The flip side of this is the difficulty of managing a huge number of inputs. To get the most out of a variety of knowledge, experiences and backgrounds, one must collect and consider a large number of inputs from a variety of sources. These inputs must then be clarified, enriched, classified, and eventually, in some cases, rejected or grouped with other similar ones.
Deciding which ideas to pick for promotion to market from an extended backlog is an even tougher task. A successful prioritization process will account for a lot of different factors, including customer requests, market trends, strategic directions, long-term roadmaps and, of course, available resources. While there are many approaches, no single best solution emerges. Therefore, it is essential to constantly implement, assess, and improve a prioritization process that best fits needs and reality.
After that, all the selected ideas will be further detailed from a more technical perspective for transformation by development teams into the features that the market will see. This phase frequently requires compromises, but often the final features will be far more complex and comprehensive than the original ideas since the development process factors in multiple aspects and visions.
When products finally hit the market, it marks the transformation of great ideas into real features that customers will love, which will eventually generate new ideas. The cycle is complete, but the work is not over because it is time to go through all of the ideas, both new and old, and start the process all over again.
If you have seen the expanse of WeDo Technologies products, then you will know that we are not running short on great ideas. At WeDo Technologies we employ an open process for collection of ideas: we invite everyone to contribute. We receive inputs from a lot of different sources and markets, including telecom, retail, energy, healthcare and finance, and from a variety of user profiles and backgrounds from both internal, such as product architects and developers, integrators, marketing, support and sales team members, and external contributors from C-level to analysts.
Our customer contributions are key in the process because of their willingness to cooperate and provide constructive criticism or complex needs that challenges us to go one step further. And their willingness to embark on a WeDo Labs project and work from concept through to the testing of an idea helps us shape and produce viable products for the market.
Not all of the ideas that we receive will pass the initial scrutiny, and others will fail to provide enough business value. But a great number of them will eventually make it to the development stage or maybe generate other great ideas. Our Product Management and Marketing teams’ joint efforts offer a democratic approach for high-level prioritization that involves the Development, Delivery, Sales, and Professional Services teams, and ultimately the Executive Committee, in the decision-making process that brings all stakeholder views to the table.
Next the Product Architects and Development Teams take the high-level ideas and transform them into great product features. And it is up to the Product Management and Marketing teams to leverage all the contributions and feed the product roadmaps with the long-term vision for product evolution.
The final result is certainly not perfect, but it gives everyone a chance to contribute. In the end we can be confident that all these contributions will provide us with the best forward path that, both in the short and the long term, will bring to the market the features that are most relevant to our customers.