Paul Sizemore » Product Management

The Artifacts of Agile Development

Paul Sizemore — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:51:06 +0000

Anything produced in business that is not used in the finished good or service is an artifact, and requirements are artifacts. Requirements are essential, too. Because of this it is important to create the minimum documentation needed to communicate the requirements. Many times the business solutions group, or a consulting firm, feels it is paid by the word.

Large enterprises, such as Humana and SiriusXM, have traditionally excelled at creating excessive artifacts. Sometimes it’s needed, to help in an audit situation. But, often, it’s a byproduct of the culture, and doesn’t directly serve the product development process.

This leads to enormous Word requirement documents in excess of 100 pages, that the teams avoid. Instead of looking at requirements as documentation, it is important to look at them as communication. It’s also helpful to have it in a form that the teams enjoy going to, they can get in and out quickly. They can find the information they need.

A switch to Jira, http://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/overview, can put the infrastructure and tools in place to make that organizational change.

Signing Up on Meetup for ProductCamp DC

Paul Sizemore — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:40:29 +0000

In order to signup for ProductCamp DC you will will first need to go to the event page: http://www.meetup.com/ProductCampDC/events/48130972/
The First Step) Click Join Us

Second Step) As a user that does not have a Meetup Account, or is not signed in, you will be prompted to create an account or sign in.

Step Three) If you have never used Meetup before, you need to verify Your Email Address. The browser will message you that you need to check your email. There is a message in the inbox of the email account you indicated, and you need to click the link to activate your Meetup account.

Fourth & last Step) After verifying your address, the link will take you to the ProductCamp DC event registration. You’ll get the chance to fill out the event profile. Be sure to include your Twitter if you have one.

GoLive on the Horizon for @PCampDC New Site

Paul Sizemore — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:49:29 +0000

We are very close to going live with the new site. It’s been an effort
not to creep; scope creep is often the killer. I’ve changed my name to
ProductCamp, instead of creating a new user for the admin account, and
we made a few other changes. It’s looking good, and I’m confident that
the WordPress backend will fill the news of the organization for years
to come.

There were a lot of requests for changes that were graphic treatments,
and not really part of the minimum requirements.

A few of the outstanding items:
• Remove line on home page above the H1 tagged content.
• Remove border on all the linked images.
• Move Share this button to the top.
• Remove the Keyboard Shortcuts and Toggle Comments

The next planning meeting is Thursday, we should be ready to go live
with the new site by then.

It’s the first step to getting to the organization goals of:
100 participants
$12,000 in Sponsor value (inking or direct dollars)

Another Iteration of the ProductCamp DC Site

Paul Sizemore — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 00:55:45 +0000

I’ve just made another iteration of the ProductCamp DC web site, with
more graphics, and a YouTube video of Paul Young talking about the
Vancouver ProductCamp.

A few things that are in the backlog for the next iteration:

• Remove bar on top of “ProductCamp DC on Sat March 6…”.
• Update copy to “ProductCamp DC 3 is on Saturday, May 5, 2012 at
CustomInk in Tysons Corner, VA”
• ”Tysons Corner, VA” should link to CustomInk’s address on Google
Maps. Link opens in new window. Address is 7902 Westpark Drive,
McLean, VA.
• Underneath, in font smaller in relation to the above announcement,
“What is a ProductCamp?”. This should link to another page on the
site.
• Remove “Event Details” and date, location, time.
• Under Events & News add “Happy Hour Feb 2011″
• Make the icons above Events & News a little bigger
• Register, Volunteer and Sponsor will need some color/graphic treatment.
• Under Who We Are, add “Event Planning Committee” under Board of Directors.
• Remove Alicia from Board of Directors.
• Move the Share This button to the top right along with the FB,
Twitter, etc. links.

Add Links or Embed:

http://www.viddler.com/v/45e6bd2f

http://paulsizemore.com/

New ProductCamp DC Site in Development

Paul Sizemore — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:18:54 +0000

The ProductCamp DC team is creating a new web site to replace the older Webnode site. We have decided on a WordPress site, and to use the P2 theme, found at http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/p2. The theme is clean and modern.

P2 is the theme that I am currently using on this site, and it’s extremely easy to use.

We’ve started to refine messaging to Register, Sponsor, and Volunteer. This aligns with the three primary personas that I see, the attendee, the executive that will sponsor, and the person that will be an active volunteer.

ProductCamp DC Location Announced

Paul Sizemore — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:37:43 +0000

The next ProductCamp DC on May 5, 2012 is going to be at CustomInk, located in Tysons Corner, VA. It will be easier in & out than Network Solutions was, needing people to check in as they entered.

Sign Up

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What does a Humana Product Owner Do?

Paul Sizemore — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:52:35 +0000

At the Humana Innovation Center the Product Owner is responsible for representing the customer voice in the Scrum team, and is often the only voice of the customer. So, the stronger the Product Owner is, the more the product will be what aligns with the Stories, Epics, Themes and product Vision. All too often, with a weak product owner, the user experience is diluted in efforts made by the development team. Their goal is to couple stories, and maintain the greatest velocity they can. This presents a point of conflict between the product owner, and the rest of the Scrum Team.

Acting as a mentor to the product owner, we were once told that it would take five story points to complete what was a basic php include, and it went unchallenged in the scrum, until the end when I spoke up. With challenge, it was quickly lowered to a one.
I see the scrum as a fight, a fight between the product owner and dev, and being outnumbered, the product owner needs to be able to spot problems.

The product owner takes the Key Feature & Epics, writes supporting stories, and presents them to the Scrum team.

The product owner is responsibilities are:
• To write stories, and make sure they tracked in the backlog
• Prioritizes the backlog, according to the product strategy
• Helps the Scrum Master & Team in Release & Sprint Planning
• Although they live in the day-to-day product details, they advise on Themes and the Vision
• Accepts or rejects the work presented by the development team
• A stakeholder communication (in this aspect they protect the team)
• They can terminate the sprint
• They speak on behalf of the customer, and is the customer’s champion

Most importantly, the Product Owner is ultimately responsible for the success of the product.

ProductCamp Austin 8 Announced

Paul Sizemore — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:51:02 +0000

ProductCamp Austin 8: February 18, 2012.

The holiday season is over, and now that you are in ‘recovery mode,’ you can look forward to ProductCamp Austin 8. You can Register early, because it will probably fill up.

Event Details
ProductCamp Austin 8
Date: Saturday, February 18th
Time: 8:15AM – 4:30PM, Happy Hour 4:30PM – 6:30PM
Location: AT&T Conference Center

ProductCamp DC: An Unconference

Paul Sizemore — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 18:32:55 +0000

ProductCamp DC is an open source conference to teach, network and participate in the DC community of Product Managers, Product Marketers, and entrepreneurs. The cost of ProductCamp DC is your participation, there are no ticket costs. Just bring your ideas, expertise and enthusiasm. You are asked to volunteer in some capacity, either leading a session, facilitate a panel discussion, take video, or bring something unique to ProductCamp DC.

Stay in contact with ProductCamp DC:

WebSite:
Twitter:
Facebook:
Meetup:
LinkedIn:

Best Practices in Coding: A Starting Point

Paul Sizemore — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 16:36:24 +0000

When starting development on a new product, it’s often important to establish guidelines of best practices. In the attached, best practices for the Intranet development at Finish Line.

Practices.doc Download this file