By Jennifer Hay and Dave Wells
It is widely accepted that the key to successful product management and marketing is seeing the world through the customer’s eyes. A successful product manager changes as the customer base evolves; evolution is an every-day part of product management. But what do we do when radical change occurs – a generational revolution so significant that it brings an extreme shift in customer expectations and behaviors?
The last generational shift was the PC revolution of the 1980’s, bringing extreme change in how information technology is applied in business. Today we are on the cusp of another seismic shift. The next generation (the “net” generation?) has known technology from childhood. They thrive in a world of internet, instant messaging, blogs, gaming, social networking, online collaboration, and more. They think differently; they work differently; they use information differently; and they analyze and problem-solve differently. They have radically different expectations of what technology can and should do. What are the implications for your product roadmap and for your career as they become the majority among information technology consumers and purchase decision-makers?
Think Differently
For the net generation, the strict rules of hierarchical management are a thing of the past. Chain-of-command communications that bubble up and down an organization chart create a sense of being disconnected and “out of the loop.”
The net generation is more comfortable and productive in environments where information flows freely. They thrive in a culture of openness, participation, and interactivity. Social networking communities, both personal and professional, are central to the net generation culture of information sharing and group thinking. They expect to share their thoughts and ideas, to benefit from the thoughts and ideas of others, and to participate in decision-making. But they also want credit for their contributions.
So what does this mean in terms of information technology products? The net generation expects products to be a conduit for their thoughts, ideas, and communications. Technology must not only support a culture of information exchange and group thinking; it must become an integral part of that culture.
Work Differently
Technology makes it possible to decide when, where, and how we want to work. Mobility is no longer an option; it is a necessity. Organizations that don’t support the mobile worker risk losing the best and brightest among their employees.
When you combine free flow of information, group thinking, social networking, and mobility the product management ground begins to shift beneath your feet. Everything can be teamwork, and teams can be virtual and geographically dispersed. This really raises the expectations of technology products. They must go beyond support for information exchange and group thinking to create an internet-enabled environment for the collaborative work of virtual teams.
Use Information Differently
For the next generation, hierarchical data management is as archaic as hierarchical business management. Corporate databases, structured data, static presentation, and limited interactivity simply can’t satisfy their appetite for information.
Having grown up with gaming interfaces and multimedia presentation, the net generation has been visually inundated with dense, complex, and highly interactive images. They see the world of information in this way, and they share information widely using many types of technology to publish, link, integrate, and broadcast. The spectrum of information sources is almost unlimited, and the opportunities for innovative integration are abundant. Origin of information is of little concern. Relevant, readily-accessible, real-time, and easily integrated are the new measures of information value. Most importantly, information must expand both personal and shared universes of knowledge.
I became acutely aware of how differently the net generation works with information through a personal experience in a social setting. My young friend, Matt, left his job to travel the world for a few months (another sign of generational differences). His post-journey travel show was a real eye-opener. My version of a travelogue would have been the very conventional click-through of photographs with some verbal commentary. Matt started with his travel route superimposed over a GoogleTM Earth image. Guiding us chronologically through the trip, he would zoom in while giving geographic and cultural descriptions, drill down to his personal photos and videos, and then zoom back out to continue the journey. The innovative approach to visually integrated information, both public and personal, to enrich the travel story was as fascinating to me as the story itself.
So, once again, we up the ante for technology products. They must support information exchange, group thinking, and collaboration. And they must provide access, integration, and presentation capabilities for an extensive range of real-time, continuously changing, easily integrated, highly relevant information sources – internal and public, structured and unstructured.
Analyze and Problem-Solve Differently
Analysis is the first step of problem-solving – decomposing a problem into component parts to understand cause-and-effect relationships. Typically, analysis combines thought processes, information, and knowledge to develop conclusions, make decisions, and drive action. The traditional analytic value chain begins with data. It then progresses through information, knowledge, and action stages to drive value-producing outcomes. The net generation keeps the core of the chain intact, but they radically change the way it is executed – because they think differently, work differently, and use information differently.
The data domain expands beyond corporate and structured to encompass publicly available sources and many data types. Information must satisfy the criteria of relevant, accessible, real-time, and easily integrated. Working with information becomes visual and highly interactive. Information sharing drives collective knowledge; and collective knowledge is fortified by the combined experiences, instincts, and beliefs of social networking communities. Ultimately decision-making and action-taking are done by virtual teams who use networking and collaboration capabilities.
Whose technology will win the mindshare and the market share of the net generation? Those who provide a seamless environment of unlimited data sources, ready integration, information sharing, live interaction, powerful visualization, virtual communities, and real-time collaboration. This is the future of information technology, and it is coming faster than you might imagine.
Take It Personally
Seeing through the customers’ eyes is no longer enough. To become a part of the net generation’s world you must go beyond seeing – learning to think, work, interact, collaborate, and socialize as they do. You can’t gain enough knowledge of the net-generation world simply by reading about it. To fully appreciate that world you must experience it.
Who better to be your guide than those of the net generation; your colleagues, your neighbors, your kids? Read what they’re writing and what is being written about them. Listen to how they communicate and how they share their thoughts and ideas. Ask for guidance. Get involved and use their technologies – become a blogger, join a social network, etc. – always with an eye on what you can learn to enhance your products, evolve your product roadmap, and add vitality to your management or marketing career.
Jennifer Hay manages professional development and certification programs at The Data Warehousing Institute (TDWI), an education and research company for Business Intelligence. She especially enjoys working one-on-one with individuals to assess interests and abilities, and evaluate “right fit” job roles. Together they create near-term activities that work toward building a rich and rewarding career over the long term.
Dave Wells is the Director of Education at TDWI, an education and research company for Business Intelligence. His career of nearly forty years spans a variety of roles in both information technology and business. Having worked both for technology product companies and for those who purchase and use their products, he brings unique perspectives when considering technology futures.
