“Some companies say, What product should we build with this technology?
Some companies say, What technology do we need to build this product?
Some companies say, What product would this customer buy?” – Evans, founder of Twitter (and Blogger).
Which approach do you think works?
Third option is of course, the most commonsensical one - but the most difficult to implement (and build).
Infact, the interesting part is that most of the startups actually start from the first question (or a variant of that).
What’s your opinion?
I think the logical sequence should be
- Customer First: What product/solution a customer will buy? fix the problem statement and then identify the best solution
- Product Second: Given the solution, what sort of product/service offering will provide max value to a customer
- Technology third: Given the solution specs, customer preference and competitive scenario and technology evolution. What stack will make most business sense
One needs to then iterate between the 3 and identify the best option, but never compromise on customer value and competitiveness of your offering
Things to avoid:
- I know these technologies so lets do it in that…rather think whats best and if required learn those technologies
-” I think customer will see value in this”…good when on paper or in start, but release it to customers ASAP and evolve based on their feedback (not an easy thing to do but the best way)
- Never just look at current scenario…think what are the trends and what will be the future like because everything is evolving…customer needs, competition and technology
Customer is the king.
I really doubt that…when
talking about great product companies.
(opinion is like ……and everybody has got one!!-madonna)
Customer is/was never a king….
Customer is always clueless on what they want (except
for the biological needs). Do I wanted a car when i
had horses!! Do I wanted a Xerox-copier when i didn’t have pen.
Do i wanted a cellphone in 1990′s? i thought it is
just a stupid thing which people used for show-off.
Customer really don’t know what they want unless
the technology reveals the beauty of what the product
can give them….ofcourse at an affordable price.
Yes. Price. That is where technology comes in.
Technology always relied on science to produce things cheaper and better.
I will always put Science-Technology-Product-Customer
In most of the big product companies this is what happened.
Science reveal charecteristics….people thought about
how to use those chareceristics for human….brought in technology to produce
it faster-cheaper. Products got produced.
I am talking about products like cars, aeroplanes, computers,
phones and cellphone, bulbs, post-it, Xerox,
If you want to put a shop …then you look for what people want
buy those products put them on the shop and use some lighting
technologies to high-light what you have and sell it for profit.
Kasi
@Kasi, The basic point is to first understand whether your product will solve a customer need or not.
Customers don’t know what they want..but if you are building a product, you have to keep customer in mind…at the center..and not technology.
@shashi, yes. I completely agree with that. If something we produce is not useful for human being in one way or other it is not even a product. This i have mentioned earlier as well…”people thought about how to use those charecteristics for human”….probably I should have put customer instead of human.
In reality most of the big product companies created products and customers followed them. Obviously the products not only solved what customer wants but took customers to the next level which they never thought of having.