The Productologist

Many years ago, when I was going off to start grad school, BW (at the time, she wasn’t BW, just B) and I rented a big yellow truck to haul all of our prized personal belongings to our new home (at least for the next two years). It was a long trip (2 days worth of driving), so we did the prudent traveler thing and went to AAA and got a bunch of maps to plan our route. The maps were not only for us, but others, too. Since this was the age before cell phone ubiquity, for safety reasons, we gave a copy to BW’s parents so that they would know what route we were following in case we didn’t show up at our destination or check in periodically.

On my way back from a trade show, I spied an article in the airline magazine about how companies are starting to use the “novel” technique of Ethnography to understand how customers really use their products or to test out prototypes in real-world situations (this seems to be a hot topic, because after seeing the article in the airline mag, I also found a recent post about it at Requirements Defined, a blog from the folks at Seilevel and Experientia).

I usually only travel once or twice a quarter (which my BW really appreciates while not-so-secretly wishing that it was less), but whether its a short hop to LA or a cross-country jaunt to somewhere in the Eastern timezone, it used to be an ordeal to figure out what I needed to bring. Not clothes or sundry items, but what technology to lug along. Some things are easy; laptop, power supply, mouse, phone/pda, but there’s a whole host of supporting items that can make or break a business trip (trust me, I’ve experienced first hand what happens when you don’t have something you need).

On a recent trip to a trade show, I witnessed an interaction (several, actually) that underscored the importance of clear communication. For Product Managers, this actually has applications on a few levels. Here’s what happened–

My return flight connected through Washington D.C. and unfortunately, the 767 that was originally scheduled had mechanical problems (or at least that’s what we were told) and a 757 was now what we would be flying. What this meant was that there were instantly 40 less seats available for customers. It also meant that seat assignments changed, but more about that later.

I was stuck in Chicago on my way to a trade show recently, waiting for my connection to Miami get delayed more and more, so I pulled out the latest issue <12Mar2007> of BusinessWeek. Disclaimer: I have a love/hate relationship with Business Week. Some of the articles/columns are well-written, comprehensive and balanced, providing a unique look at a company or business situation.

Others read like they were written by a publicist or just skim the surface, failing to find out answers to deeper questions.