First draft, written in one sitting.

@negeen-dargahi @kent-littlejohn

 
<p class=”p1″>How solid is your product strategy, definition and design process?</p>
<p class=”p1″>Are you struggling to feel certain that your team is fully understanding the problems you are trying to solve?</p>
<p class=”p1″>Is the process from intent to software release fraught pitfalls and obstacles?</p>
<p class=”p1″>Do you have a great idea and and technical team, but unsure how to realize the vision into a product?</p>
<p class=”p1″>Product strategy, definition and design are some of the most challenging, nebulous, and perilous chasms you have to bridge to bring a digital product into the world.</p>
<p class=”p1″>The success or failure of your product will be much more dependent on right strategy and user experience than it will on your technology choices, even though your invests will be far greater for your development resources and process.</p>
<p class=”p1″>I’m Julian Whitaker and I have been working with technology companies for over 2o years defining, designing and releasing successful digital products.</p>
<p class=”p1″>The problems involved in driving strategy, UX design and product execution are complex and deeply interwoven within several critical domains.</p>
<p class=”p1″>Product definition is the intersection between business / problem space needs, user needs and perception and engineering execution. More than that, it is actually a tricky balancing act requiring creative problem solving while holding often conflicting requirements in mind and finding the path that solves all of them with delicate prioritization’s and trade offs. This is part analytical, part creative, part pragmatic, and thoroughly engaging for someone like me.</p>
<p class=”p1″>Few people have the history that spans these different domains, and fewer have both the formal creative training, experience, and brain oddity to hold vast disparate data and synthesis in into a new solution / innovation.</p>
<p class=”p1″>Having worked within the complete range of structures, from huge corporations to scrappy startups, as well as leading creative agencies and Bay Area boutique agencies, I am able to bring leading design methodologies into companies and still understand and respect the business and timing pressure they are under to release products.</p>
<p class=”p1″>Having lead teams and functional areas from sales, engineering, product management, design and implementation I understand the entire product lifecycle and how it influence the strategy and design.</p>
<p class=”p1″>I’ve worked on over 50 products in at least 20 unique industries with solutions for consumers, enterprise, mobile, web and desktop. I’ve come to recognize patterns that are common across all of them and get to right solution right away.</p>
<p class=”p1″>There are lots of challenges that companies face depending on their size, strategy, and stage. The tools I bring to bear helping a startup founder transform their idea into a product are different than how I would support a business executive define and socialize internal enterprise products in a highly charged and political environment.</p>
<p class=”p1″>If you are creating a digital product that end users are going to interact with, you and leading a process that requires broad and deep expertise. One of the more persistent problems I see with my clients is that they don’t know what they don’t know and suffer because of it.</p>
<p class=”p1″>I can help you. This process, while complex and broad, has repeatable and predictable outcomes when done right, with expertise, experience and talent.</p>
<p class=”p1″>Set up a time for us to discuss your product, goals, process and team. Whether we are the right fit or not to work together, I will happily and freely share with you my impressions, thoughts and recommendations for your product development process.</p>