Basic Guide
Basic Guide
Product Guide
Product building from the ground up
Historical introduction
A new way to build products
Historical introduction
Everything starts with an idea
But turning that concept into something real—something that works for your customers and supports your business—can be a complex journey.
Product building often requires us to balance a wide range of factors, from technical feasibility to user experience, business viability, and market dynamics. And no two products are the same, which means there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, never.
The process can be especially daunting in the early stages —in zero to one context— when the uncertainty is at its peak.
Questions arise:
Is there a market for this product?
What does the customer really need?
Can we build it? Can we maintain it?
Addressing these uncertainties requires the input of multidisciplinary teams: business analysts, engineers, designers, marketers, and data experts among others, all working together to create something that can thrive in the market.
Historical introduction
A brief story about product
The seeds of modern product management can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries, which introduced production methods that could scale. By the 20th century, frameworks like the Toyota Production System (TPS) and Lean Manufacturing emerged, emphasizing efficiency and waste reduction.
It wasn’t until more recently that frameworks specifically designed for product building in the context of software development came into play:
Lean Startup, developed by Eric Ries, took the principles of Lean Manufacturing and applied them to product management, focusing on hypothesis-driven development and rapid iteration.
Agile and Scrum brought a new level of flexibility to the software development process, allowing teams to respond to changing needs and market conditions.
Historical introduction
An updated approach to product building
Today, product building is seen not just as a technical process, but as a craft—an intricate blend of strategy, creativity, and execution. That’s why it delivers results in high-performers and capture the attention of corporations as a leverage for their digital transformation.
The tools, frameworks, and methodologies we use help guide the process, but successful product building ultimately depends on the ability to navigate uncertainty, balance competing priorities, and keep the resilience needed to assist to customer’s needs at the center of everything we do.
The tools we use are important, but the way we think about product building is just as critical. Mental models are frameworks for thinking that can help us approach problems strategically and navigate uncertainty more effectively.
Here are three key mental models that every product builder should understand and inspired the design of this suite:
Double diamond, by UK Design Council.
Cone of uncertainty, by Barry Boehm.
Product taxonomy, by SVPG and Marty Cagan.
