How I Can Use Prune the Product Tree

Processing the Results

Depending on the number of participants, you'll have between one and seven trees, each adorned with leaves, along with the notes of the observers. Compare the results of this exercise to your current product road map and look for the following items.

• Which of your features were pruned? Although you might have a strong attachment to some (or even all) of these features, you should carefully consider removing them to allow for other features that have more customer demand.

• Do the trees retain their general shape? Customers who put a lot of leaves on a single branch can be telling you that you haven't been paying attention to a critical feature set. Customers who change the shape of the tree can be providing even richer feedback about how they perceive your company.

• How fast do customers want your tree to grow? Customers who put a lot of features on the inner versions (or releases) may be signaling that you're not releasing your product fast enough or often enough. Alternatively, fewer leaves in the interior may mean that the current plans are just fine, but look for the growth in the canopy, which might hold some really big new features.

• What things do customers add to or remove from your root system? How do these relate to your current infrastructure? Pay special attention to this information because it usually is of critical significance to your customers.