Customer Centered Products: Creating Successful Products Through Smart Requirements Management [Hardcover]

Ivy F. Hooks (Author), Kristin A. Farry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 11, 2000

"Never time enough to do it right, but always time enough to do it over." In today's "faster-better-cheaper-at-any-cost" world, this is not just a joke, but an all-too-frequent reality. And, most often, a poor understanding of the requirements for a product is the reason it must be done over. Customer-Centered Products is a highly practical new book that helps readers gain a clear understanding of how to elicit the right requirements early on in a project--and make the right product the first time. Packed with useful information, enlightening real-life examples, and money-saving solutions, this book shows readers how to: * Identify where their current requirements process is weak * Bridge communication breakdowns that lead to muddy requirements * Eliminate costly mistakes and rework * Improve product quality without increasing cost * Use operational concepts to improve requirements quality * Improve the fit between the product and the customers' needs * Prove that faster, better, cheaper is possible, and more."

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 17 and up
  
• Hardcover: 271 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM/American Management Association; 1st edition (September 11, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814405681
• ISBN-13: 978-0814405680
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #357,117 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At Last--A Requirements Book for Managers!, November 21, 2000

By 

Ralph R. Young (Reston, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Customer Centered Products: Creating Successful Products Through Smart Requirements Management (Hardcover)

This book will help managers save time, money, and schedule on development projects. It contains practical advice based on lessons learned on real projects. For example, data are provided that show that spending more effort on emerging the real requirements rather than simply using the customer's stated requirements can reduce costs by half! The authors recommend specific actions managers can take. They provide a set of useful checklists and suggestions for how to apply them. For example, what is the manager's role in developing good requirements? How can a project prioritize requirements so that resources are allocated consistently with real customer needs and expectations? How can important practices such as recording the rationale for each requirement, identifying and managing interfaces, and considering verification during requirements definition be implemented effectively? Hooks and Farry, both seasoned practitioners, have provided a valuable roadmap to help managers develop customer-centered products. The book is easy to read and the recommendations are easy to apply.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Customer-Centered Products, September 28, 2000

By 

Virginia Cook (Friendswood, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Customer Centered Products: Creating Successful Products Through Smart Requirements Management (Hardcover)

This book is an extremely useful guide to the difficult task of writing and managing requirements. It clearly states the case for spending the time and effort on producing a clear, concise requirements document, then steps you through the process. This book is especially great, because it is written with the manager in mind, to explain to them the why and how of requirements definition and management. If your customer or manager keeps asking you if you've started coding/building/manufacturing before you even know what it is you are making, then buy him this book!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good primer on product development, August 5, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Customer Centered Products: Creating Successful Products Through Smart Requirements Management (Hardcover)

A thorough and straight forward primer on developing new products. Where it lacks creativity and a wealth of examples, it provides a solid understanding and approach. Recommended reading, but I would check your local library before shelling out money for this book. A good read but not one that I would necessarily keep on my shelf for future reference.