Hi Reader,
I'm a fan of playing pinball.
As a child growing up on a Northern Ontario island in Canada during the summer, there weren't many pinball machines around, and boredom often inspired creativity. On one rainy day, I decided to make my own pinball machine. I used an old box as the base, curled up wires for springs, cardboard pieces for the bumpers, and gumballs for the balls. To attach the springs to the toggles, I used partially chewed Bubblicious chewing gum.
As the summer went on, I modified my pinball machine to add more toggles and gumballs, painted graphics on the backboard, and even added a small bell that I stole from my brother’s bicycle.
Unfortunately, my homemade pinball machine didn't last long. Despite several attempts to improve its durability, it eventually fell apart, and by then, it was time to head back to school.
A pinball machine is a product
My pinball machine was a product. What is a product? A product serves to provide value. It has distinct boundaries and clearly defined users or customers.
I was the defined user, and the pinball machine delivered value by serving as a source of entertainment for me during a rainy summer. Because it was so fragile, I kept it stored deep in my closet and wouldn't allow any of my island friends to use it, so this product didn’t have any “official” customers.
Most products are designed for a global audience, not just for one bored kid during a summer. In an upcoming article (spoiler alert!), we'll dive into how to use project management implementation techniques to efficiently deploy the product straight into the eager arms of a group of customers.
The pinball product development lifecycle
My pinball machine went through the stages of a product lifecycle as follows:
- Developed the idea using market research (island edition = none existed)
- Validated the idea and vision (had a meeting with myself)
- Built a prototype (version 1.0 - aka minimalistic)
- Tested the product (played solo to set my own high score)
- Released the product (product launch party held exclusively for myself)
- Iterated and enhance the product (added toggles, gumballs, graphics, and a bell)
- Reached maturity stage (gave it a well-deserved retirement party at the local dump)
A product is a project
But guess what? At every step of the product development lifecycle, I was using project management techniques. The product I created was a result of completing project tasks.
I could have used any project management methodology technique such as agile, scrum, waterfall or a hybrid approach to create the product, but since I was just a little kid, I used the obvious method – diligently working through one task at a time.
Many teams often overlook the importance of integrating project management aspects into the product lifecycle. Without using project management methodologies—whether just a little or extensively, depending on the product's complexity—we risk ending up with incomplete products that fail to work as intended.
I was fine with my incomplete, barely functional pinball machine, but what if I were tasked with creating the most impressive pinball machine of all time? A financial investor would not accept anything less than a fully functional product.
Incomplete products are trending
I've observed a growing trend of half finished products in companies lately, highlighting the importance of efficient project management in product development and deployment. Stay tuned for future posts on this topic.
I've often shared my experience of building my own machine with other pinball aficionados. In fact, I once chatted with pinball wizards at the Pinball Hall of Fame Museum while in Las Vegas, yet none have said they tried to create their own machine in a box.
Whether you see it as unusual or not, I believe my childhood rainy summer pinball project was simply preparing me to write this article about how products and projects CAN work well together!
|
Barbara Kephart, PMP
Founder and Chief Project Officer
Projects Pivot
|
Attention Project Managers! Ready to land your dream PM job? Join our "Get a Job: Selling Yourself with Impact" series. Sign up now for exclusive updates!
Recent Articles
Are Happy Project Managers a Myth? Motivation in our projects
Please share with your colleagues!