AgileLeave a comment

On determination

iulianalexandrustoica

Difficult times are often seen as appropriate occasions to reflect on the organisation needs, structure, vision, strategy, as moments to restructure things. Nowadays, as the level of uncertainty is increasing, things get even more complicated and part of the already created plans become redundant. However, the organisation vision, the north star for the organisation remains the same if it was thoroughly thought of when it was designed. So what keeps the organisation on the right path towards reaching the north star? I would say determination, a skill that has an impact much higher than it is perceived. Determination means being … Continue reading On determination

AgileLeave a comment

On frameworks

iulianalexandrustoica

When an organisation doesn’t reach the expected results one of the first action points considered is to change the current framework. However, in many cases, the current framework is partially adopted or misunderstood, which leads to the false conclusion that it is the root cause, thus the need to change it. Instead of focusing on the human capital, the most valuable “asset” an organisation possesses, the decision-makers focus on the new framework implementation which is put to light as the salvation, the superhero. I think that the true superheroes are the employees working day by day for the organisation, the … Continue reading On frameworks

EntrepreneurshipLeave a comment

On giving back

iulianalexandrustoica

Starting on July 2nd I will host Q&A sessions each Thursday, on any topic related to agile transformation, business analysis, product management, knowledge management, and much more. It’s my way of giving back to the community part of the learning gathered along the years in the teams and products I was part of. You may not find the perfect recipe for your context, but you’ll discover plenty of interesting takeaways. Interested? Leave a comment below or direct message me. Continue reading On giving back

AgileLeave a comment

On standards

iulianalexandrustoica

Working alongside product companies allows experiencing the impact of sharing the same practices across the entire enterprise architecture. Some call this standardization, which in theory brings only advantages for both the product company and the end-users. Reusing same technical, functional and user experience design across products or modules of the same product offers consistency and provides the future direction. But what happens when you realize that the current practices, referred to as standards, are outdated or contain techniques which are far from being best practices? You have a choice. You can continue the work as it is. Or you can … Continue reading On standards

AgileLeave a comment

On resolutions

iulianalexandrustoica

Almost every year there is a top resolution on our list: new year new me. Is it the new me that will guarantee an improved outcome at the end of the year? Or it can be the same me, but more focused on the steps to get there? Most of the time, focusing on the right things represents the most important tactic in achieving our goals. Along the way, part of the plan might change, but as long as we reach the end goals throwing everything away and starting from scratch may not be the way to go. Do we … Continue reading On resolutions

Design, Product managementLeave a comment

On choices

iulianalexandrustoica

In the Neuro Web Design: What Makes Them Click? book doctor Susan Weinschenk explains our behavior as application users by neuro-marketing concepts, which are a mix of psychology and user experience concepts. One of the most important topics to consider in an application is the number of choices available to users. In our perception, we feel more connected to an application if we find plenty of choices to select from. But this is not true, in fact is exactly the opposite. When we are in front of a long list of choices our brain freezes and we are not able … Continue reading On choices

Product managementLeave a comment

On product differentiation

iulianalexandrustoica

In 1933, Edward Hastings Chamberlain an American economist published the Theory of Monopolistic Competition, in which he sets the ground for the term product differentiation. He considers product differentiation as the process of distinguishing a product or service from others, to make it more attractive to a particular target market. The goal of including differentiation in a product strategy is to establish a position in the market which current and future customers will associate to being unique; thus, the company gains a competitive advantage. The most common sources of differentiation are quality, design, functional features, sales activities (advertising), availability (timing, … Continue reading On product differentiation

Product managementLeave a comment

On staying relevant

iulianalexandrustoica

Do you think the product manager of the first instant messaging tool considered that end users will share long texts using the product? Or that they will only send short text messages containing a few words?Writing long texts instead of short messages makes the instant part almost irrelevant.Same goes for sending endless emails instead of arranging a video conference call to clarify the topic.It looks like the software products which have a large set of features available allow users to perform activities which make irrelevant the initial product purpose. On the contrary, a clear set of features keep applications relevant … Continue reading On staying relevant

Design, Product managementLeave a comment

On on boarding

iulianalexandrustoica

Disclaimer: This post isn’t commercially related, it represents my experience as an end user. Few days ago my bank relaunched their mobile banking app. Such a good news. I was curious about the new look and feel, so I started to watch the presentation video to see more details about it. I listed below the steps I have to perform before using the new mobile app. Step 1. I have to download the new app (not update the current app version, but to download a new one). Step 2. I have to type in my username and authentication code (generated … Continue reading On on boarding

Business analysis, DesignLeave a comment

On simplicity

iulianalexandrustoica

“I don’t understand this, it is too complex”. Is it all the times related to the complexity of the item itself or it is related to something else? We categorize something easy to understand and explain as being simple, while something more difficult to understand stands as being complex. Nobel prize winner Herbert A Simon notes that: “On theoretical grounds we could expect complex systems to be hierarchies in a world in which complexity had to evolve from simplicity. In their dynamics, hierarchies have a property, near-decomposability, that greatly simplifies their behavior.” The author also mentions that something may be … Continue reading On simplicity

LearningLeave a comment

On reinventing

iulianalexandrustoica

There are times when solving a problem or challenge requires a fresh perspective, a new course of action, a steer towards a different path. But there are times when doing some research, reading and learning helps you solve your problem, with practices wide spread in the industry. If you learn from the experience of state of the art writers, authors or consultants then most probably you will find what you need. Smart people with relevant experience in business analysis, product management or software development frameworks (like Scrum) already dealt with challenges similar to yours, so you can take great advantage … Continue reading On reinventing

User experienceLeave a comment

On informational messages

iulianalexandrustoica

Informational messages represent one of the main components of interaction design. When we create the functional design for an application it is very important to include information messages from the early beginning. Their main purpose is to inform the user about how the system reacted to the user actions. If the information messages are not present than the user will start to be worried and will stop using the application. This is a basic principle of interaction design. Another basic principle of interaction states that whenever an user creates, changes or deletes data in an application the system needs to … Continue reading On informational messages

Knowledge managementLeave a comment

On knowledge transfer

iulianalexandrustoica

In the last 8 years of my work experience I was part of different software development teams and all of the initial steps for each individual team consisted of a knowledge transfer phase. With each team and project, the knowledge transfer phase experience was different, but not completely new. So, a couple of common “good” practices (I rather name them “good” instead of best practices) were observed and improved over time (you know what they say: inspect and adapt). The “good” practices compose a knowledge transfer plan, which is consumed in a couple of iterations until all subtopics are covered. … Continue reading On knowledge transfer

AgileLeave a comment

On agility

iulianalexandrustoica

Did you know that faster time to market and faster innovation are the top two benefits of organisational agility? According to the THE ELUSIVE AGILE ENTERPRISE study, conducted by Scrum Alliance together with Forbes, other top benefits are: improved non-financial results employee morale ability to attract and hire top talent improved competitiveness improved financial results ability to better manage across geographies/verticals In the rapid pace of technology, innovation and development we are in today organizations need to deliver results faster than ever. The Take-Away Agility is not only delivering products faster than the competition.It belongs to the enterprise level of … Continue reading On agility

Agile, Product managementLeave a comment

On crafting products

iulianalexandrustoica

Do you have an idea which can be transformed into a great software product? And maybe you don’t know which is your next next step or how to proceed? From determining the product market fit, spending enough time in both problem and solution space, creating the strategy, the road map, the backlog, prioritizing the product backlog items, finding the right technique for defining the first version application scope I can guide your effort and transform the idea into a product customers love. There are many other items to consider, besides the above list. Luckily for you, I know them too. … Continue reading On crafting products