I spent most of last week at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). It’s been a few years since I’ve attended, and from a product leader’s perspective, it was an opportunity to look at technology and wonder how much involvement product management had in the process.
Here’s the summary. There were some new and innovative products and technology categories worth mentioning and some of the same stuff we’ve heard about for several years.
First 3D everything was everywhere. However, what caught everyone’s attention was Toshiba’s Glasses-free 3D offering. Tablets were in abundance and their were knock-offs every 20 feet. You can tell this is going to be a commodity product and you’ll be seeing eReader-like prices in the near future. Someone I spoke to said, “Remember what happened to digital photo frames? I think the same will happen to Tablets and eReaders.” Speaking of eReaders, I found them in every size, shape and color. While several brands have solid market presence, the plethora of tablets will commoditize that market.
Mobile accessories were a given, and you can bling up your favorite devices, add wireless and Bluetooth to almost anything imaginable. Digital cameras, imaging, content in the cloud got a lot of airtime. I thought the Casio Tryx was pretty interesting. It’s user experience and form factor will connect with several personas.
Finally, there was a lot of crap. It’s a shame really. You know the products. Ones that were designed and developed because they COULD, not because they SHOULD. (CES should quarantine these products to a tent in a remote parking lot.)
The rest of my thoughts and perspectives focus on how product leaders can avoid being associated with crap.
What Were They Thinking? – with miles and miles of booths and displays, you saw almost anything at CES. As I walked the aisles, I often thought and said out loud, what were they thinking or I’d don’t get it. In John Peltier’s Four Artifacts to Define A Sellable Product, he shares four areas including:
- What problem is being solved?
- Buyer and User Personas
- Value proposition
- Solutions work-flow
To eliminate or reduce what were they thinking syndrome, product leaders have to apply John’s four artifacts at a minimum.
Are You Speaking to Me?– CES is a great place to physically get your hands on products. You could watch 3D TVs, test drive games, play with tablets, review eReaders, cruise through the latest Android or Microsoft mobile devices and much more.
One of the things I immediately noticed was who had a strong product marketing presence and who was just pitching products. The Intel pavilion and staff were great. While it was full of new technology, you were greeted immediately by someone who asked:
- Tell me why you’re here at CES?
- Are you an Intel user?
- How’s your experience been with Intel?
- Are you looking for business, home, mobile or personal related solutions?
- How may I improve your Intel experience today?
- What would you like to explore with Intel?
I was escorted to areas I was interested in. At three different products areas, I was introduced to a product marketing manager who spoke to me as a user, not an engineer. If I had been an engineer, I would have been matched with someone speaking the language.
I walked away from the experience thinking;
- As product leaders do we speak the language of our users?
- Do our teams speak the language of our users
- Do we have regular and engaging conversations with them?
- What do we really know about our users and their influences?
As I continued from booth to pavilion to yet another booth, I looked for the company that would connect with me like Intel. I can honestly say there were many. Unfortunately, many were woefully unprepared and spewed technobabble and gobbledygook at me.
I’ve realized that product leaders must be linguists, and be capable of traversing many conversations while providing translation to those who cannot speak or understand the language. Overall vision, product strategy or positioning has to be simple, straightforward and resonate with all types of users and those listening.
Avoiding the Crap – is not that simple. Product leaders have to lead, but more importantly, we have to actively influence. What influenced me at CES? It wasn’t technology. It was straightforward and simple strategy and positioning presented to me as a user.
As always, I welcome your comments, rebuttal and connections. I can be reached on Twitter and via email at jholland(at)missioncreekpartners(dot)com.