In today’s digital-first world, customer preferences are constantly evolving. Gone are the days of longing to speak to a knowledgeable, friendly customer service representative. Instead, customers are now looking to automate transactions and customer service interactions as much as possible.
And the same can often be said for products and services—as pressure for companies to digitally transform their offerings only continues to rise. Genuine, lasting digital transformation isn’t about creating an app or a customer-facing portal and calling it a day. Companies need to focus on crafting digital experiences that meet customers where they are, which requires putting customer needs at the center of all digital transformation initiatives.
If you’re not already thinking about how you can leverage technology to exceed customer expectations, it’s time to start. The new paradigm for success may sound simple: make it easy for customers to get what they’re after using their preferred channels. But the truth is, without the right approach, the risk of failure is high. That’s where a product mindset comes in.
In this blog, we’ll explore why having a product mindset is essential for digital transformation success.
What is a Project Mindset?
To understand the product mindset, we must first look at the project mindset. A project mindset is an approach used to achieve an organized series of activities or tasks within a set timeframe. Many companies follow a project mindset by bringing on dedicated project managers to create these activities and tasks, map out timelines, and track pre-fixed project budgets. But with customer preferences now shifting more rapidly than ever, companies are beginning to instead leverage technology to meet these objectives.
This shift from an activity and timeline-based focus to a customer and value-based focus is one of the key elements differentiating a project mindset from a product mindset.
What is a Product Mindset?
A product mindset, on the other hand, focuses on larger company goals as opposed to short-term achievements. Teams give more weight to final outcomes and end products than varying factors like timelines and budgets. Rather than meeting a pre-fixed project budget, delivering value and creating a great customer experience is the main purpose.
Product Mindset: Understanding the Why
Customer Focus
Having a product mindset enables teams to stay focused on the customer. When you involve your product management team in the digital transformation process, customer experience will always be a key consideration. Customer empathy will be at the forefront, and product managers will stay hyper-focused on creating value.
Project mindsets tend to exist within a silo, delaying outcomes and clouding the true focus of any digital transformation: the customer and their experience.
Sense of Purpose
A company-wide focus on delivering value ensures that everyone within your organization is moving in the same direction. This shared sense of purpose helps alleviate obstacles in the way of the digital transformation, including political resistance.
Decision-Making
The product mindset encourages the democratization of knowledge and data. With data available to all, team members who might not typically contribute can have a voice in the digital transformation. The flexible structure this mindset enables also gives product managers the ability to freely ideate and iterate based on customer needs.
This comprehensive approach to decision-making affords new opportunities for cross-functional teams to collaborate and innovate, resulting in a better end product instead of simply meeting a deadline. Using data to drive decision-making can also help break down silos and make it easier to scale successes.
Holistic Structure
Companies focused on delivering the best possible product design their teams accordingly. Internal strategies are guided by customer preferences, not constrained by pre-fixed resource allocations. This approach isn’t framed by fleeting market trends or organizational structures but is instead open to redefining teams and roles to reflect diverse strategies.
Value Over Milestones
A product mindset prioritizes customer empathy, focusing on delivering value over short-term, project-based milestones. Success isn’t measured by output—but outcomes. If the end product or service achieves the impact as intended, it’s considered a success. The number of features delivered doesn’t matter.
Continuous Improvement
Product-focused companies are adaptable and quick to adjust strategies and tactics when necessary. Instead of moving forward with an outdated plan, companies must stay on top of ever-evolving customer needs and desires. This will allow them to continuously improve products and services so they can deliver exceptional customer experiences at every opportunity.
Adopt a Product Mindset for Digital Transformation Success
The benefits of adopting a product mindset are evident. Digital transformation requires a company-wide focus on delivering value to the customer, a holistic structure, and a sense of adaptability and agility so you can pivot as issues and roadblocks arise.
With this mindset shift, finding digital transformation success doesn’t have to be an intimidating endeavor. And if the whole company is aligned and united with a shared sense of purpose, it won’t be.
Ready to make something great with the OpenArc team? Explore our staffing solutions and software development services to discover how we can work together to enable true transformation.
