So, how can businesses build and maintain successful digital product capability?

We ran an event to get to the bottom of this very question. Here are our cut-out-and-keep takeaways from a very interesting, informative…

We ran an event to get to the bottom of this very question. Here are our cut-out-and-keep takeaways from a very interesting, informative evening’s discussion.

by Sorcha Daly, Associate, Wilson Fletcher

Our summer WFTalks saw us tackle an increasingly pressing issue: how should businesses be building and maintaining successful digital product capability? The evening brought together digital leaders from across various sectors who discussed some of the key issues involved in building and maintaining in-house digital capability — from making the decision to let an entire internal team go, to uncovering what it takes to embed agency expertise in in-house teams. Here are the key takeaways from the evening:

1. Startups may have the energy but established organisations have the assets

The fear of innovative startups took up much of the discussion after our presentations. It’s easy for established organisations to take a defeatist viewpoint of small, fast upstarts with relentless energy and ideas. But without the assets that established organisations have, they are less likely to be successfully innovative. It’s down to the established organisations to innovate with those assets, without losing focus on what got them there in the first place.

2. Don’t become detached from vision

Many organisations have become detached from their vision by trying to keep up and adapt. Several people spoke of being on a path of change and uncertainty while trying to catch up or stay ahead. Crucially, both at organisational level and product level, we heard of the importance of vision. Focus on where you want to go, not what’s in the way.

3. Collaborate and discuss with your customers, but don’t leave it to them to design the service for you

Should you listen to data, customers, competition and market trends or organisational imperative? Our panel discussed the importance of making all these inputs work harder to help product development, but also the crucial importance of balance in considering when and how much to listen to it, as well as what to ignore.

4. The importance of digital leadership

Many of the challenges we heard about stem from the lack of appreciation of a digital leader at the very top of organisations. Having a great leader who is brilliant at driving the digital agenda, championing its values across the board and controlling the digital team’s PR within the organisation is vital. It’s the crucial first step towards high quality digital product capability.

5. Customers don’t care how you made your product

Throughout the evening, we heard several approaches to innovative product development. It’s clear that one size doesn’t fit all. What you should do is quite simple: whatever it takes to get the best quality product out to your customers. They simply won’t sit around waiting for your team to upskill. All they care about is that the products they use are brilliant.