Product Excellence By Design Manifesto
As a movement for product excellence, Startup Product Academy (SUPA) grows through recognition that product value creation exists across the entire product lifecycle, and product excellence is achieved through alignment with the following values:
PEOPLE and PLANET FIRST
People first includes consideration, respect, and dignity for
Customers, stake-holders, end-users
Workers
Every human who touches the product from inception to destruction including
- all of the elements that contribute to the product manufacturing process and/or
- the actions involved to move the product from idea to construction to consumption, then deconstruction , recycling and obsolescence
No human harmed at any point in the product lifecycle
No destruction of planet or limited resources that sustain human life
Recognition, respect for dignity, empathy and validation of all human contribution and touch points across the product lifespan.
For discussion:
Can any product be considered excellent based on this idealized definition?
Can we afford to continue making products with planned obsolescence?
Can any product be funded when people’s interests are placed above profits first?
QUESTIONING and OBSERVATION
Questioning the status quo and the unknown:
Starting with
How to use technology to increase quality of life for all involved across all phases of the product development and usage from inception to destruction
Why are things done, made, built, promoted, manufactured, distributed, consumed and destroyed this way?
What are the implications of these actions?
What are the factors that created this system and maintain the status quo?
How can this process, product, viewpoint be improved?
How can they be transformed into net positive?
MARKET DISCOVERY
Discovering the market first.
Demonstrating that a problem is worth solving by identifying ecosystems, benefits, current issues not being addressed
Encouraging identification of solutions for problems that must be solved that may never have a market but are required to enhance the quality of life on the planet for all
CONTINUOUS LEARNING
Empowering people with access to knowledge, opportunities to transmit and gain mastery across boundaries, silos and systems to collaborate
Providing a foundation of knowledge via educational events that forward product leaders, makers, and business people to be accountable for the results of their product endeavors
Increasing exposure to thought leaders and ideas via digital events, summits, conferences, meetups, workshops, hands-on and immersive, experiential trainings on subject matter immediately implementable and executable
Opening doors, providing bridges, nurturing open, diverse, inclusive, transparent communities and making this information accessible across boundaries
RESPONSIVE PROCESS
Identifying appropriate process as opposed to forcing process on people and systems
Employing systems perspectives, approaches, and best practices
Recognizing that process (or lack thereof) is a symptom and expression of culture - not a band-aid or panacea
Functionality first: Form follows function
People first: successful process buy-in starts from human-centered design thinking approaches
APPROPRIATE TOOLS
Implementing tools with empathy for the people involved
LONG TAIL VIEW
Immediate experimentation for sustainable, long term results
Accountability for consequences throughout the product lifecycle
HOLISTIC APPROACH
Cross functional, cross-discipline, and cross-team collaboration
Bias towards
Action
Inclusion
Transparency
Win/win
Diversity
Quantifiable results
And continuous learning organizations
Progress not perfection
“Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.” Harriet Braiker, Psychologist and author
Successive Incremental Iterations
On-going experimentation
Continuous improvements
Data-driven decision making