#10 - Product Owner, Who will make the trade off decisions as we build it?
Who will make the trade off decisions as we build it?
Once I have given the Information Product a unique name as outlined in my previous post:
I move onto the tenth area, the Product Owner.
In this area, we note the name of the individual who will be assigned as the Product Owner for the Information Product.
Who will make the trade off decisions as we build it?
We want to identify a single individual who can quickly make trade-off decisions as the data team delivers the Information Product.
The Product Owner is the single individual who bridges the gap between stakeholders and the data team. They make the required trade-off decisions during Information Product delivery.
They decide priorities and tackle conflicts to align the Information Product with both value and practicality.
This role requires somebody with the attributes, skills, and characteristics that align with the responsibilities of the role. They should deeply understand the product and market, communicate effectively with stakeholders, make decisive choices about priorities, exhibit clear leadership, and be readily available for conversations and collaboration.
They should be empowered to make trade-off decisions, without having to ask a committee.
Often, a Product Owner might be an executive stakeholder, or they might hail from an organisational unit and have deep subject matter expertise. Alternatively, they might be deeply rooted in the data domain, having extensive technical knowledge.
It’s not unusual to delay the identification of the Product Owner until the Information Product is prioritised for delivery in the next iterations. If not identified initially, the canvas can list the primary stakeholder advocating for the Information Product’s delivery as the Product Owner.
Once you’ve identified a Product Owner, it’s important to clearly communicate their role and responsibilities to other stakeholders and the data team. This helps ensure that everyone knows who to go to with questions or issues, and that the Product Owner has the authority they need to make decisions.