Usability testing allows you to determine whether what’s been developed can be effectively used by customers. The test should result in demonstrating the product’s ease of use. Testers should also find the use of the product intuitive. If the product is shown to be less than intuitive and easy to use, it is not ready for the market.

Large companies regularly employ usability evaluations with multiple labs and testing teams. Small companies are often less rigorous in their testing. But, whether a company is large or small, usability testing is key to consistently delivering viable market solutions. If the testing is handled correctly, the company should be able to launch products that not only get, but also keep market share. By consistently evaluating and improving products, your organization can hold on to market share. If the original developer of a product fails to steadily improve it, competitors will jump in, make improvements, and steal market share.

How to Begin a Usability Test

Everything starts with identifying the product’s target audience. You likely have multiple audiences for your product. Its important to evaluate each separately to determine if the product meets the usability requirements of all groups. You need to give those chosen to represent each user group tasks that relate to their specific application. Tasks should represent the most commonly encountered user goals.

To acquire the most useful information from testing, tasks should be well defined and include clear success criteria. You need to decide ahead of time where to begin the task and how to measure task completion.

Four measures for tasks:

• Task completion
• Time it takes to complete
• Ease of learning
• Tester’s satisfaction with outcome

The team member conducting the test should ask each tester to complete a set task, being sure to word the request in the exact same way each time. For example, if evaluating a website’s usability, you might ask: What shipping methods are offered? or How do you connect with tech support?

In some cases, the team member conducting the test may ask the tester to verbally share his or her thought process while completing the task.

Three Ways to Conduct a Usability Test

There are three ways to conduct usability tests, based on where they are conducted. These are:

1 – Usability Lab – This can be an in-house company lab or a lab in an outside facility. Either way, the location is made to appear as much like the target user’s environment as possible. For example, an office setting to test business software, a den to test a TV remote, or a bedroom to test an alarm clock.

2 – Onsite Usability – In this case, the usability testing is done onsite in the actual place where the product will be used. This allows the evaluators to clearly see how the lighting, noise levels, and other factors impact the satisfactory use of the product. It can be nearly impossible to fully control the testing environment in this setting. Another downside can be the cost of travel, scheduling, and interruption to service the testers are able to provide their customers.

3 – Remote Usability – This method is the least costly and most convenient. It is easier to run a test remotely through a web meeting than to man a lab or take on an onsite study. The team member running the testing will turn controls over to the testers and ask them to complete tasks all the while recording interactions. Testers like this method because they can participate in their home or office.

No matter which of these methods is used, at the end of the testing, the usability engineer will compile the data. This is then used to determine the issues that need to be resolved and what are the priorities.

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Deliver These Eight for an Exceptional Product Requirements Document

What does highly useful PRD look like?  It will be…

1 – Verifiable. The requirements are measurable, not subjective. You can test their validity.

2 – Clear and Concise. No rambling. No cleverness, just a clear and easily understood explanation that can only be interpreted one way.

3 – Complete. The document does not require the reader to fill in gaps. All the information is there in black and white. It covers the entire scope of the product or enhancement.

4 – Consistent. Requirements are aligned. They do not conflict. You do not duplicate requirements. You define terms and maintain a consistent use of those terms throughout.

5 – Traceable. Every requirement can be traced back to a market need it is fulfilling. The document is organized with a numbering or annotation system covering individual requirements. There is a hierarchical structure that breaks requirements into smaller units while also allowing them to be traced back to the higher requirement.  The PRD must track versions so that changes in requirements can be followed.

6 – Viable. Can the requirements actually be met? Are they feasible? The PRD must lay out a plan that can be delivered with existing technology, skills, and capabilities. It must adhere to a set schedule and budget.

7 – Necessary. If the product requirements were removed, there would be a noticeable deficiency in the system. Delivery on this item can lead to prioritization discussions.

8 – Free of Implementation. The requirements should define “what” not “how”. The how the requirements will be implemented should fall to the designers. The one exception to this is when the market insists that the product meet set standards.

When you’ve developed a PRD that can successfully deliver on these eight items, you can be confident your team will have what it needs to move forward.

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In this week’s post, I’m going to discuss the nuts and bolts of the PRD (Product Requirements Document). Next week I’ll complete this discussion by covering some of the specifics that will be part of a good PRD.

What is a Product Requirements Document?

A PRD is a document that serves the development team. It provides details about features, functionality, and capabilities required to build the product. Obviously, if the product is a new one, the level of detail will be much greater than what’s needed for an enhancement to an existing product.

A well-crafted PRD clearly defines both the breadth and depth of the product. Done right, the PRD will move the development team beyond considering what to build to how to build. Supporting groups (packaging, creators of user manuals etc.) should understand what needs to be delivered with the product. All should understand what the customer experience should be when using the new capabilities. Finally, product requirements must be aligned with your company’s business objectives.

Four Questions Your PRD Should Answer

1. Who will use the product?

In answering this question, you should address the need the product will meet. Also cover the characteristics of the end user and how end users will actually use the product.

      2.   What will the end users do with the product?

This question covers the functional requirements the product must meet. This could be something simple like buttons to press or as complicated as a computer display. In some cases, you may need to provide a process flow for the various activities an end user will need to perform. Flow diagrams, data diagrams, sets of use cases, or content, and entity relationship diagrams can also be part of the functional requirements explanation.

      3.   What are the product’s performance requirements and design constraints?

Often called the non-functional requirements, these items define how well or how much the product needs to perform against measureable criteria. Product constraints can take many forms. They are often industry-specific. Typical considerations are environmental legal, physical, support of other products, etc.

      4.     What must accompany or support the product?

Support items are not related to the specific operation of the product. However, they are vital to supporting a smooth end-to-end user experience. Supports include such items as documentation, accessories, shipping, packaging, installation, replacement parts, and maintenance. The answer to this question can extend to cover how customer service will handle calls about the product.

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Just look at what the Project Charter should cover…

• Project scope
• Project objectives
• Deliverables
• Schedule
• Required resources
• Communications plan
• Risk management
• Project monitoring
• Controlling procedures for the project

Anyway you look at it, that’s a lot to cover in one concise document!

A Few Things the Project Charter Should Accomplish

After reading the project charter there should be no doubt who is in charge of the project. It should be clear who has authority. Just making this fact clear is extremely important if the organization has a matrix environment.

When you’ve read the project charter, you should know:

• The purpose of the project
• It’s benefits and objectives
• What project success will look like
• Name of the project sponsor
• Stakeholders
• Budget
• A description of the product and deliverables

Points Typically Included in a Strong Project Charter

When the charter has been put together, you should be able to look at it and understand why the project was undertaken. You should know any objections and constraints that are on the project. Main stakeholders should be identified along with target benefits of the project. There should be a clear description of in-scope and out-of-scope items along with a high-level risk management plan and high-level communication plan. Finally, there must be a high-level budget and arrangements for spending authority.

How Can We Know We Have a Top-Notch Project Charter?

There are four signs that you’ve crafted a project charter that can heft the weight of your undertaking:

• Project stakeholders not only approve the charter, but also assign the resources you need to begin.
• The project charter can be used, referenced, and evaluated by even a new executive in your organization.
• Clear decisions are made about who owns the budget and who is managing it.
• The executive team has agreed to be accountable for certain measurable and achievable objectives.

With the rise of Agile practices some may question the value of project managers. However, project managers have had to redefine their role to address changing business needs, often moving upstream to the enterprise level. Project charters remain an important tool to ensure the effective coordination of complex projects and work efforts.

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What Is a Launch Strategy?

Your product launch strategy delineates the approach you plan to take in getting your product to market. You can start ruminating over what to include in your launch strategy as early as the conception phase. However, what you initially plan must evolve as a more details emerge in the later stages of product development.

Ultimately, your strategy needs to cover all assumptions about sales and marketing for the product launch. It should lead to creation of a solid estimate of the scope, resources needed, and budget required to give the product a strong start. When a new product is involved, launch costs can occasionally exceed the cost of product development.

When your strategy is complete, you should have a clear idea of all activities to pursue in launching the product, their costs, and the initial timeline for deployment.

Four Key Points to Include

1 – Who are your top priority audiences for the product?

2 – What are the main ways you will try to reach these priority audiences?

3 – What are the key messages you need to communicate?

4 – What are your objectives? What do you plan to achieve?

What Are the Specifics to Include in Your Launch Strategy?

• Targeted sales channels – Will you use TV, radio, word-of-mouth, demonstrations, Internet or something else?

• Marketing Collateral – What support materials will be needed?

• Sales tools, demos, and training requirements – How will you equip your sales force to clearly communicate your product’s value and uses?

• Advertising and demand generation activities – What will you use to create a desire to buy?

• Sales promotions – What initiatives will you launch to get the word out?

• Public relations, industry, and social media initiatives – What can you do to build buzz through press releases, industry buzz, and social media posts?

You’ll also want to consider tradeshow and event needs; your field testing strategy; your sales forecast by the various channels; your measurable launch objectives; and high-level timeline, milestones, and budget.

The Completed Launch Strategy

Please remember: your initial ideas aren’t cast in stone. Your assumptions and plans will morph through various stages. When you finally get to the point of crafting a solid launch strategy your document should have eight characteristics:

1 – It must identify the audience(s) and competitive targets

2 – Your messaging must be solidly developed

3 – Your launch plans must align with the overall product strategy and development plan

4 – You must prioritize go-to-market activities to focus on the most important

5 – Develop measureable short and long-term criteria for assessing the success of the launch

6 – Earmark any emerging activities or capabilities that must be sourced or developed

7 – Align your plan with your company’s marketing and distributions strengths

8 – Make sure the plan provides for input and support from targeted channels

A lot goes into creating a launch strategy that really delivers. Follow these ideas and you’ll be ready to make a strong start.

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What is a Positioning Statement?

A well-crafted positioning statement brings together your overall value proposition with your positioning for a product. This is accomplished in a few concise statements. These are high-level statements. As you write them, don’t get down in the weeds about what you are planning.

You can think of it as kind of an elevator pitch you would be able to use to give a clear idea of your goals in just a snapshot. It’s quick, but it’s also comprehensive.

A Good Positioning Statement Framework

We can thank Geoffrey Moore and his book Crossing the Chasm for this useful template:

     Statement                                                              Description

FOR <target market>                      A concise definition of the market segment

WHO HAVE <this problem>     The problem statement indicating the underserved need or market gap

OUR PRODUCT IS <solution category>          A generic name to help categorize the solution to the market

THAT PROVIDES <key benefits>            Key benefit(s) and the value provided

UNLIKE <reference competition>         Defines the primary alternative market solution(s)

OUR SOLUTION <key advantages>       Identifies how this product differentiates from the competition in a way that creates value                                                                             

Four Essentials for a Useful Positioning Statement

You want your positioning statement to be as useful as possible, so make sure it contains these four elements:

• Make sure it identifies the overall purpose of the product. What is the added value to be gained and what market gap does it fill? How is it better than current solutions?

• Be sure it contains enough information that those unfamiliar with the product can “get it” in a brief conversation.

• Use analogies to other existing solutions to further understanding and create an image for your reader.

• Keep your focus on benefits and value. Don’t dwell on features and other specifics.

Other Forms for Your Positioning Statement

Two common forms that can help galvanize understanding are the Simile and the User-Story Format.

The Simile approach is probably the easiest way to telegraph your positioning statement. In essence, you compare your solution to another category of solution. For example, the Amazon Kindle does for reading what our <product> does for <category>.

If your team is comfortable with Agile, it will likely respond well to the User-Story format. Your team members can write up a positioning statement like any user story, only this one will focus on the product level. You state the problem the persona needs to solve and how your solution meets that need.

No matter what format your positioning statement takes, make sure it is appealing to customers and helps focus the product development and marketing approach.

Looking Ahead

In my next post we’ll take a look at the launch strategy document and what it should contain in order to deliver the most benefit to your team.

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When you begin developing your product roadmap, you start to envision how your product strategy will actually be accomplished. You tangibly define the phases or activities required to reach your aspiration goals. These set of activities will typically cover multiple product development cycles and define high-level deliverables. The form your roadmap takes is largely dependent upon the expectations of your organization. This can range from PowerPoint to more automated tools.

Purpose of the Product Roadmap

So what do you want to accomplish? Are you trying to attain internal and external alignment around a set of envisioned activities? Or are you also attempting to ensure an appropriate allocation of supporting resources so that your team can achieve its goals? Your organization likely has goals of its own. Organizations commonly use roadmap deliverables as a visible measure of how efficient your product team is. Make sure you not only understand what you and your team want to accomplish – but also what the organization’s expectations are. A disconnect between these two sets of expectations can spell trouble.

5 Things Normally Included

Every product roadmap needs to cover these items:

• A timeline aligned with customer purchasing behaviors or business cycles.
• Outline the market drivers that will drive deliverables on the roadmap. For instance, tradeshows, high sales seasons, or expected legislation that could impact the market, etc.
• Define the business objectives or product themes that divide the overarching timeline into phases that align with the overall product strategy and support the long-term product vision.
• Capture the high-level features being targeted for delivery in each phase.
• Optionally, include an aligned technology roadmap that reveals specific technology platforms that will be impacted by each major phase and feature list. This can be a big help in proactively aligning product and technology groups.

Four Characteristics of a Top-Notch Product Roadmap

It should:

• Be crafted in such a way that it can guide each of the planned phases and project priorities.
• Align with your product vision and strategy and provide a plan for delivering on what these documents promise.
• Include a plan around resource requirements that the executive team supports.
• Is not so set in stone that it cannot be updated along the way as market changes occur and progress is made.

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Defining a Product Vision Document

The Product Vision document looks into the future. It presents a 30,000-foot view of what you plan for the product to be in the future and its anticipated value.

The Role of the Product Strategy Document

Your Product Strategy document explains what high-level actions will need to take place in order for your product to live up to the anticipated deliverables in the Product Vision document. Just as important, the Product Strategy document sets boundaries for activities that should not be pursued.

It’s easy to understand why these two vital documents are often presented together.

Three Things Product Vision and Strategy Should Provide

A well conceived Product Vision and Strategy will:

• Present a statement about what you envision the product will be in the future and how it will benefit its market.
• Cover high-level actions that must be taken in order to fulfill the promise presented in your document.
• Outline measurable objectives that include both short and long-term goals as they relate to the product.

Characteristics Specific to a Well Developed Product Vision

• Present a clear view of where you see the product in one year or perhaps many years, depending on the product lifecycle.
• Define your target customers and how the product will help them solve challenges. Clarify the value to be derived from the product.
• Set a high bar that pushes product team innovation.
• Make sure that the level you set is high enough that it won’t change every time there’s a shift in market dynamics.

Characteristics of an Excellent Product Strategy

A well thought out product strategy can set the stage for your product roadmap. Your Product Strategy needs to offer clearly defined phases that lead up to meeting the Product Vision. It should include the key activities your product team will undertake toward meeting the Product Vision. Your Product Vision acts as your north star guiding your decisions. However, your Product Strategy will evolve over time in response to changing market conditions.

Your Product Strategy should also be centered on objective time lines associated to business metrics related to customers, the competition, the market, or financials. You also need to include shorter-term milestones with specific deliverables. Make it clear all along the way what the next steps should be.

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What Does an MRD Look Like?

Your MRD can take many forms. It can be a simple document, a wiki, a spreadsheet, a unique software tool, or something else you devise to fulfill this important step in your process. The potential of the project will dictate the form your MRD should take.

The Core of the Market Requirements Document

There are essentially two things at the core of your MRD:

1 – A clear definition of your target market. This is basically a vivid picture of your potential buyer and user profiles. What are the key reasons someone would use the product?

2 – Defined problem scenarios – What are the main challenges your users face that will cause them to turn to your product. These likely will vary between buyers and end users. You’ll want to develop problem scenarios for each.

Functional and Non-Functional Requirements

Requirements that must be dealt with in the Market Requirements Document fall into two categories: function and non-functional. Here’s the difference.

Functional requirements cover capabilities that have interactivity with the user. They deal with specific high-level functions a user may want to perform.

Non-functional requirements are concerned with design restrictions and performance factors involved with the product. Performance factors cover how well a product must perform. Design restrictions revolve around how much a product must support.

Common Non-Functional Requirement Categories

There are many different categories of non-functional requirements including many that are industry specific. Here are some of the most common categories:

• Physical requirement – Maximum and minimum dimensions, weight, packaging, sturdiness, etc.
• Environmental requirements – the environment in which a product must be operated or stored.
• Performance requirements – This category can include such things as expected speed for specific operations, what are the lifetime expectations for use, etc.
• International requirements – where the product will be sold and used. What are the language, currency, power supply, and specific localized needs?
• Compatibility Requirements – How does the product need to work with other products?
• Documentation requirements – What are the types, formats, and delivery methods for documentation?
• Support requirements – What must be available to customers to help them with installation, repairs, operation, payments, maintenance, and disposal of the product?
• Legal, Regulatory, and Compliance requirements – What laws, rules, and government or agency-related requirements impact the product?
• Distribution and Packaging – What is required to distribute the product and how does it need to be packaged?

What to Include in a Successful MRD

There are essentially six key elements of a successful MRD.

1. As mentioned above: You must include a definition of your target market, a vivid picture of your potential buyer and user profiles.
2. A comprehensive list of market requirements the solution will need to fulfill.
3. Suggested quantitative measures of success for each requirement.
4. A prioritized list of requirements from your market’s point of view.
5. A clear focus on the market problem you are trying to solve, not on your planned solution.
6. A timeframe for product introduction and a supporting rationale.

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Recently we’ve discussed the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis. Today, we’re going to consider a tool that drills down to the product feature level and allows the product team to compare competitors’ products to your solution. This tool is the Competitive Analysis Matrix. A Competitive Analysis Matrix is usually presented in a spreadsheet format. However, many such charts include 8 or more features. Complex products can include twice that many feature comparisons.

How the Competitive Analysis Matrix Works

The purpose of the Competitive Analysis Matrix is to identify gaps in your competitors’ offerings. Your matrix should include a row for each feature to be considered. It should also include a column for each competitor with qualitative rankings of each feature in the competitors’ products. This means a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ ranking won’t cut it. Your team needs to become as familiar with the competitive products as possible so you’ll feel comfortable evaluating each.

Market Importance

The market importance column is particularly significant. It is likely that your competitors have added some features to their products to meet the needs of a particularly important customer. These will not necessarily have overall appeal in the marketplace. By assigning a high, medium, or low ranking to each feature, you will be able to identify those features which you can probably cut from your product. This can help you save valuable resources and money. Every feature adds cost. The Competitive Analysis Matrix will help you hone in on the features that are most important. Once these are covered in your budget, you can start adding on other items that will appeal to the market as resources permit. Features should be added according to their ability to help your customers meet their goals.

Four Things a Basic Competitive Analysis Matrix Will Include:

1 – High-level Feature Sets – Group the features that are related together to simplify the matrix. It is easy for your team to get bogged down if huge individual features are considered separately.

2 – End-to-End Customer View – Don’t get off track by including just characteristics of the physical product. Include attributes that impact the entire user experience. This can cover such things as how the product is purchase, delivered, installed, supported, and maintained. By evaluating these items you may open avenues for product differentiation.

3 – Measure How Well Features Perform – Don’t allow yes or no answers. Remember this is a qualitative comparison.

4 – Measure of the Market’s Importance – Most likely your competitors have included features that are not highly valued by most customers. There is no need to match competitors feature for feature. Build the product the market wants no matter what you see competitors doing.

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