Product & Strategy in 4 Steps at MVST

Product management is just as important for our projects as design and development. The product managers are the ones who first get in touch with the clients and supervise, guide, influence and monitor the entire phase of a project. They make sure that the schedule is met and that everyone is satisfied. At MVST, we place an extremely high value on a good and productive collaboration with our clients - from start to finish! The process of how Product and Strategy work for us is presented here in four steps.

First of all: Why is Product and Strategy important for customers?

Product and Strategy is key for finding a product market fit, to really focus on what pain points consumers have as well as what consumers want (even if they might not know it yet) and building a product they love.

• Customer research: The best way to create a successful new product is through using surveys, focus groups, interviews, and observation to gather feedback and insights about the customer's pain points, preferences, and priorities. This will help to match your product idea with the best possible solution.
• Design: By making use of the 5 steps of design thinking - empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test. Et voilà: a fully customer-centric product can be delivered.
• Product development: This process involves creating a product, designing the user experience, and testing the product with real customers to ensure that it meets their needs.

So overall, Product and Strategy is the first and decision-making step when it comes to creating a great product for your startup or established business.

What is the difference between Product Strategy and Product Definition?

The product strategy is a plan that describes the development and launch of a product. It states how best to connect and implement the product's vision, goals, target market, value proposition and competitive positioning. In addition, the product strategy specifies the entire development process, keeping the company's business goals in mind.

The product definition, on the other hand, is a detailed description of the features, functions and design of a product. It also includes the user interface, user experience, technical requirements and other details. Broadly speaking, product definition is about defining how the product should work and look. This provides a clear roadmap for the development team to follow.

This is how we do it - Product Success with MVST

We follow a product and strategy roadmap with four important steps:

1. Concept and Planning

This is the first and most important step! We get to know our clients and their ideas in an intense way. This is where the product gets shaped for the first time and sets the tone for everything that follows.

First, getting to know each other and brainstorming! We conduct a customer workshop where our Product Managers can gain a better understanding of the customer's vision and wishes and this information will be included in the final product. We mostly communicate via Google Meets, in person meetings and Slack. That way, we can update each other quickly and efficiently.

After the initial customer workshop, it's important to conduct market research to understand what's already out there. This involves looking at competitors and getting inspiration from other products, even if they're in a different industry. By staying up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies, Product Managers at MVST can create a product that is not only innovative but also meets the needs of the target audience.

User interviews are another important part in this stage. These interviews can be used to test hypotheses and gain insights into how users interact with the product.

What we try to answer using user insights:

• Identify user needs: What do users need from a product or service, including the features, functionality, and design elements?
• Improve user experience: How easy or difficult it is to use the product, what features are confusing or not helpful, and what could be improved to enhance the overall user experience?
• Inform product development: What features should be added or removed, and what changes are necessary to meet user needs?
• Drive product innovation: How can we transform an idea into an innovation and what are the needs and opportunities to reach this goal?

Finally it's time to break the product down into key features. This involves identifying the most important aspects of the product and prioritizing them based on customer needs and expectations. This is highly important to make sure that the product meets the needs of the target audience while also staying within budget and time constraints.

2. Development

The aim with Product and Strategy at MVST is to define a tailor-made concept on how to get the best possible user experience. So next up is the development stage to bring the product to life.

First, we adopt an agile method with our dedicated development team. The team works in two-week sprints with a demo at the end of each sprint to showcase progress to stakeholders. This approach allows for flexibility and collaboration, enabling the team to quickly adapt to changing requirements and feedback.

Jira and Firebase are two tools that can be extremely useful during the development stage in the product and strategy process.

Jira helps the team manage and track their work during the development process. With creating and tracking tasks and assigning them to team members you will never miss deadlines. Jira also provides visibility into project progress, making it easy to identify bottlenecks and areas that need attention.

Firebase, on the other hand, is a mobile and web application development platform that provides backend services, including data storage, authentication, and hosting. It allows developers to quickly build and deploy applications, reducing the time and effort required to get a product to market.

Using these tools together can provide great benefits during the development process. This is why MVST works only with the latest and best tech stack on the market. We want to provide our clients the best possible experience and - of course - to create the best and most useful products. If you want to know more about our Development Processes at MVST, click here.

3. Test

Quality assurance is extremely important and highly valued at MVST! It is indispensable to our product and strategy process. How do we manage to create amazing products?

We conduct ongoing testing to identify and address any issues early in the development cycle. Our testing approach includes both automated and manual testing by several people to ensure comprehensive coverage. Additionally, depending on the project, we conduct alpha and beta testing to gather feedback from real users and refine the product further.

In this stage we use Jira and Firebase again. Firebase is our tool of choice when it comes to testing in a staging environment - for mobile apps on iOS and Android devices. Two other tools come to play:

Browserstack is a cloud-based testing platform that allows teams to test their products across multiple devices and browsers. With this tool you can see if products work properly across a wide range of environments.

Testflight allows developers to distribute beta versions of their iOS apps to testers. Its special feature is that you can gather customer feedback before launching an app to the public. We use it for testing in the production environment but Testflight is exclusively for Apple. For Android devices we use the internal testing provided by the Google Store.

4. Launch & Support

Product Managers at MVST are responsible for handing over the product to the client, along with all relevant documentation. This includes technical specifications, user manuals, and any other information that the client may need to use and maintain the website effectively.

We support with mobile product launches in the app stores and also in hosting web-based products. Our team is experienced in managing the launch process, ensuring a smooth and successful release.

MVST’s aim is to keep functionality and performance of the product as high as possible while enabling easy and fast maintenance. Furthermore, we are committed to incorporating further improvements and features to ensure that the product remains relevant and useful to users over time.

4 reasons why Product and Strategy is crucial

... when it comes to developing websites and apps!

• Impact: The development sector is focused on creating positive change in the world, whether it is through improving health, education, economic opportunities, or social welfare. A well-designed Product and Strategy is designed to achieve the desired outcomes.
• Sustainability: A good Product and Strategy makes sure that the vision of a customer will be sustainable in the long run, both in terms of financial sustainability and impact sustainability. That way, the project has a clear path towards self-sufficiency.
• Efficiency: Resources are often limited within the development realm and there is a need to achieve the maximum impact with limited resources. Focusing on good Product and Strategy, all resources will be used efficiently and effectively, reducing any kinds of waste and maximizing impact.
• Accountability: Stakeholders expect to see results and impact from their investments. Product and Strategy makes sure to deliver measurable results and that progress can be tracked and reported.

Wrap Up

Overall, the product management process involves a series of steps designed to ensure that the final product meets the needs and expectations of the target audience. Each step in this process is essential to creating a successful product that customers will love. This is exactly what we strive for at MVST, and nothing less.