Global Product Management Talk is pleased to bring you episode 026 of...

The Everyday Innovator with host Chad McAllister, PhD.

The podcast is all about helping people involved in developing and managing products become more successful, grow their careers, and STANDOUT from their peers.

Our Guest: If you have listened to other episodes of this podcast, you likely have heard me say that the challenges with product management and creating products customers love is not actually development – while it’s not easy, we generally know how to get a product developed. The real challenge is knowing what product to develop. This is the realm of designing for the user, and specifically, the user experience. Consequently, I’m pleased to interview Mark Capper, an expert in designing user experiences.  Mark has over 20 years of experience refining his craft of user-centered product development and innovation across the spectrum of organizations from startups to several Fortune 100 companies, including PepsiCo, Johnson & Johnson, and Microsoft. He is the founder of Kompas Strategy, an innovation agency located in Santa Monica, CA.

How do you create meaningful products for customers? Some tools and steps include:

Identifying cultural trends and movements. Consider the driving forces impacting the target market using environmental scanning (such as PESTLE analysis). Reviewing social media content is helpful for identifying emerging trends and themes.
Interviewing customers and discussing what cultural trends are important to them and how they feel about the context of a product.
Creating market segments based on customer mindsets, attitudes, and the information collected from environmental scanning and customer interviews.
Designing the product to a specific segment.