Understanding "Ideas Backlog" - A Case Study

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Ideas in "RAW-FORM" (1) ought to take time moving through those stages until they transform into something good so as to be carried into the build phase & finally APPENDED (6) to the product backlog. #productmanagement #ideas #ideabacklog #3is #iterations 1/

My recent article "The 3 i's" covers how "Iterations" & "Increments" ought to lead to "Improvements" whilst underpinning the importance of holding those ideas on a backlog and evolving them stage-wise through some sort of a funnel. mgmtinc.substack.com/p/the-3-is 2/

As for this thread here, we'll dive into a case study where we consider the process of ideation & how that ought to evolve through each of those stages in the funnel step-wise & proving how increments & iterations ought to lead to improvements beyond any doubts. 3/

Consider this. Say, you're a PM at WhatsApp & you've been handed the responsibility of coming up with ideas to better the app. FYI - "this also happens to be a very popular PM interview question"! So, let's give this a shot taking it over those steps. 4/

1. RAW IDEAS When one says "better the app" it could really have a very wide scope sans being tied to any specific goal & it is for sure going to be a really long list. Here's a snapshot of that: 5/

You see how the idea generation could continue for eternity. Also observe how it is all over the place without any prohibitions / restrictions towards a scope / bound to be aligned towards a goal / purpose. Ok. Let's move on to the next step now. 6/

2. RELEVANCE The term "relevance" ought to lead to a question: - relevance to what? For that one needs some clarity over goals / the direction set by the leadership. So, let's say the goal is to "increase signups" - which can be decoded to "get more people to use the app" 7/

So, we'd refine the previous list narrowing the options further down to a select few. Like so: 8/

3. RESEARCHED When all the 7 points above look great & very relevant to the goal, we ought to get to the bottom of each of those alongside: - firstly establishing desirability - then exploring the feasibility & viability 9/

Assuming we have carried out primary & secondary research which has led to some findings based on what was desirable to the users whilst getting into multiple levels of immersion. Now, the resultant could end up looking like this: 10/

4. DISCOVERED When research may give you basic notions about what fits broadly leading to a basic level elimination of what doesn't belong, it is advisable that you subject it to deeper fact-finding which is what the discovery phase ought to entail. 11/

So, the culmination of the discovery would mean that there are many facts unearthed & you are now able to narrow those options further down unambiguously, clearly. We ought to have something like this canvas here with those facts listed under each point as relevant: 12/

5. PRIORITIZED Given the fact that the previous stages have narrowed it down to 4 - 5 features, it's natural to feel like all of them are befitting leading to more confusions than really clearing the clout. And, that's exactly where prioritization could come to the rescue. 13/

So, you'd have done really well if you'd get to something like as shown here in the figure. Now FEATURE 4 is a clear winner. See how we have not only picked one feature successfully but also we have enough clarity to rank the others in order earmarking them for the future. 14/

6. APPENDED So, as for those steps we are more clear that FEATURE (4) - "Link to Facebook" ought to be the default choice for the build. Now, whether it has to preempt / get appended below the existing items in the backlog could depend on exigence, deadlines et. al. 15/

That's it folks! If you enjoyed reading this, please: 1. Retweet the first tweet - it'd help me greatly! 2. Follow me @bgpinv for more on #productmanagement, #leadership & #culture. 3. Check out & subscribe to my Newsletter - mgmtinc.substack.com/ Thanks for reading 🙏

SUMMARY: "Idea generation" is an organic process & its only but natural that its given its share of importance & due credit. But, ensure you flip, spin, toss, toast all those ideas until such time that they are totally cooked & well seasoned before taking them any ahead.