Category: 2. Software Requirements
07001 Ten Myths About Software Requirements
March 15, 2007
Again and again, I see organizations struggle with requirements, that component of making software where the needs and desires for new and changed capabilities are defined and handed to Development to build into the product. The challenges stem from one or more important misconceptions about requirements. These misconceptions in turn prevent the team in various [...]
06011 ROI and ROR: Return on Requirements (03039)
June 30, 2006
This article is a reprint of an oldie but goodie about Requirements. It will help you measure the expected return from Requirements so that you can reconcile competing needs and prioritize new capabilities for your product.
Read 03039 ROI and ROR: Return on Requirements for ideas on how to prioritize requirements.
06001 The Interpreter: Transforming Input Into Requirements
January 10, 2006
This is the 100th issue of Product Management Challenges. When I began writing this newsletter a little over three years ago, it was my hope to build up an unmatched source of real-world tips and guidance about software Product Management. I am pleased to say that the many back issues have covered a multitutde of [...]
05002 Getting Your Priorities Straight: A Twisted Path
January 27, 2005
A major challenge that faces every software product is determining the priority of the oh-so-many suggestions that come to Product Management as requirements for the next release. This is one of those areas that wind up containing a heavy dose of mystery masquerading as rocket science. Requirements get prioritized using a complex formula that is [...]
04027 Can Customers Doom Your Software?
October 21, 2004
Is it possible to do such a good job catering to customer requirements that your product fails? Sometimes your company can listen to users so well that you wind up taking your product down a path that leaves it far behind the competition, and only a superlative effort would let you catch up, if you [...]
04022 New Features Won’t Solve Business Problems
August 19, 2004
Companies that make software have one big strong point: they know how to make software. They know how to build all sorts of cool features that work in amazing ways. And when they do that, they create businesses that succeed.
But the problem comes when this strength at making new features is not rounded out by [...]
04020 New Features: Moving Ahead On All Fronts
August 3, 2004
When it comes to developing new features for a software product, every Product Manager is faced with the following dilemma: more new features are needed than there are resources to add them to the product. You can’t possibly get all the features in that you want to put in.
We are told to prioritize, which most [...]
05003 Setting the Product Direction: A Mechanical Approach
February 10, 2004
One of the central reasons that companies hire a Product Manager is to make sure that they have someone who sets and drives the direction of the product. In a world where there is never enough time to implement all the ideas that come along for great new features, you need to choose the right [...]
03039 ROI and ROR: Return on Requirements
November 4, 2003
This article is a reprint of an oldie but goodie about Requirements. It will help you measure the expected return from Requirements so that you can reconcile competing needs and prioritize new capabilities for your product.
03037 Requirements: Like Lambs to the Slaughter
October 23, 2003
As your company gears up to start the next software release, a Product Manager reaches the point where carefully crafted requirements are ready to submit to the Engineering team. The Product Manager holds a long meeting with Engineering to review each and every requirement.
Holding this meeting feels a lot like watching the beloved little lambs [...]
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