Don't Ship your Org Chart

September 11, 2023

Happy Monday everyone! Lots going on this week in the Cleveland Product scene, so let’s get to it!

Article of the Week

We’ve all used products whose user experience is a bit off. It doesn’t flow well. You can’t find features that you’re looking for. You have to start all over if you switch from a digital experience to an in-person experience. It’s almost like these products are owned and were created by separate teams within an organization. Guess what? You’ve just experienced Conways’s Law.

Conway’s Law was named after computer scientist Melvin Conway who once famously said:

Organizations, who design systems, are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the communication structures of these organizations.

Melvin Conway, computer scientist, 1967

I recently read any article on Altassian that brought this into focus for me, because it gave a good real-life example of the Australian Centre for the Moving Images (ACMI). In particular, I liked the following points:

  • Shifting Power in favor of the Customer Experience - By collectively focusing on the experience of the customer, you will create seamless experiences that work well together, because you all will be working on what’s best for the customer. Remember, the customer uses your product for very specific reasons, and those might not line up with who is responsible for your product in-house.

  • Merging the Digital and Physical Experiences - In our increasing digital society, there are still many in-person experiences that we need to account for, especially when customers can interact with your organization in many ways (for example, retail - online and in-store). “At ACMI, physical representations of storytelling aren’t replaced by screens, but instead live alongside each other.”

  • Staying patient, curious, and open to change - Things won’t necessarily go as you planned, so your Product and technology teams must be receptive to change and embrace uncertainty. Customer behavior will inevitably change, so remain flexible and agile (see what I did there?) allowing you quickly adapt.

When you build your product, the customer doesn’t care how your organization is structure, who owns the P&L, or what methodology you follow. They just want it to work seamlessly, which means you need to have the processes and communication to create a delightful experience for them.

Read the full case study by clicking the button below.

Product Jobs of the Week

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Upcoming Events

  • September 19th - Product Lean Coffee @ Van Aken Market Hall

  • October 2nd-4th - INDUSTRY the Product Conference is happening right here in Cleveland, and the first 10 Cleveland Product members can get in for just $399 (regularly $1,245). To claim one of these heavily discounted passes, register on the INDUSTRY conference website and use the code ClevelandProductVIP.

About the Author

My name is Shawn Leitner. I started the Cleveland Product networking group in 2017, which helps to connect Product professionals around Cleveland, providing them with a forum to network, learn, and share stories. For my day job, I'm a Product Consultant & Coach for Pathfinder Product and help clients implement strong Product practices so they can create products that their teams love building and their customers love using. Connect with me on LinkedIn or feel free to attend one of my events either virtually or in-person. Always up for meeting for a cup of coffee also!