(Cross posted on onproductmanagement.net)
All over the web and in all the product management communities, there are articles and discussions about gamification. If you’ve been offline for a while, gamification is about applying design and development efforts to software in a way to make it more engaging, more “fun.”
Not only have whole applications been born under the premise (i.e. Foursquare), but gamification has also had great impact in some of the more traditional business software, (ie. Salesforce.com) allowing for more interaction and amusement when performing daily tasks.
I’m all about having more fun in my interactions with technology, and can truly appreciate making the more mundane less so; but, I believe sometimes we have taken the concept of gamification too far. (more…)
(Cross posted on onproductmanagement.net)
This year’s holiday tune was a bit harder to write. It seems that people are all over the place with how their year has progressed – some good, some bad, some hurried, some slowed. But, isn’t it great to know that a life in product management is certainly unpredictable? Happy Holidays.
(To the tune of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”, preferably in the styling of Bruce Springsteen. It is a bit clunky, but it works. )
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(This article is cross-posted at onproductmanagement.net)
This is a simple post about being simple.
I was thrilled and honored to have a visit by my good friend, Jim Holland, for the recent Product Camp in Minnesota. While he was here, he scanned my business book shelf and borrowed a book, my copy of Seth Godin’s “Poke the Box.” Jim enjoyed the short read and wrote a nice blog post based on his learning from it; in exchange, he brought me a small token gift, a simple non-descript cube that has somehow changed my life.
(This article is cross-posted at onproductmanagement.net)
In this week’s #prodmgmttalk, (on Twitter Mondays at 4 pm pacific) there was a big discussion on what to do with “bad” customers; how did they get to be called “bad”; how do we know they are “bad”; and, what do you do with them. It’s amazing how many points you can make in 140 characters, in a 20 minute timeframe!
While there was enough content to write a book on a “bad” customer, the focus here is to understand why your product even has “bad customers”.
(This article is cross-posted at onproductmanagement.net)
In several online forums/blogs recently, there has been a lot of talk and discussion about “how often do I update this?” “Change that?” “Do this?” There was a specific thread that was related to a question about a product roadmap, but I’ve also seen the same question about web content, marketing communication pieces, customer visits and other outward facing activities. Our product professional peers are looking for some schedule so they can plug the activity into their calendar and update x, y or z regularly.
But, a calendar appointment is not what is needed to address the challenge.
This is a short post. And I’m not going to get a soapbox and rant, nor will I try to educate or share my views. This is a short post.
It’s fall, and Product Camp season began last month starting in Atlanta, New York and Salt Lake City. But, the real camping season picks up speed starting this weekend with upcoming events in So. California (Orange County,) San Francisco, Seattle, Rocky Mountain, Chicago, Minneapolis and welcoming Nashville. (Apologies if I forgot any.) Make plans to attend a PCamp near you by visiting the “master” schedule list at: http://www.productcamp.org/schedule/
If you are planning to attend – and there really is no reason you should not attend at least one - or present or simply don’t understand the concept and why you should engage, please visit some of my past posts on product camps on this site:
Looking in from the outside, it’s time for product professionals – both management marketing types – to take control of their own careers and growth. Product Camps are OUR venues to do both
(and women, ping me to discuss the “Rainbow Chuck Initiative!”)
(This article is cross-posted at onproductmanagement.net)
I don’t know when it happened but it officially became fall in the Northern Hemisphere. Typically I would moan at this thought, which makes me think about how many bags of leaves I need to rake this season (typically 100 around my house,) or worse yet, that winter and the freezing temperatures are approaching. But this year I’m hoping the new season brings a breath of fresh air. This summer, I realized my parents are getting old. Three out of the four had a significant health problem. And while, thankfully, all are doing better now, it made me face the reality that needs, plans and provisions need to change.
It happens to our products too.
