Outcomes
What are outcomes?
An outcome, in product management, is how you measure the success of a roadmap initiative against the business or product objectives (OKRs). Where OKRs are long-term objectives, outcomes are short to mid-length goals that can inform the success of the product strategy. Outcomes are reviewed at a retrospective alongside the output of a project. Outcomes are an integral part of agile and lean product management.
Outcomes vs outputs
Product managers are tasked with understanding the problems faced by their users/customers and they create solutions to those problems.
For example, an e-commerce retailer might want to increase revenue – there are multiple ways to change the product to increase revenue, one product manager might decide to address this by reducing the number of customers abandoning their carts and another might look to create an opportunity for impulse add-ons at the checkout. Both pieces of work would have very different outputs but the successful outcome of both of these would be an increase in revenue.
Outcomes in objectives and key results (OKRs)
When a business uses objectives and key results (OKRs) set by senior leadership to steer the team, the outcomes are shorter-term metrics that map back to the longer-term objective. For example, your OKR cycles might last between 3 and 12 months, your outcomes are a barometer for how well you are working toward your objectives.
For example, your OKR might be to “offer a service and product that proves to be so valuable, the second year annual order value is higher than the first year.” An ambitious goal like this would have many possible key results that are likely to help reach the company’s objective. Here are three possible key results.
- Increase AOV for 60% of customers in Q2 & 3
- Improve customer satisfaction scores from 6 – 9 (NPS)
- Increase the average number of users in an account from 3 – 6
The outcomes for this OKR could be:
- Increased MMR
- Increased conversion
OKRs are introduced for companies to work in an agile and responsive way, judging the work produced based on outcomes over outputs means that you are always assessing your work against your business strategy.
For more information on OKRs please see our OKR glossary page.
How to set outcomes
It is the responsibility of the product manager to set the outcomes for your roadmap initiatives. This doesn’t need to be a daunting task as long as you have a clear and defined product vision. If you have your vision set then you have everything you need to set your outcomes. Outcomes describe improvements in process, usability, and business growth.
Examples of outcomes
Choosing outcomes for your product will be dependent on your business goals, OKRs, or north stars. Your outcomes will focus on your customer’s needs and improving their overall experience which in turn will have a positive impact on your business goals.
However here are some examples that you might set in your product team.
- Increase revenue/sales
- Increase conversion
- Increased adoption
- Increased time in app
- Increased number of weekly active users
Where do outcomes fit in the product management process?
Outcomes-focused product management is now widely considered to be the best practice for product managers. Feature-focused product management can lead to bloated, feature-heavy products.
By switching your focus to an outcome-based process you will only build features and products that actually solve the customer’s needs. It all starts with a product vision. We have a product vision template that you can use to map yours out here.
How to review outcomes
Once you’ve set your outcomes, it is important to review them when you’ve completed a piece of work. This is key to learning and reducing risk going forward with new projects.
If a piece of work was successful then you need to understand how you can replicate it going forward. If the work wasn’t successful in achieving the desired results then you also need to understand how to make sure that you don’t fail again.
This review process is key to ensure that you de-risk your product and avoid creating product debt. With each washup/retrospective you will use your outcomes to keep your team aligned and on track.
If you’re looking to implement outcomes within ProdPad you can see more how-to content in our help center.
