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Responding to customer feature requests and building a product that not only solves but anticipates needs is a challenge that so many companies and teams will at some point attempt to tackle. Some of these success stories end up as legends about visionaries and bold moves made by a grandmaster of commerce, while others become perpetual cautionary tales about putting the cart before the horse. The way they're spun, it's either a genius at work in their natural element, Icarus flying too close to the sun, or some combination of the two, as if to say that it all is a matter of luck. But the author's personal story and philosophy in this guide present a project management style that delivers timely results while remaining cautious and perceptive, which should keep R&D waste low, customers happy, and reputations intact.
The premise is predicated on a simple axiom that everyone will claim to follow: start with the problem and solve it, rather than decide on a solution and work it in. Through each chapter, and using tales from both his personal experience working in the medical sector and high-profile victories and fiascoes in the business world, Dias illustrates how to tear down a company's development process and restructure it to focus less on delivered features and more on problems examined and studied. Readers will learn how deceptively persistent avoidance of the problem can be, especially under external pressures to deliver measurables on time or keep up with competitors. The concepts and methods on offer create a space for businesses to thrive not only by really listening to their customers, but also by standing out in increasingly homogenized verticals, all running toward the same horizon out of a need to keep up with trends or perceived needs.
The author's wisdom is presented with the best possible evidence: first-hand experience of when following this strategy has paid off, and first-hand experience of what can go wrong when tackling things in a more traditional, expected way. Each chapter first unfolds a different angle or perspective before transitioning into adoptable, realistic step-by-step approaches that can turn around an entire company's way of thinking. The ideas in this book are not so fantastic as to be unrealistic, nor so revolutionary that they can only be implemented at a company's foundation. These are things every startup or multinational corporation can use to tap into their customers' real frustrations and struggles with a product or service, rather than just what they think they need to make it better.
This entire manual is written in a charming, disarming, and personable style and shines a spotlight on the growing frustration with quality assurance and service in general. Nobody wants to fall behind and become irrelevant by playing it safe, but the steps outlined here provide a clear vision for delivering true customer service and satisfaction without relying on external service providers, constant compatibility checks, or a constant eye on every competitor. Instead, the focus is on creating an honest, attentive dialogue to get to the heart of every feedback form, bug report, or irritated email, and offer a unique solution that will not just tack on more complexity but, hopefully, at the end of the day, make everyone's job easier. In the present age of APIs, algorithms, and artificial intelligence, the concepts of this framework prove to be modern common sense that elevates every aspect of doing business.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review