Thoughts on how product managers should handle the avalanche of feature requests that results from having a product in the market. Companion to my blog post on the same topic: http://johnpeltier.com/blog/2013/12/12/feature-requests/

1. Handling the Avalanche
of
Feature Requests

2. The only way to make a product that people at
work want to use is to make a product that is so
obvious and easy to operate that they don’t
feel like they have to explore it. They can just
Jump in, share a document, send an email, or do whatever
task it is that they wanted to do
originally.
They shouldn’t have to explore anything to do their jobs.
- Laura Klein

3. How to Handle Feature
Requests:
1. Track requests
2. Identify problem
3. Prioritize changes

4. “…Read them and throw them away. The
ones that are really important will keep
bubbling up. And those are the ones you’ll
remember. Those are the important ones.
You don’t need to track or remember
everything — let your customers be your
memory. They’ll remind you.”
- Jason Fried of 37 Signals

5. Source:
: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marketingfacts/4614420053/sizes/o/in/photolist-82L7jr/

6. How to Prioritize Changes
1.
2.
3.
Ideas that don't fit with the long term
vision: Reject
Good ideas you might do someday:
“Someday” bucket.
Great ideas which map to the area of
the product that is most strategically
important: Plan.

7. Set up buckets or categories for enhancements –
not by product area but by customer function
……When it comes time to plan the next release
of your product, simply look at the buckets to
determine customer areas needing the most
attention.
- John Mansour, Proficientz PPM