What are the reasons you purchase products?
You like the service? Because you have money? Or simply because you don’t think of any other thing to do?
Nope.
The reason why you or anyone else anywhere in the world purchases something is due to the advantages it can provide.
The product also addresses users’ issues by offering capabilities. These features are the main reason your software or hardware is worth buying.
If you’re looking to please your customers more as well, you’ll have to focus on planning and incorporating better features in your product.
So, what does it mean?
The term “feature” refers to a feature or characteristic that a product features. It’s basically anything that an item is, does, or has built-in to address the problems of your customer’s problems. It’s crucial to keep this important aspect in mind: The only thing an attribute of your product is designed to fulfill your product’s customers’ needs and give the users enough value to continue making use of it.
This article will help you discover the following:
- What are the features of a product that feature planning involves,
- the most important questions to ask when deciding on features for your product
- The process of feature planning can be accomplished using the help of a program management system and
- Tips and best practices to plan and execute features more effectively.
What is a feature plan?
Launching a brand new feature in a product is one of the most challenging aspects of the planning and management of projects.
You’re hosting dozens of conferences with the stakeholders as well as departments, holding daily standups (if you’re using Scrum), and then creating numerous complex reports that help the top management evaluate your performance.
In the midst of all that, it’s easy to lose concentration, make mistakes and completely fail in your attempts to introduce a new product feature idea.
This is where the planning of features for products is where it comes in.
Planning for features involves devising processes that assign resources and making the necessary technical and human input needed to develop the feature on a deadline and within budget. Feature planning is the road-mapping method used to map the direction of how a feature develops prior to taking the first step.
Roadmaps for projects are similar to feature plans in that they allow your team to better plan and implement projects. To learn more about the process of road-mapping projects, take a look at our informative blog about creating a product roadmap.
Questions to ask during the planning of the next product feature
According to Harvard philosopher Thomas Kuhn, “the answers you receive are based on the kind of question you pose.” So, if trying to figure out how an item feature functions, it is essential to inquire into the intricacies of the process for planning features.
Why?
I’m not going to go over specifics from Simon Sinek’s award-winning written work (Start with Why). We all know that everything begins with what.
Planning for features starts by understanding the reasons behind the feature you’re planning to construct.
If features are created to alleviate pain points for users of your product, the process of planning features must begin by identifying your target user’s needs, the way your feature is planned to address these issues, as well as before and after photos of the way your product can aid your users.
The purpose-based question can help your entire management team understand what your products’ users need. This will help you start charting your route in addressing their problems.
Who are your ideal customers?
Features in products are designed to address problems for people.
Note the emphasis on the human element. The product will not just sit at Fifth Avenue and become useful. It will have to address an issue specific to the target audience.
Perhaps the issue is one that your current users are struggling with or one they’ve been actively seeking to fix (feature ticket requests). In the end, at time’s end, your product has to be tailored for the target market.
Once you have a clear understanding of what your intended audience wants, then take it a step further by being aware of who they are as well as their particular situation.
When will you release it?
Create a goal. It will be essentially an interval of time or a period within which you plan to launch the feature to be developed.
At this point, the team responsible for product development could join in, using their previous experiences in launching different features to estimate the amount of input required and the amount of time it will take to develop the feature you’re planning.
What steps are required for the launch of this feature? What actions must be taken to implement this plan?
At this point, you know the issues you’re trying to address with this feature and are aware of how long it will take.
The next issue to decide on with the team responsible for product management is the various tasks that will need to be accomplished in order to complete the feature.
For example, suppose you’re looking to create an app on mobile for your company. In that case, You’ll require developers who are committed to the project, graphics experts ready, and copywriters ready to write the content.
Here’s where you can make a list of all the layers of input that you think about for the coming feature to start with the process of transferring these layers.
The process of determining features
What’s the most efficient method to accomplish things in the field of project management? If you answered “processes,” you’re correct.
A procedure will give you the steps to be followed in order to accomplish a task.
So, if you’re not already aware, the most effective way to think about and implement product features is to employ the process.
The process of planning features provides you with a reliable and adaptable tool to use when making plans for the tasks involved in the creation of an entirely new feature.
1. You must define the feature you’re considering.
Before you begin designing a feature for your product, The primary step to take is to determine the appearance of the feature and answer questions about the capabilities it’ll provide as well as how much it’ll be integrated with your existing product as well as the channels you’ll distribute it on, and what it’ll look like after it’s finished.
2. Create resources and an outline of the timeline
The resources, in this case, aren’t just limited to materials but also include the human and technical components required to build the feature you’re planning to create.
This is the ideal stage where you can discuss with the other departments in your company the number of employees they can put into work they can perform as well as any restrictions which could limit their ability to perform.
When you have committed resources to your project, you can estimate the time it will take to have a functional version of your feature available to end users.
3. Write down your main point of view.
The feature you’re trying to build into pieces and pieces that will eventually be able to fit together.
In this way, it’ll be simple to assign tasks to teams that are responsible or individuals. Get everyone to concentrate on the things they excel at and look at everything from an individual level to determine the things that might not be working in the way you’d like them to.
Fix it, if possible.
4. Prototype
If you have a thorough outline of the feature you’re planning to implement with you, everyone in the team who is engaged in the project will develop a scaled-down version of the feature you’ve envisioned.
It doesn’t need to be appealing at first However; it has to accurately reflect the entire essence of the actual feature you’re planning to implement.
Why? Because it is the only method to look at the function in a smaller way and make any adjustments that are needed.
5. Gather feedback from users as well as other stakeholders
When you’ve created a functional version of the product you’re developing with the help of a prototype, the end users are the best judge to judge whether the feature solves their needs and how it accomplishes this.
Make your prototype available to people who use it to test it and get feedback on how helpful they experience it in daily use.
6. Reiterate
With the help of real-time feedback from your customers, Get back to work developing your product, testing, and refining again until you have a fully functional product.
Best practices for preparing the features of your product
There are some key guidelines to remember when planning features for your product to ensure you spend your team’s time effectively, efficiently, and, perhaps most importantly, profitably. They include:
Make use of tools for managing projects to streamline your workflow
Feature planning is an aspect of project management. For the most effective results, it is essential to use an effective project management software that allows you to manage your team and communicate effectively, assigning and tracking tasks effortlessly and gathering reports on your progress.
Tools for managing projects like Saasfe are perfect for creating products with an approach to management.
Communicate
Effective communication with your team, other users, or your clients ensures that everyone shares the same understanding of what your customers want and is working towards it in concert.
Experiment
When you establish strict and precise rules for the design of products, It becomes difficult for your team members to test out different ideas and become inventive.
Eliminate rigid barriers and create a space that allows your team to explore ideas they believe are worthy of consideration.
Conclusion
The process of planning product features requires the time to refine your method, a system of continuous improvement, and the best software for managing project features to ensure it’s right. We created Saasfe to give teams like yours an application that can provide the following:
- Collect feature ideas from customers and team members
- Plan product roadmap and track the status of the new feature
- Announce as soon as the feature goes live
Whatever the size of your team or the complexity of your features, Saasfe empowers you to create and release the most effective features you can.
Try Saasfe for free here
