Business Innovation, Web ReDesign & Product Management – Tips + Resources

October 26, 2012 Blog Info and Tips One comment

Here are some resources and tips on the art of innovation – as applied to: Marketing Strategy Driven Business Innovation + Web ReDesign

Business Innovation – Business Transformation, Refinement of Business Models, Marketing Strategy driven Product Management;  and

Web Innovation & Web ReDesign – Web Strategy, Online Functionality, Web Content, Web Communications, Web Design, Architecture, Interaction Design, User Experience / Usability aspects.

As there are tons of articles, essays, books out there, the posts here are slides / graphics / brief write-ups (in keeping with the Art-of-Innovation ABCs) that raise pertinent questions – mostly about the fundamentals. We believe most of the major innovations / breakthroughs come from paying attention to issues & opportunities at that level (and the major failures / disasters from getting too caught up in the details and missing the big picture)!

With an abundance of experts diving into the depths of specific areas / components, we feel that it helps to retain the ability to step back and view the parts as they fit into a whole. Then, keeping the fundamentals in mind, spotting opportunities & raising questions that can help make it a meaningful & strong whole – with both incremental improvements and radical / major innovations.

Building a combination that is meaningful (as in delivers the targeted benefits / value) and strong (as in robust / resilient to differences from ideal circumstances / initial assumptions).  A combination – of ideas, implementation approaches, design, techniques, tools, best practices – that in the end, delivers solid value to your target customers / customer segments by serving their needs effectively and efficiently i.e. at least a little (and preferably a lot!) better than other available alternatives out there.

Wishing you the best with your Business Innovation, Web ReDesign and Product Management efforts. If you need a helping hand / a sharp sounding board / a fresh perspective for new ideas, just drop a line.

Website Ingredients – Visibility and Impact

April 24, 2013 Product Management, Web Innovation / ReDesign No comments

I think this slide captures the essence of effective website designs / redesigns.

 

Website-Ingredients-Impact-Visibility

 

Participants in the web design process – whether customers / business users, targeted site users, site architects, visual designers (visual / UI), web developers – often have different perspectives and priorities.

At the end of the day (or the site visit by your targeted end user!), the real measure of effectiveness / ROI is how well the site meets your targeted business and marketing goals. All the content, design & branding elements, layout, “cool ideas”, development technologies etc. are either supporting those goals or in some cases, detracting from them.

This slide lays out the major ingredients along the dimensions of visibility and impact. I believe this view can help resolve dilemmas and prioritize challenges – getting all contributors aligned and their energies focused on creating an effective website. [I said "helps" ... yes, it's not a magic wand!]

Visibility - More easily observed, experienced, and thus, commented upon.

Having a good ear for user feedback will help with these aspects.

Impact - Could take some time to percolate through but ultimately makes the difference.

Having a good sense of business / marketing goals, strategies, competitive analysis
will help with these underlying factors!

While both are important, the former without the latter is like (OK, time to bring up a colorful analogy / metaphor here!) … an attractive gift box with nothing inside … enticing – but eventually forgettable or even disappointing!   As as we strive to achieve a good balance, perhaps it’s helpful to remember that it might be better to err on the other side!

For more, click on the slide to visit the Quick Guide to Building Effective Websites.

New AOI Resource: A Roadmap for Web Product Management

March 23, 2013 Business Innovation, Product Management No comments

Much is said and written about Product Roadmaps – to the point of the phrase sounding like a cliche or empty jargon. But while overused, and possibly underutilized in terms of its true intents and value, the underlying concept of the roadmap* is still relevant.

So how about a roadmap that shows the way to creating a product roadmap?

Call it a Web Product Management Roadmap or a Project Roadmap if you will. Something that clarifies the major steps for all the participants involved (project team members / consultants, business users / subject matter experts / end users, project sponsors and reviewers). And elucidates** the interconnections and flow between those steps and their outputs. So everyone can be “on the same page” while planning and executing the project.

You can view the Web Product Management Roadmap here or click on the preview image below.

Business Vision to Website Launch

 

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[[
Some light hearted rambling - after all, this is a blog!

*Roadmap: Ever wonder if there was perhaps a bit of misnaming when this term was er.. invented?! A map or roadmap shows ALL the points / locations and connecting pathways in the area of focus or interest i.e. all possibilities. A travel plan highlights the path you intend to take once you decide on the specific locations you wish you cover in your journey!]] Anyhow, roadmap it is!

**Elucidates = makes lucid … if you do not particularly care about long words! Using a long or rare word for the sake of using a long or rare word is … well, sad. But using it when it means precisely what you want to convey (just the right shade of meaning) is another thing. A positive thing, imo, since clarity should be a key goal for any form of communication – verbal (oral / written), visual (charts / diagrams), or a combination of the two (infographics)! In this case, some might say illustrate is a more common word that could be used … but it doesn’t quite have the meaning of elucidate.

Back to our regular programming (in more ways than one)!
]]

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