Software requirements are arguably the single biggest source of heartache for Product Managers and anybody else working to move a software product forward. Requirements definition is every Product Manager's dreaded opportunity to wrestle with all the contention, politics, and conflicting viewpoints an organization has to offer. Not only is formulating and prioritizing requirements the essential starting ...

A Cloudburst is a novel idea. It’s an online discussion focused on a word cloud. Everyone chimes in to contribute their ideas. Take a look at this word cloud I made about Software Requirements. Add your thoughts to the discussion in the comments below! What do you think? Let’s Hear From You Do you work with software requirements ...

Again and again, I see organizations struggle with requirements, that component of making software where the needs and desires for new and changed capabilities are defined and handed to Development to build into the product. The challenges stem from one or more important misconceptions about requirements. These misconceptions in turn prevent the team in various ...

This article is a reprint of an oldie but goodie about Requirements. It will help you measure the expected return from Requirements so that you can reconcile competing needs and prioritize new capabilities for your product. Read 03039 ROI and ROR: Return on Requirements for ideas on how to prioritize requirements.

This is the 100th issue of Product Management Challenges. When I began writing this newsletter a little over three years ago, it was my hope to build up an unmatched source of real-world tips and guidance about software Product Management. I am pleased to say that the many back issues have covered a multitutde of ...

A major challenge that faces every software product is determining the priority of the oh-so-many suggestions that come to Product Management as requirements for the next release. This is one of those areas that wind up containing a heavy dose of mystery masquerading as rocket science. Requirements get prioritized using a complex formula that is ...

Is it possible to do such a good job catering to customer requirements that your product fails? Sometimes your company can listen to users so well that you wind up taking your product down a path that leaves it far behind the competition, and only a superlative effort would let you catch up, if you ...

Companies that make software have one big strong point: they know how to make software. They know how to build all sorts of cool features that work in amazing ways. And when they do that, they create businesses that succeed. But the problem comes when this strength at making new features is not rounded out by ...