Comments on: Unintended Consequences http://www.productbeautiful.com/2007/10/04/unintended-consequences/ Building Product Management from the Ground Up by Paul Young Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:21:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Bruce McCarthy http://www.productbeautiful.com/2007/10/04/unintended-consequences/comment-page-1/#comment-1271 Bruce McCarthy Fri, 12 Oct 2007 23:58:28 +0000 http://www.productbeautiful.com/2007/10/04/unintended-consequences/#comment-1271 I have certainly had that odd experience where you see someone talking and you wonder if they are talking to you until you spot the headset. I think that's what those blinking blue lights are intended for, to warn you someone is on the phone. The don;t work when the person's head is turned, though. Another thing to watch for is products that get used in ways you didn't intend or anticipate. I once had the responsibility of shutting down an online product whose core customers no longer needed it. (We'd developed a successor product that served their needs much better.) What we didn't know was that there was a small group using it in very different ways whose requirements were not met by the new solution. We ended up keeping the product around for an additional 6 months just for that group while we worked on the features they needed for the new product. The good news was this was a market we wanted to break into anyway so the sunset announcement, while it was at first met with anger, turned into some great conversations and an opportunity to gather requirements for the new market. I have certainly had that odd experience where you see someone talking and you wonder if they are talking to you until you spot the headset. I think that’s what those blinking blue lights are intended for, to warn you someone is on the phone. The don;t work when the person’s head is turned, though.

Another thing to watch for is products that get used in ways you didn’t intend or anticipate. I once had the responsibility of shutting down an online product whose core customers no longer needed it. (We’d developed a successor product that served their needs much better.)

What we didn’t know was that there was a small group using it in very different ways whose requirements were not met by the new solution. We ended up keeping the product around for an additional 6 months just for that group while we worked on the features they needed for the new product.

The good news was this was a market we wanted to break into anyway so the sunset announcement, while it was at first met with anger, turned into some great conversations and an opportunity to gather requirements for the new market.

]]> By: Susan Lim http://www.productbeautiful.com/2007/10/04/unintended-consequences/comment-page-1/#comment-1270 Susan Lim Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:08:40 +0000 http://www.productbeautiful.com/2007/10/04/unintended-consequences/#comment-1270 Hi Paul, thank you for your posts. I like a lot of the product management insight you gave. I am setting product mgmt as my future career path. Though I am still far from it, I am getting myself prepared. I have learnt a lot from your blog. Do continue posting! Hi Paul, thank you for your posts. I like a lot of the product management insight you gave.
I am setting product mgmt as my future career path. Though I am still far from it, I am getting myself prepared.

I have learnt a lot from your blog. Do continue posting!

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