Culture, in its broadest sense, is a set of habits, values, and knowledge peculiar to a group of people. Cultures are rooted in unconscious and unexplained beliefs that we can perceive through visible evidence in processes, in the way people interact, and in behaviors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the corporate world, the term appears frequently and refers to various areas. But at the moment, culture is mainly associated with one particular area: the product area. That’s why we decided to look into this topic to understand the impact of a product culture in startups and companies and learn how to build it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what is product culture? It is a set of habits, values, and beliefs that foster the development of digital products<\/strong><\/a>. It is characterized by the formation of autonomous teams focused on achieving business goals through the creation or evolution of products. It is an essential prerequisite for the development of contemporary digital products that meet the needs of users and offer added value to clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a culture, it is pervasive. It must impact not only people\u2019s mental models, but also the company\u2019s processes, artifacts, and tools. For example, product culture must reflect the way people are recognized, how success is measured, and even how contracts are signed with clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To facilitate understanding, it is sometimes easier to explain what something is not. In this sense, we can say that product culture is the opposite of project culture or IT culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Project Culture, also known as IT Culture, <\/strong>is focused on outputs<\/em>, while Product Culture is focused on outcomes<\/em>. This means that, in Project Culture, success is measured by the delivery of scope, of a list of pre-defined items. In Product Culture, success is measured by the impact generated, regardless of what was done or how many items were delivered. P.S. To know more about this difference, it\u2019s worth learning about the initiative\u202fNo Projects<\/strong><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand,\u202fProduct Culture\u202fis a term created by Marty Cagan<\/strong><\/a>. He describes the mindset where IT is paralyzed in operational, everyday processes, without realizing the importance of innovating, delivering value and impacting all the business. If you follow our articles, you know that we usually refer to this phenomenon as tasking IT<\/strong><\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Those who work in Product Culture don\u2019t usually say they work \u201cin IT.\u201d These people usually refer to the product or business process where they operate, even when they are programmers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Working with\u202fUser Experience (UX)\u202fis creating a product and thinking about it from the user\u2019s standpoint. This may seem obvious, but the truth is that the exercise of thinking like someone different from us\u202fis challenging. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What does it have to do with Product Culture? The concern with UX is one of the symptoms of the transition from an IT Culture (self-centered) to a Product Culture (centered on the user). After all, those concerned with generating real business impact certainly need to try to improve the experience for people using the product, not simply \u201cpush for\u201d a new solution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, in Product teams the Designer is not the only one concerned with the Product Design<\/strong><\/a>: all members should be aware of the user\u2019s needs and of each of their touch points with the product, to make sure that all details are aligned with its purpose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Another symptom of the transition from Project Culture to Product Culture is the adoption of Product Experimentation.<\/strong><\/a>\u202fIn Project Culture, it is not usual to save space for learning since the underlying philosophy is a predictive rationalist approach. We define a detailed scope<\/strong><\/a> early, and then it is necessary to make sure it is delivered.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n But innovative products, services, or business models are only innovative because they don\u2019t exist yet. This means that they are based on hypotheses and need to be validated, and, therefore, Product Experimentation is essential. In Product Culture, it is necessary to be open to constant learning, changes, and diversity of hypotheses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As much as surveys and interviews are conducted with users, collecting information to support development, what we do when defining the product is a proposition, a hypothesis of solution. It is necessary to test quickly and efficiently to learn and discover whether the user experience and the business model proposed effectively work. This is what the\u202fMinimum Viable Product (MVP)<\/strong><\/a> is used for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A true product culture only exists when people on the team have a sense of ownership. After all, who cares more about a company than its creator? The idea is that the entire team acts as owners, and therefore truly cares about the product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People who care build, collaborate, improve, and help define. They have a future vision for the product, are proactive in anticipating and solving problems, and work with enthusiasm and passion. Ownership is responsible for the pride the team takes in working on the product and contributes to quality and commitment.<\/p>\n\n\n\nProduct Culture X Project Culture <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Central Role of User Experience <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Experimentation to Validate Hypotheses <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Sense of Ownership <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Metrics to Mesure Success <\/h3>\n\n\n\n