Founder of Silicon Valley Product Group (SVPG) and author of Inspired, Empowered and Transformed.
Cagan argues that user experience design should be completed before implementation begins, even though requirements/design and implementation/testing can each be run in parallel within their own pairs. He explains that…
Marty Cagan argues that when engineering demands a halt to features for a full rewrite, the root cause is usually product management, which has pushed teams to ship features while neglecting infrastructure until the…
Cagan argues that the common pattern of writing a feature-packed PRD with P1/P2/P3 priorities, then haggling with engineering over schedule and cuts, reliably produces incoherent products that nobody likes. He proposes…
Marty Cagan argues that great products are not accidents but follow from a set of consistent principles. He lists ten truths, centered on the primacy of user experience design, the need to test ideas with real users…
Cagan argues that product decisions in most companies stall because the right people are never in the same room, and proposes a Product Council: a small cross-functional group of senior managers whose sole job is to…
Marty Cagan argues that Apple's repeated success in redefining consumer markets comes from product discipline rather than marketing. Written around the iPhone's debut, the essay contends that Apple gets the ordering of…
Cagan argues that innovation is harder in large companies because growing organizations become risk-averse, but it is still possible and essential. He says corporate culture and one's manager are the biggest factors…
Marty Cagan argues that large companies are structurally risk averse and rely on shared, matrixed resources, which makes getting a product designed, built, and launched difficult. Rather than fighting the culture, he…
Marty Cagan argues that product managers should formally assess new product opportunities before building, rather than relying on executive decree, intuition, or a single large customer's funding. He notes that Market…
Marty Cagan argues that product work has two distinct phases: strategy, where you discover what to build through exploration and customer contact, and execution, where you build and ship it. Many teams fail because they…
Cagan argues that 'user abuse' happens when product teams ship changes that users didn't ask for, didn't expect, or can't absorb, and that it is largely caused by the natural human resistance to change. He explains that…
Cagan argues that remote development teams, whether from outsourcing, acquisitions, or internal centralization, magnify normal communication and execution problems and often frustrate organizations. He offers three…
Cagan argues the traditional product spec is broken: it takes too long to write, is rarely read, leaves hard questions unresolved, and gives false comfort that the product is on track. He proposes replacing it with a…
Marty Cagan argues that many product managers, especially in larger companies, get trapped in 'meeting hell': they work constantly yet fail to make progress on the things that matter most. He notes the causes include…
Cagan argues that many product teams neglect design, leaving products with weak user experiences because the design roles that shape usability and emotional appeal are missing. He lays out four design roles that work…
Cagan argues that most websites are hard to use, ugly, or both, and that even companies that invest in design often fall short. He observes that interaction designers tend to produce usable but dull sites, while visual…
Cagan argues that friction between product and marketing is common and usually stems from the two functions not collaborating well, even though their goals should align. He stresses that marketing is critical and that…
Marty Cagan argues that a product must actually work, not just be the right product, and that software quality remains poor across much of the industry. He notes that manual, under-resourced QA is a common failure, even…
Marty Cagan argues that green technology is poised to become the next major wave of innovation, much as the Internet touched nearly every business. He points to advances from Xerox PARC in solar concentrator…
Marty Cagan argues that product management should not sit inside marketing or engineering, the two most common homes for it. Marketing tends to confuse listening to customers with product discovery and merges product…
Cagan argues that product people operate in the idea business, and that depending only on one's own ideas severely limits potential. The core lesson is to actively seek out the smartest people across the company, since…
Marty Cagan argues that market research tools such as surveys, analytics, focus groups, site visits and usability testing are valuable but have clear limits in product work. Tensions between marketing and product teams…
Cagan argues that product decisions often stall because teams debate options without agreeing on the underlying problem, target user, goals, and priorities. Product decisions are especially contentious since everyone…
Marty Cagan argues that a company growing rapidly from startup to large organization faces stress, and that practices and people who drove early success can later hold it back. He suggests leaders who excel at startups…
Marty Cagan compares working at small startups versus large companies, a question he is often asked by people weighing career moves. He draws on experience across company sizes from brand-new startups to firms with over…
Marty Cagan argues that Microsoft has managed to keep high staff quality during rapid growth, something most tech companies struggle with, and that its recruiting engine is a real competitive advantage. He describes his…
Marty Cagan, a longtime product leader, argues that Google, despite its strong performance and assets, is at risk over the long term for two reasons: weak conversion of product opportunities into finished, integrated…
Cagan argues that the traditional role of the salesperson is shrinking as customers now research, trial, and buy products online before ever talking to a rep. He identifies the main barriers that kept people buying…
Cagan argues that shipping updates to an established user community requires care, because users dislike change and today's connected internet lets them punish bad releases quickly. He calls the disciplined approach to…
Marty Cagan argues that many teams disband the people who built and launched a product right after release, wasting the period when learning and correction are most valuable. He proposes a dedicated "Rapid Response"…