Goto Berlin Conference – 6 / 7 November 2014

Years ago, I was invited to the Goto conference (the original) in Copenhagen, together with Arne Roock, back in the pioneering days of Kanban in Europe. This year I am invited to the Goto conference in my hometown Berlin. I will talk on a topic that really matters to me: That the world of product management gets closer to origins again and starts to realize that not only the tactical advantage of fast feedback that agile delivers is required but also the strategic original intent of building product that people need and love.

Agile, then UX and Design, then finally Empathy

The first wave of this realization led to a more in UX testing, interaction design and visual design and the question “does this product work”. This led to a lot of beautifully designed and flawlessly working products. But only a few of them matter and only a few make good business. The next wave now leads to the question “Do people need and love the product, does it solve a problem for them and does it improve the customers’ lives?”. Just like agility and UX and design before, this new question leads to changes in method and tools, which then trigger changes in culture and management thinking. Else, this change will not be sustainable. My talk will give an overview what challenges companies might meet if they give in to this obvious but daring temptation to really build products with the customer in mind.

After Agile: What’s next?

My talk is part of the track “After Agile: What’s next?”. In the same track, you can hear brilliant speakers such as  Jabe Bloom, Katherine Kirk, Olav Maassen, Gojko Adzic and Gabrielle Benefield. All discuss questions along the future and what is beyond of agile, on the edge of what we know.

I am looking forward to this conference and would be happy to meet some of you there!