plewes is an expert in user experi-                           --- Corina Stoddard
‘B’ from ‘A’.                                 ence design, user research, and incorpo-
                                                                 rating the voice of the
Windows Phone 7 does a good job of                               customer into prod-       "The most important opinion comes from
anticipating user intent by displaying the                       uct design. As Vice       consumers, not product mgrs."
keyboard most appropriate for the form                           President of User                             --- Leslie Nicholson
being completed. iPhone and Android                              Experience Design
are also good at accommodating activity.                         at    Maca-
When the user is on a call, for example,                         damian,
the screen turns black. As soon as the                           Scott has
phone is pulled away from the ear, the        20 years of experience design-
screen re-appears because it ‘knows’ the      ing across the spectrum - from
user will probably want to perform anoth-     desktop, web, and mobile ex-
er activity. Because the device is close to   perience design through to
the user at all times, applications can be    command line and telepho-
used multiple times throughout the day.       ny design. Contact Scott at
The most useful and efficient quickly be-     scott@macadamian.com and
come part of a user’s lifestyle, while the    view more detailed presenta-
rest are discarded.                           tions: www.macadamian.com.




                                                                                   TPMA
Wild Apricot Powers Web                                                                          TPMA Welcomes Macadamian
                                                                                                     as a Corporate Sponsor!

                                                                                                  T   PMA welcomes Macadamian as our
                                                                                                      latest Corporate Sponsor, supporting
                                                                                                  the product management community,
                                                                                                  professional development, and network-
                                                                                                  ing across the Greater Toronto Area.

                                                                                                  Macadamian is a global leader in soft-
                                                                                                  ware product creation providing a com-
                                                                                                  plete range of product strategy, user
                                                                                                  experience design and software engi-
                                                                                                  neering services to clients around the
                                                                                                  world, including industry leaders like
                                                                                                  BitTorrent, Telus, Juniper, RIM and Mi-
                                                                                                  crosoft. For established and emerging
                                                                                                  technologies and platforms, Macadami-
                                                                                                  an has a track record of helping clients

N    oticed anything different about www.
     tpma.ca lately? You may have ob-
served a slightly different look and layout
                                                   ties which we will be rolling out
                                                   in the future such as electronic
                                                   payments (Visa, PayPal, etc) for
                                                                                                  create successful products on a com-
                                                                                                  plete range of desktop, web and mobile
                                                                                                  platforms.
to the site. Or maybe you didn’t notice            meetings and memberships
anything at all - which is good.                                                                  This partnership is a great opportunity to
                                              Your Feedback and Ideas Please...                   strengthen a relationship between two
In May we migrated www.tpma.ca to a                                                               organisations which are both committed
new platform from one of the TPMA’s           Do you have feedback regarding the new              to helping product managers improve
new sponsors, Wild Apricot. With many         web site, ideas for how we can improve              their effectiveness at bringing creative
thanks and much appreciation to Vault         the tpma.ca web site and/or improve our             new products to market.
Solutions, who hosted our site for most       on-line TPMA presence? Please provide
of the past 10 years, we decided that         us your feedback using our Feedback                 Not only will Macadamian sponsor the
to better serve the fast-growing TPMA         form at http://www.tpma.ca/feedback or              TPMA; they are also sponsoring To-
community we needed to transition to a        sending an email to webmaster@tpma.                 ronto ProductCamp 2012 - taking place
product/platform designed to support the      ca. We look forward to hearing from you.            on Saturday July 28th, at the Rogers
unique needs of volunteer associations        And stay tuned for more updates as we               School of Management.
like the TPMA.                                continue to evolve the web site to serve
                                              you better!                                         Visit: www.macadamian.com
What’s In It For Me (community)?

  •	 Better Record Keeping - More
     robust contact/member frame-
                                                  		                                        .      TPMA Mentoring
     work which makes it easier for                                                                Program - Take II
     you to sign-up and easier for us
                                                                              Engage in your Profession as a Mentor / Mentee
     to identify you for meeting regis-
     trations, etc.                                           Last year TPMA’s first mentoring season started. With a huge
                                                                        response we quickly ran out of mentors. Those who
  •	 Improved Communication - Eas-
                                                                                  were teamed-up, are still going strong.
     ier for leaders and volunteers to
     send out targeted email commu-
                                                                                              In Nov 2012 we will be at it again. Mentors,
     nication and easier for contacts/
                                                                                             share your wealth of experience, and sign
     members to control their own
                                                                                            up today. Mentee’s, learn from those who
     subscriptions to updates like up-
                                                                                           have been there, and succeeded.
     coming meetings, newsletters,
     blogs, etc.
                                                                                       	        Title email: 	   Mentoring
  •	 Additional Capabilities - The                                                    	         Send to: 	       mentorship@tpma.ca
     Wild Apricot platform also pro-
                                                                                  	             NOTE: NOT a Job Referral Service!




                                                                                  TPMA
     vides us with additional capabili-
TPMA Social 2012




                       TPMA Summer Social

                    Photographs are from TPMA
                    Social or Milano Bar sur-
                    roundings: 26Jun2012.

                    Event Photographers:
                    	     Calum Tsang
                    	     + Anonymous




                   TPMA
Inside Product Management: SpeechBobble
Inside Product Management is a new           other content. Few provide any further       end. The difficulty then becomes an
series, asking PMs in different firms and    data than: a) what is being said, and b)     issue of understanding the common
industries to describe their role, respon-   the name of the individual saying it.        requirements that exist between indus-
sibilities, functions, and profession.                                                    tries. We avoid customization by provid-
                                             Social networks virtualize relationships     ing a series of interchangeable features

E    veryone is familiar with the concept
     of social networks such as Face-
book, or Twitter. These names have
                                             and the discussions they generate.
                                             When I post to Facebook, I know every-
                                             thing about the person I’m posting to,
                                                                                          that different clients can select, while still
                                                                                          benefitting from the main platform func-
                                                                                          tions common to all.
become part of our daily interaction with    and their connections. I know that oth-
friends and family, and they provide a       ers who read my post will also know the      The result is that Speechbobble are busi-
dashboard of essential information.          same about me, and can engage in the         ness experts. We understand and pro-
                                             conversation based on that knowledge.        vide the tools that you need to manage
Traditional electronic communication         Information is presented with context.       projects, share documents, communi-
(like email, forums, or even instant mes-                                                 cate strategically, and locate the subject
senger) packages content as stand-           My product, Speechbobble, an Enter-          matter experts within your organization.
alone items. An email thread is orga-        prise Social Network, replicates the ben-
nized into a hierarchy of documents or       efit of social networks in the context of    As Head of Product Development, I
files separate from other emails. Instant    the workplace. We support conversation       identify these requirements, then design
chat creates temporary conversations,        and provide value to organizations with      and prioritize the development of the
perfect for immediate communication.         defined goals. One of our main chal-         features that address them. This may be
Forums provide single streams of con-        lenges lies in repurposing a style of com-   my favorite aspect of the job. It gives me
versation, with no relevance to the great-   munication designed for casual interac-      the opportunity to understand business
er community.                                tions into something productive.             processes unique to a variety of indus-
                                                                                          tries. I am constantly refining my over-
In reality, the above examples of com-       To this end, we virtualize common busi-      all understanding of business, providing
munication are best used for delivering      ness processes. Our delivery model re-       solutions to problems consistent across
independent content. They’re not op-         lies on our platform’s success in meeting    industry verticals.
timized for delivering information with      the needs of most businesses, without
context because of its relationship with     requiring further customization on our       However, designing and implementing
                                                                                          product features is only part of what I do.
                                                                                          Other responsibilities that are equally
                                                                                          important to my role are: platform inte-
                                                                                          gration strategy; user experience de-
                                                                                          sign; and analytical evaluation.

                                                                                          Again, we avoid customized feature de-
                                                                                          velopment for individual deployments.
                                                                                          Should a client request a unique feature,
                                                                                          I must determine the value of building
                                                                                          the custom feature versus finding and
                                                                                          incorporating another product’s solution.
                                                                                          Specific examples may include provi-
                                                                                          sioning our platform with ecommerce ca-
                                                                                          pabilities, or enabling single sign-on with
                                                                                          other products.

                                                                                          Driving factors for making these deci-
                                                                                          sions usually depend on the frequency
                                                                                          of requests for a particular function, the
                                                                                          value a new feature adds to our existing
                                                                                          feature suite, and whether or not it fits
                                                                                          into our current roadmap. If these fac-
                                                                                          tors don’t dictate a need to develop the
                                                                                          new feature internally, I must determine
                                                                                          the value that another product may pro-




                                                                                  TPMA
vide, and whether it can be integrated
with ours. This aspect of my job expos-                 Join TPMA on LinkedIn?
es me to other solution providers and
expands my knowledge of other market
spaces.

Speechbobble’s features aren’t all that
determine the value of the platform.
One of the most important reasons for
a Speechbobble’s success is the experi-
ence it provides to the end user. Like
most software, our product needs to en-
courage use through intuitive platform
design and an attractive interface. De-
signing the overall user experience can
be a creative outlet, and is often the larg-
est source of fun in my position.

Unfortunately, inflexible organizations

                                               S
view social networks as redundant fea-              ince inception the TPMA LinkedIn        30% of the participants are in Product
ture sets provided by existing tools.               Group has grown steadily these          Management, which should come as no
Without using the product, it’s difficult to   years, hitting 700 members as of this        surprise. The other prominent groups are
understand its value unless you see the        week (technically 699 as of this writing).   then distributed across various functions
inherent weakness in those preexisting         It is refreshing to that so many partici-    listed as consulting, marketing, busi-
tools. To combat this obstacle, we also        pants are finding value in being part of     ness development and sales. Again the
provide a tool that appeals to traditional     the community. Above is the chart from       interesting point here is the wide range
views of what is valuable: analytics.          LinkedIn Group’s Statistics page show-       of functions and broad opinions one can
                                               ing the gradual and very consistent          harness from a group, like ours.
Having started out as an Analyst, ana-         growth of our discussion forum.
lytics remain very important to me.                                                         Join the conversation. If you are not on
Speechbobble contains an analytics en-         Interestingly, the first chart below show-   the TPMA Group, then please subscribe.
gine that converts the qualitative value       ing the seniority of our LinkedIn Group      If you are on, then do take a moment to
that can be derived from using an En-          users, shows us that 46% of the mem-         add your thoughts, opinions, or ques-
terprise Social Network into quantifiable      bership is in the Senior, or Director and    tions to the forum. The group is here to
metrics. Stakeholders who champion             above management ranks. What a super         help support our community of Product
the platform can then illustrate hard ROI      group of senior brainpower and experi-       and Marketing Managers. Posting con-
through a variety of measurements. You         ence to be part of your network.             cepts, ideas or questions can help you
can easily determine statistics on ac-                                                      connect with like-minded, and some-
cepted projects vs. proposed projects;         Below to the right, is the second chart      times divergent thinkers - who might just
time spent planning; response time to          describing the function of the members       benefit your business, career, or get you
crises; and reduced meeting hours. This        of the TPMA LinkedIn Group. Naturally        the answers you seek. See you online!
capability is a source of pride as Head of
Product, as it sells Speechbobble as a
legitimate business tool.

About the Author
              Lucan has been work-
              ing in IT Communica-
              tions and S/W for over
              5 years.

                Previous roles included
                Analyst positions with
                the City of Toronto’s
IT Portfolio Management group, and
GuestLogix Inc, an airline payment solu-




                                                                                    TPMA
tions provider.
COOLTOOLS:              ZOOM H2                recording both small room inter-
                                               views and meetings as well as
A   s Product Managers we are regular-
    ly required to capture, review, ana-
lyze, distill and share a lot of information
                                               large room presentations and
                                               conferences. This is due to its’ ex-
                                               cellent Front 90 degree and Rear
from a wide range of sources. We attend        120 degree microphones which
industry conferences, analyst briefings,       allow you to choose from multiple
conduct win/loss interviews and a wide         recording configurations such as
variety of other forms of research. A          Front-only, Rear-only, or both/360
common challenge we all face is how to         degree.
capture all of this data quickly and easily
and store it for review/analysis later.        There are separate inputs for the
                                               LINE IN and EXT MIC IN for re-
One technique I have been using for            cording other sources as well as a
several years is to capture audio record-      PHONES/LINE OUT for monitor-
ings of events, interviews and key meet-       ing recording, playback, or send-
ings so that I can focus on listening and      ing output to another device.
participating in the session, without hav-
ing to worry about taking copious notes.       I have used the H2 to record ev-
I make sure everyone involved knows I          erything from Win/Loss interviews
am recording and how I will be use the         to weekly team meetings to our
audio files.                                   monthly TPMA meeting presen-
                                               tations. Previously I had tried re-
My favorite portable audio recording tool      cording using other handheld re-
is the H2 Handy Recorder from ZOOM.            corders and an add-on mic for my
                                               iPod. However, with these I often
It is about the size of 2 iPhones stacked      found the quality of the recording
on top of each other, costs around $180,       was poor and (especially to share/
runs on 2 AA batteries or AC, records          produce) I would have to spend
between 50 and 500 hours (depending            much time with audio editing soft-            you take a look at the H2 Handy Record-
on desired quality) on SD card (up to          ware such as Audacity to make it usable.      er from ZOOM Corporation.
32GB). In addition to being an excellent       With the H2, most times I do not have to
stand-alone recorder, the H2 can also be       run any post-processing at all.               ZOOM has since progressed the line to
used as an external mic for your com-
                                                                                             the H2n and now an H4 as well. You can
puter via USB.                                 If you are looking for a high quality, por-   still get H2 for $180 at Long-McQuade.
                                               table recording solution to help you cap-
Unlike other handheld recorders I have         ture the firehose of data that comes at                                  - Allan Neil
used in the past, the H2 is excellent at       you as a Product Manager, I recommend


SPONSORS


                                                                                                  LEADERSHIP TEAM
                                                                                              Charles Dimov	        President
                                                                                              Lee Garrison		        Secretary
                                                                                              Niki Coons		          Treasurer
Fees collected through sponsorship help to defer the costs of obtaining exceptional           Allan Neil		          VP Operations
speakers, operating the web site, and building resources and tools for our members.           Aldwin Neekon	        VP Member
These are activities which in turn attract more members, drive higher activity on the         Deepika Mediratta 	   VP Strat.Init.
web pages, and increase the exposure for our sponsors.                                        Elizabeth Hosein	     VP Mrkt Com
                                                                                              Norman Sung		         VP Mentoring
                                                                                              Saeed Khan		          Executive
  See www.TPMA.ca/sponsors for details or contact us at info@TPMA.ca to
  find out about Commercial Sponsorship or Corporate Membership.




                                                                                      TPMA
                                                                                              Published: 		         Jul 28, 2012

                               © 2012 Toronto Product Management Association

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TPMA Focus Newsletter - Issue 10 (3Q2012)

  • 1. TPMA Toronto Product Management Association FOCUS Issue #10: 3Q 2012 What is the TPMA? "Creating Insight through O Shared Knowledge" NT p Founded in March 2001, RO the Toronto Product Man- agement Association is am TO a non-profit organization formed to create an en- vironment that facilitates learning, mentoring, & net- working opportunities. tc Visit: www.TPMA.ca KEY DATES: ProductCamp Toronto uc - Sat, Jul 28th 9:00am - Rogers School of Mgt od - 55 Dundas St. W. Manage Your PM Career - Tue, Sep 25th 6:15pm - Metro Hall, 55 John St. pr Lean Startups in T.O. - Tue, Oct 30th 6:15pm - Metro Hall, 55 John St. THIS EDITION: Snapshot 2 ProductCamp Photos 3 Mobile Design 5 Crowd Wisdom 7 Wild Apricot Power 8 News: Macadamian 8 TPMA Social Photos 9 Inside Product Mgt 10 LinkedIn Stats 11 CoolTools 12
  • 2. SNAPSHOT President’s Awards for 2012 T o introduce the TPMA “2012 Presi- dent’s Award,” it was a great honour to present it to two enormously deserv- ing, and long standing executives of the association. Our two recipients being Al- T hank you, my fellow members of the TPMA. This season has grown to be memorable, from powerful new topics to lan Neil and Lee Garrison. Allan Neil, stepped up to the plate this a well deserved social-networking break. year to volunteer as an executive, after many years of dedicated service. Allan Toronto ProductCamp is upon us again, thought up, and took the action of re- and I look forward to learning from col- cording TPMA meetings. This started as leagues across various industries. In an audio recording, then grew to the oc- Lee Garrison (right) receives 2012 Presi- this extended edition you will find photos casional video recording, and has now dent’s Award from Charles Dimov (left) from Toronto ProductCamps 2010 and become an audio / video podcast for the 2011. It is particularly exciting to have TPMA. More on TPMA podcasting in a contribute his creativity, and energy to Steve Johnson opening this year’s Pro- future article. our regular monthly meeting schedule. ductCamp, as the Keynote speaker. Simply put, we could not have pulled off Beyond the recordings, this year had us such a smooth migration without Allan’s It gives me great pleasure to welcome take on the challenge of updating our skill, hard work and sheer determination. OneDesk, WildApricot and Macadamian web hosting platform to provide some - as our newest sponsors of both the much needed functionality. Superficially, Lee Garrison, also received the Presi- TPMA and of Toronto ProductCamp. this may seem straight-forward. How- dent’s Award for his years of work with ever, the reality is that it takes an enor- the TPMA in various functions, including In this edition of TPMA Focus, you will mous amount of analysis, investigation, having been our long standing president also find interesting tips on the 4 mind- and labour - to migrate to a new platform for several years. This year, Lee took sets of mobile design, a view inside seamlessly. With Eli Alston’s help, Al- a supporting role as Secretary of the Product Management at SpeechBobble, lan took on this challenge, head-on. In TPMA. His passion for the TPMA and and photos from the Summer Social. little over two months, the TPMA was the good it does for the Product Manage- smoothly transitioned onto a new host- ment community - has been inspiring. Most importantly - thanks to the vol- ing platform, designed for non-profit or- unteers and executive volunteers who ganisations like ours. Behind the scene, Lee’s efforts this year have given freely of their time, to keep have kept the team on schedule, consis- our programs and association humming. Allan pulled this off, while continuing to tent and driving in the right direction. As always, your efforts are needed and dearly appreciated. Thank you! Beyond all his effort at the TPMA, Lee has been one of the initiators and the or- I hope to meet you at ProductCamp. Be- ganising force behind Toronto Product- yond learning in this grass-roots, FREE Camp. This alone takes a huge amount un-conference; remember to network, of co-ordination, effort, dedication, and meet new friends, and most of all - enjoy time. All of which Lee has contributed, the experience! year after year, without question. See you there! Gentlemen, thank you for your help, self- less dedication and service in keeping our TPMA running smoothly. Charles Dimov Allan Neil (right) receiving 2012 Presi- Charles Dimov TPMA President dent’s Award from Charles Dimov (left)
  • 4. Toronto ProductCamp All photographs are from Toronto ProductCamp 2011 and 2010. Event Photographers: Michael Campbell Denise Charlesworth TPMA
  • 5. 4 Mindsets of Mobile Product Design W ith the recent popularity of smart phones and tablets, software prod- uct managers are under pressure to cre- work together and follow these time-test- ed user research techniques: A mobile version with extraneous func- tionality will force users to sift through unnecessary data. To help users get the ate mobile versions of their products for most value in the least time, keep the • Contextual Interviews and Fo- the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. denominator of the equation as small cus Groups uncover actual as possible by focusing on their context- needs and opinions and can be Today’s mobile users bring high expec- specific, immediate needs. done either in person, on the tations to the table. In a 2010 study by phone or through surveys. eMarketer, 73% of users indicated a Environment influences interaction company’s mobile software should be • Task Analyses break down all Users may interact differently with a mo- easier to use than its desktop or web the steps a user takes to fulfill bile product than they do with a desktop product. And 69% said their percep- his or her goals. or web version. In an office setting, for tion of the company’s brand would be • Field Research offers insight example, a user has the time and the negatively affected if the mobile version into the way users would inter- ability to perform data entry. This same wasn’t easy to use. In an increasingly act with your mobile product in user would likely not want to do this on crowded mobile market, an application the real world. a small touchscreen while waiting in an that immediately captures the user’s airport lounge. attention, is easy to navigate, and of- • Usability testing follows a for- fers real value is critical to market suc- mal usability protocol, to iden- tify and correct any gaps be- In the case of a mobile product for busi- cess. From our experience with helping ness use, there may also be regulatory product managers design and develop tween users’ goals and the actual experience your product or legal constraints to be taken into con- mobile apps, there are four important sideration. In a hospital setting, for ex- principles for successfully meeting and is delivering today. ample, it may be appropriate to store exceeding these criteria. sensitive patient information on a secure These, and other user research meth- odologies described at macadamian. desktop computer, but illegal to house Mindset One: Don’t Port — Create it on a smartphone that could leave the com provide product managers with the Brian Fling, author of the book Mobile insight they need to envision, and create hospital, and easily fall into the wrong Design & Development, advises: “Cre- a mobile product, not simply port an ex- hands. ate a product, don’t reimagine one for isting desktop or web service. small screens. Great mobile products Design for partial attention and inter- are created, never ported.” ruption Mindset Two: Understand the User’s Context Mobile device users are frequently inter- Focus on the most important tasks and rupted mid-task, either by a device re- user goals Because a mobile device can be used lated interruption (such as an incoming In general, a successful mobile prod- anywhere, your application’s design call or a lost network connection) or an uct offers only a fraction of the features should be able to suit a variety of envi- environmental distraction. A good design and capabilities offered by its equivalent ronmental, organizational, and personal will accommodate these interruptions by desktop or web version. These capabili- contexts. For example, think of the dif- including shortcuts that allow for simple ties could be a subset of existing desk- ference between a Travelocity user at and efficient multitasking. iPhones for top features, a set of new features that home planning a vacation, and a Trav- example, make it easy to switch between better address a mobile user’s needs, or elocity user running through an airport a phone call and an application. a combination of the two. Only the most looking to confirm a connection time on a relevant and important features should smart phone. Mobile users want to com- When designing your product, be sure be included in a mobile version of an ex- plete their tasks quickly, and can easily to identify the most common forms of isting product — all other features should become frustrated if a mobile product interruption and include graphical dis- either be discarded entirely, or moved to doesn’t work as expected, or is slow to plays that simplify context switching and secondary screens. perform. multitasking. Be sure to also help users understand where they are at all times, To determine what’s important to users The value-for-effort equation where they can go, and how they can in a mobile context, you study their be- When evaluating the efficiency of your ‘get back’. havior in order to discover their needs, mobile design, use the following formula: goals, workflow, and workplace process- Point to priority information es. We recommend Product Managers VALUE = Ability to fulfill an immediate To ensure hurried or interrupted users and User Experience (UX) Designers need /the time required to accomplish TPMA the task (continued on page 6)
  • 6. 4 Mobile Design Mindsets (from pg 5) The primary real estate of each screen should relate directly to the task in ques- don’t become lost, it’s also important Mindset Three: ‘Surface’ Informa- tion. to provide easy access to the most fre- tion Quickly quently accessed features and infor- Provide hints and clear feedback for As the saying goes, you only have one every action mation. Once you have identified what chance to make a first impression. This these are (through usability testing, de- Some actions on a mobile device — is especially true in the mobile world scribed earlier), ensure they are easily such as downloading an update — take where users have an array of apps to accessible from any screen. This can be longer than others. Ensure your UI offers choose from. In the competitive app done via prominent buttons or icons. feedback and progress updates on ac- market, value must be apparent imme- tions that take more than a few seconds. diately and easy to access, so users can Avoid or limit free-text entry when- On Android, for example, you can quick- accomplish their desired tasks. ever possible ly see the status of apps being updated. Just like mobile screens, mobile key- With a limited screen size, it isn’t pos- boards are small and not well suited to One way to provide quick access to ad- sible for an application to display all data entry. Research the most common ditional information is to use dashboards areas of interest to users at once, and tasks that will be performed by your us- and ‘push’ notifications to reveal higher- they won’t have the patience to search ers, and then design pre-defined lists, level information. through dozens of screens for informa- auto-complete forms and/or suggested tion. You need to design an interface that text to speed and simplify their interac- Be predictable quickly brings relevant information to the tions. surface. You can also surface information quickly by leveraging the user’s familiarity with By understanding your user’s context Rule of thumb — one task per screen existing visual cues. For example, a mo- and tailoring your UI to support it, you bile user won’t want to hunt for the Close Because it can be difficult or time con- will reduce the risk that your applica- or Next button, so it should be in a pre- suming to scroll, pinch, zoom-in, or click tion will confuse or frustrate customers. dictable location. links on a small screen, it’s important Users who can access critical informa- to create individual, focused screens tion in seconds, and resume their tasks As the mobile device market has ma- for each task you’ve identified through quickly, will be more likely to view your tured, many visual attributes have be- user research. While a screen can ex- mobile product as a trusted resource at come standardized across platforms and pose multiple tasks, it should help the work, home, and on the move. operating systems. The battery indicator user complete only one task at a time. on smart phones, for example, is al- most always found at the very top of the screen. Soft keys that perform similar functions like Back and Forward should always appear in the same position from screen to screen. Mindset Four: Recognize the Per- sonal Nature of a Mobile Device A mobile device clearly differs from a desktop or laptop in size, but it’s also viewed by users as a more ‘personal’ device. • A smartphone is always on your person because it’s small enough to travel with you ev- erywhere. • It’s always on in the sense that it’s always connected to the In- ternet/network and can notify you immediately of a new mes- sage, tweet, or status update. TPMA (continued on page 7)
  • 7. 4 Mobile Design Mindsets (from pg 6) Wisdom from the Crowd • It is the most social commodity An intuitive UI that acknowledges the Quotes directly from YOU we own, allowing us to commu- personal nature of the mobile device nicate with friends, colleagues, and strangers via voice, text, and anticipates user intent can mean the difference between an app that collects Q uestion: What is your MOST im- portant lesson in Product Man- agement? videos, and imagery. dust, and one that becomes part of your customer’s daily routine. If your application is one you foresee us- ers using multiple times a day, it’s a good Mobile UI design best practices "Always make sure you are in a situation idea to provide the ability to save pref- to get lots of feedback quickly so you can When designing a mobile product, there erences, and automatically “remember” learn. Works for your career and your is almost never a need for a one-to-one recent entries. products." relationship between its capabilities and --- Charlie Trainor the desktop product. User needs differ Allow users to easily control notifica- greatly from one platform to another be- tions and alerts cause a user’s goal on a tablet or smart- "Dedicate an appropriate amount of time Users also expect the ability to personal- phone can be quite different from his or to providing the voice of the customer to ize aspects of your application. A good her goal at a desktop. For this reason, product development teams." design will allow them to: you must always create a mobile product --- Peter Cop — and not just ‘port’ it from an existing • Modify the alert notification solution. (whether it is a sound or a vi- bration) “Product Management is a difficult By understanding the context in which • Easily turn off alerts job, with many paradoxes to juggle, the device will be used, obtaining a deep teams wanting your decision and bless- • Quickly respond to the alert di- and objective understanding of your us- ing, and times of enormous pressure. rectly from the alert screen ers’ needs, and tailoring your design Learn to meditate!” to meet user goals, you can success- --- Charles Dimov Anticipate user intent fully translate an existing product into a streamlined mobile application that is Today’s mobile users expect their smart- intuitive, quickly adopted by users and, phone or tablet to be ‘smart’. So you “Start with Why.” in turn, successful in the crowded mobile should design your product to recognize --- Aldwin Neekon marketplace. input already provided and focus the next set of choices accordingly. If, for example, your usability tests show us- "If it's not working - give up! Try some- ers almost always wish to perform task thing else - don't feel like you have to ‘B’ upon completion of task ;A’, ensure About the Author continue because of prior investment." your design shepherds users directly to Scott Plewes is an expert in user experi- --- Corina Stoddard ‘B’ from ‘A’. ence design, user research, and incorpo- rating the voice of the Windows Phone 7 does a good job of customer into prod- "The most important opinion comes from anticipating user intent by displaying the uct design. As Vice consumers, not product mgrs." keyboard most appropriate for the form President of User --- Leslie Nicholson being completed. iPhone and Android Experience Design are also good at accommodating activity. at Maca- When the user is on a call, for example, damian, the screen turns black. As soon as the Scott has phone is pulled away from the ear, the 20 years of experience design- screen re-appears because it ‘knows’ the ing across the spectrum - from user will probably want to perform anoth- desktop, web, and mobile ex- er activity. Because the device is close to perience design through to the user at all times, applications can be command line and telepho- used multiple times throughout the day. ny design. Contact Scott at The most useful and efficient quickly be- scott@macadamian.com and come part of a user’s lifestyle, while the view more detailed presenta- rest are discarded. tions: www.macadamian.com. TPMA
  • 8. Wild Apricot Powers Web TPMA Welcomes Macadamian as a Corporate Sponsor! T PMA welcomes Macadamian as our latest Corporate Sponsor, supporting the product management community, professional development, and network- ing across the Greater Toronto Area. Macadamian is a global leader in soft- ware product creation providing a com- plete range of product strategy, user experience design and software engi- neering services to clients around the world, including industry leaders like BitTorrent, Telus, Juniper, RIM and Mi- crosoft. For established and emerging technologies and platforms, Macadami- an has a track record of helping clients N oticed anything different about www. tpma.ca lately? You may have ob- served a slightly different look and layout ties which we will be rolling out in the future such as electronic payments (Visa, PayPal, etc) for create successful products on a com- plete range of desktop, web and mobile platforms. to the site. Or maybe you didn’t notice meetings and memberships anything at all - which is good. This partnership is a great opportunity to Your Feedback and Ideas Please... strengthen a relationship between two In May we migrated www.tpma.ca to a organisations which are both committed new platform from one of the TPMA’s Do you have feedback regarding the new to helping product managers improve new sponsors, Wild Apricot. With many web site, ideas for how we can improve their effectiveness at bringing creative thanks and much appreciation to Vault the tpma.ca web site and/or improve our new products to market. Solutions, who hosted our site for most on-line TPMA presence? Please provide of the past 10 years, we decided that us your feedback using our Feedback Not only will Macadamian sponsor the to better serve the fast-growing TPMA form at http://www.tpma.ca/feedback or TPMA; they are also sponsoring To- community we needed to transition to a sending an email to webmaster@tpma. ronto ProductCamp 2012 - taking place product/platform designed to support the ca. We look forward to hearing from you. on Saturday July 28th, at the Rogers unique needs of volunteer associations And stay tuned for more updates as we School of Management. like the TPMA. continue to evolve the web site to serve you better! Visit: www.macadamian.com What’s In It For Me (community)? • Better Record Keeping - More robust contact/member frame- . TPMA Mentoring work which makes it easier for Program - Take II you to sign-up and easier for us Engage in your Profession as a Mentor / Mentee to identify you for meeting regis- trations, etc. Last year TPMA’s first mentoring season started. With a huge response we quickly ran out of mentors. Those who • Improved Communication - Eas- were teamed-up, are still going strong. ier for leaders and volunteers to send out targeted email commu- In Nov 2012 we will be at it again. Mentors, nication and easier for contacts/ share your wealth of experience, and sign members to control their own up today. Mentee’s, learn from those who subscriptions to updates like up- have been there, and succeeded. coming meetings, newsletters, blogs, etc. Title email: Mentoring • Additional Capabilities - The Send to: mentorship@tpma.ca Wild Apricot platform also pro- NOTE: NOT a Job Referral Service! TPMA vides us with additional capabili-
  • 9. TPMA Social 2012 TPMA Summer Social Photographs are from TPMA Social or Milano Bar sur- roundings: 26Jun2012. Event Photographers: Calum Tsang + Anonymous TPMA
  • 10. Inside Product Management: SpeechBobble Inside Product Management is a new other content. Few provide any further end. The difficulty then becomes an series, asking PMs in different firms and data than: a) what is being said, and b) issue of understanding the common industries to describe their role, respon- the name of the individual saying it. requirements that exist between indus- sibilities, functions, and profession. tries. We avoid customization by provid- Social networks virtualize relationships ing a series of interchangeable features E veryone is familiar with the concept of social networks such as Face- book, or Twitter. These names have and the discussions they generate. When I post to Facebook, I know every- thing about the person I’m posting to, that different clients can select, while still benefitting from the main platform func- tions common to all. become part of our daily interaction with and their connections. I know that oth- friends and family, and they provide a ers who read my post will also know the The result is that Speechbobble are busi- dashboard of essential information. same about me, and can engage in the ness experts. We understand and pro- conversation based on that knowledge. vide the tools that you need to manage Traditional electronic communication Information is presented with context. projects, share documents, communi- (like email, forums, or even instant mes- cate strategically, and locate the subject senger) packages content as stand- My product, Speechbobble, an Enter- matter experts within your organization. alone items. An email thread is orga- prise Social Network, replicates the ben- nized into a hierarchy of documents or efit of social networks in the context of As Head of Product Development, I files separate from other emails. Instant the workplace. We support conversation identify these requirements, then design chat creates temporary conversations, and provide value to organizations with and prioritize the development of the perfect for immediate communication. defined goals. One of our main chal- features that address them. This may be Forums provide single streams of con- lenges lies in repurposing a style of com- my favorite aspect of the job. It gives me versation, with no relevance to the great- munication designed for casual interac- the opportunity to understand business er community. tions into something productive. processes unique to a variety of indus- tries. I am constantly refining my over- In reality, the above examples of com- To this end, we virtualize common busi- all understanding of business, providing munication are best used for delivering ness processes. Our delivery model re- solutions to problems consistent across independent content. They’re not op- lies on our platform’s success in meeting industry verticals. timized for delivering information with the needs of most businesses, without context because of its relationship with requiring further customization on our However, designing and implementing product features is only part of what I do. Other responsibilities that are equally important to my role are: platform inte- gration strategy; user experience de- sign; and analytical evaluation. Again, we avoid customized feature de- velopment for individual deployments. Should a client request a unique feature, I must determine the value of building the custom feature versus finding and incorporating another product’s solution. Specific examples may include provi- sioning our platform with ecommerce ca- pabilities, or enabling single sign-on with other products. Driving factors for making these deci- sions usually depend on the frequency of requests for a particular function, the value a new feature adds to our existing feature suite, and whether or not it fits into our current roadmap. If these fac- tors don’t dictate a need to develop the new feature internally, I must determine the value that another product may pro- TPMA
  • 11. vide, and whether it can be integrated with ours. This aspect of my job expos- Join TPMA on LinkedIn? es me to other solution providers and expands my knowledge of other market spaces. Speechbobble’s features aren’t all that determine the value of the platform. One of the most important reasons for a Speechbobble’s success is the experi- ence it provides to the end user. Like most software, our product needs to en- courage use through intuitive platform design and an attractive interface. De- signing the overall user experience can be a creative outlet, and is often the larg- est source of fun in my position. Unfortunately, inflexible organizations S view social networks as redundant fea- ince inception the TPMA LinkedIn 30% of the participants are in Product ture sets provided by existing tools. Group has grown steadily these Management, which should come as no Without using the product, it’s difficult to years, hitting 700 members as of this surprise. The other prominent groups are understand its value unless you see the week (technically 699 as of this writing). then distributed across various functions inherent weakness in those preexisting It is refreshing to that so many partici- listed as consulting, marketing, busi- tools. To combat this obstacle, we also pants are finding value in being part of ness development and sales. Again the provide a tool that appeals to traditional the community. Above is the chart from interesting point here is the wide range views of what is valuable: analytics. LinkedIn Group’s Statistics page show- of functions and broad opinions one can ing the gradual and very consistent harness from a group, like ours. Having started out as an Analyst, ana- growth of our discussion forum. lytics remain very important to me. Join the conversation. If you are not on Speechbobble contains an analytics en- Interestingly, the first chart below show- the TPMA Group, then please subscribe. gine that converts the qualitative value ing the seniority of our LinkedIn Group If you are on, then do take a moment to that can be derived from using an En- users, shows us that 46% of the mem- add your thoughts, opinions, or ques- terprise Social Network into quantifiable bership is in the Senior, or Director and tions to the forum. The group is here to metrics. Stakeholders who champion above management ranks. What a super help support our community of Product the platform can then illustrate hard ROI group of senior brainpower and experi- and Marketing Managers. Posting con- through a variety of measurements. You ence to be part of your network. cepts, ideas or questions can help you can easily determine statistics on ac- connect with like-minded, and some- cepted projects vs. proposed projects; Below to the right, is the second chart times divergent thinkers - who might just time spent planning; response time to describing the function of the members benefit your business, career, or get you crises; and reduced meeting hours. This of the TPMA LinkedIn Group. Naturally the answers you seek. See you online! capability is a source of pride as Head of Product, as it sells Speechbobble as a legitimate business tool. About the Author Lucan has been work- ing in IT Communica- tions and S/W for over 5 years. Previous roles included Analyst positions with the City of Toronto’s IT Portfolio Management group, and GuestLogix Inc, an airline payment solu- TPMA tions provider.
  • 12. COOLTOOLS: ZOOM H2 recording both small room inter- views and meetings as well as A s Product Managers we are regular- ly required to capture, review, ana- lyze, distill and share a lot of information large room presentations and conferences. This is due to its’ ex- cellent Front 90 degree and Rear from a wide range of sources. We attend 120 degree microphones which industry conferences, analyst briefings, allow you to choose from multiple conduct win/loss interviews and a wide recording configurations such as variety of other forms of research. A Front-only, Rear-only, or both/360 common challenge we all face is how to degree. capture all of this data quickly and easily and store it for review/analysis later. There are separate inputs for the LINE IN and EXT MIC IN for re- One technique I have been using for cording other sources as well as a several years is to capture audio record- PHONES/LINE OUT for monitor- ings of events, interviews and key meet- ing recording, playback, or send- ings so that I can focus on listening and ing output to another device. participating in the session, without hav- ing to worry about taking copious notes. I have used the H2 to record ev- I make sure everyone involved knows I erything from Win/Loss interviews am recording and how I will be use the to weekly team meetings to our audio files. monthly TPMA meeting presen- tations. Previously I had tried re- My favorite portable audio recording tool cording using other handheld re- is the H2 Handy Recorder from ZOOM. corders and an add-on mic for my iPod. However, with these I often It is about the size of 2 iPhones stacked found the quality of the recording on top of each other, costs around $180, was poor and (especially to share/ runs on 2 AA batteries or AC, records produce) I would have to spend between 50 and 500 hours (depending much time with audio editing soft- you take a look at the H2 Handy Record- on desired quality) on SD card (up to ware such as Audacity to make it usable. er from ZOOM Corporation. 32GB). In addition to being an excellent With the H2, most times I do not have to stand-alone recorder, the H2 can also be run any post-processing at all. ZOOM has since progressed the line to used as an external mic for your com- the H2n and now an H4 as well. You can puter via USB. If you are looking for a high quality, por- still get H2 for $180 at Long-McQuade. table recording solution to help you cap- Unlike other handheld recorders I have ture the firehose of data that comes at - Allan Neil used in the past, the H2 is excellent at you as a Product Manager, I recommend SPONSORS LEADERSHIP TEAM Charles Dimov President Lee Garrison Secretary Niki Coons Treasurer Fees collected through sponsorship help to defer the costs of obtaining exceptional Allan Neil VP Operations speakers, operating the web site, and building resources and tools for our members. Aldwin Neekon VP Member These are activities which in turn attract more members, drive higher activity on the Deepika Mediratta VP Strat.Init. web pages, and increase the exposure for our sponsors. Elizabeth Hosein VP Mrkt Com Norman Sung VP Mentoring Saeed Khan Executive See www.TPMA.ca/sponsors for details or contact us at info@TPMA.ca to find out about Commercial Sponsorship or Corporate Membership. TPMA Published: Jul 28, 2012 © 2012 Toronto Product Management Association