At work, there’s a new project kicking off. So, naturally, your product development team starts with business requirements gathering. A series of requirements gathering sessions asks stakeholders and customers, “What do you want?” However, this approach is not only highly problematic, but it can possibly lead to disastrous results for new products and services.
The Surprising Emergence Of New-To-The-World Products
Using Amazon Alexa as a case study, did Amazon receive overwhelming requests from customers that they wanted to purchase or reorder products via voice? When Amazon Echo was first launched in 2014, it was marketed as a smart speaker to control your music with your voice. But the story goes back much further. Amazon’s proprietary R&D group, Lab126, began working on a secret project in late 2010 to create an augmented reality (AR), hologram-like display that users could interact with through hand gestures and speech. Did Amazon customers really ask for this? No!
Over the years, the AR aspirations for the product were descoped and the core capability laser-focused to speech recognition. At the last two International CES shows, Amazon Alexa reigned supreme. It has evolved from a novelty with a questionable use case to the de facto natural language API service for controlling smart home appliances, lights, thermostats, humidifiers and even toilets.
Traditional requirement-gathering that places the burden of proof on customer feedback would not have produced a product like the Amazon Alexa.
So how should you go about requirements gathering? First, focus on benefits-oriented requirements. Second, take into account the emotional goals of users.
To read the full article, visit Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesnycouncil/2019/07/30/why-innovation-shouldnt-start-with-business-requirements/#6dbc7db61388
About Scott Amyx
Managing Partner at Amyx Ventures, Top Global Innovation Keynote Speaker, TEDx, Forbes, Singularity U., SXSW, IBM Futurist, Tribeca Fellow
