The Rise Of The Product Developers - Part 0, Customer and Product

Even seemingly simple terms like “customer” and “product” can have varying interpretations, and on top of that, I’m introducing a new term, “requirement donor.” This part will delve into the specific meanings of these words for Product Developers, helping to illuminate the essential principles that guide their work and reveal insights that can make all the difference in their success.

While Product Developers actively collaborate with specific Requirement Donors at any given time, they always stay aware of the actual customers benefiting from it and maintain their goal of growing a product.

Understanding the Product and Its Customers

For Product Developers:

• A customer is someone who receives value from their organization in exchange for resources that fuel the organization, such as money, time, or data.
• The product is the means by which the organization delivers value to customers.
• Building a product is a strategic choice for the organization. It allows them to avoid creating something new every time and instead focus on growing and nurturing the product to become their core business advantage.

These concepts are clear-cut when Product Developers work in a small company with the immediate goal of creating a single software product. However, as organizations grow or shift their focus to services, these concepts blur. Product Developers avoid confusing an internal process chain for an actual customer or mistaking a component for the product itself. They opt for a broader product definition whenever possible to maximize the impact of the organization’s strategic choice.

Engaging with Requirement Donors

Previously referred to ambiguously as “stakeholders,” a requirement donor is someone who has convinced the business decision-maker (typically the Product Owner) to invest in their hypothesis for the product. This group may include customers with problems, users with specific needs, or production managers presenting roadmaps. As Product Developers grow to become domain experts, they naturally become prominent requirement donors themselves.

While actively collaborating with requirement donors, Product Developers adhere to the priorities set by the Product Owner and work within the agreed-upon scope.

Customer-centric and Whole Product Focus

With the terms “customer” and “product” defined, two core principles of Product Developers become obvious: customer-centric focus and whole product optimization.

• Empathy and compassion: Product Developers are genuinely interested in customers’ problems and empathize with them. Veteran Product Developers transition from empathy, which is emotionally driven and can be draining, to compassion—a more skillful, deliberate approach. Regardless of the approach, the importance of validation by real customers remains constant.
• Global optimization: Product Developers do not merely concentrate on individual features or components; they consider the entire product and its user experience. Maintaining a whole product focus ensures that all elements work together seamlessly, creating a cohesive and valuable solution for customers.

Conclusion

Identifying the customers and defining the product can be unnecessarily complex, but it’s crucial for Product Developers to have a clear understanding of these concepts. As more companies choose to build a product as their core business strategy, the role of Product Developers continues to grow in importance. In the next part of the series, we’ll delve into another vital attribute of Product Developers: Critical Thinking. The combination of empathy, compassion, and critical thinking creates a unique skill set that is not easily replaced by artificial intelligence, further emphasizing the significance of Product Developers in today’s ever-evolving market.