Product Development as Iterated Taste

At Apple Computer, for example, when product development engineers come up with ideas for new products, they build a prototype that embodies those ideas and bring it directly to customers to seek their reaction. Depending on the reaction or feedback, a new round of development may be initiated.

Our product simply is what we set out to build. However, the road from an idea to a market-ready product is rarely a straight line. After we have an idea of what we want to create—a better email app, a faster database or a yummier chocolate cake—we go through a process of building prototypes, or ugly first versions, that we put in front of prospect

This process reflects the profound and precise dynamics of research rather than the speed of brainstorming. It implies sharing knowledge through exploratory experiments rather than extemporaneous creativity. It resembles the process of science and engineering (although it targets meanings rather than technologies) more than that of a creative agenc

Instead, it is necessary to optimize for early and often learning in a real environment with real customers or consumers. This lowers the risk of delivery, generates value earlier, enables pivoting to maximize value, and locks in progress as you go. The best part is that, unlike pouring concrete, which sets, with knowledge-based products and servic

I find that most product teams have a much better sense of how to accomplish the second goal of delivering solid software than how to accomplish the first goal of rapid experimentation and discovery.

business. It usually takes trying out several different approaches to a solution before we find one that solves the underlying problem.