Product lifecycle and child development analogy
Seeing many postings on #iwd fills me with #gratitude and #respect for every woman and their allies on their constant strive to deliver a great product, be it at work or in personal life. This reflection started when I casually mentioned to my colleague that one of my products (son) is nearing the end of the development phase and getting ready for pilot landing.
Whether it is a technical product or real life, systematic planning is the key. At the beginning of each life cycle, we go through the concept and planning, similar to understanding and committing to hands-on work of upbringing a child.
The development phase of New Product Introductions (NPIs) is the long, strenuous phase in which a lot of collaboration, and support from partner teams are needed. One juggles with multiple priorities and unexpected events at the workplace, similar to meeting demands from kids, family, friends, and health. We resort to What's Important Now (WIN) goal by making short-term vs long-term compromises in both sectors. As in every NPI, there is no cookie-cutter approach that one can use to handle kids. Their unique personalities bring its own set of challenges resulting in scope creep.
As kids pass through their teen years, the behavioral changes and gaps in maturity levels seem comparable to bugs showing up in E2E solution testing that go unnoticed in functional testing (elementary ages). Family outings and social get-togethers are like team building exercises that help everyone come together. Pre-production or staging is analogous to their high school phase when their endurance and performance starts to surface. This is a safe environment where they are not out in the open world managing everything on their own, yet experiencing college-like pressure. The end of this phase is when we call a product “pilot ready" which can be mapped to kids leaving the nest to pursue their dreams.
Initial hiccups of interoperability with others in the ecosystem are similar to what kids face in college while adjusting to a new environment. This is commonly seen when the products on the field are used by customers or rubber meeting the road. This is where heavy support is essential from core team.
As the product completes the pilot, stabilizes, and matures with steady state behavior, it starts rolling out its global launch. With a college degree, the kid is ready to take on higher studies, enter the corporate market, initiate an entrepreneurial venture, etc. Development team moves on to their next feather-in-the-cap and the proud family enjoys the kid flying high independently.
My sincere #gratitude to the teams at home and work, without whom none of the product launches succeed. In the last 20+ years of my professional career, I have been fortunate to work with many #mentors who fight for women. Pat your backs, you are all contributing to a #bettertomorrow by delivering the best quality products to the world, ever!
Brand Designer and Consultant, AIGA CO President
2wlove it! excited to hopefully be part of the growth!