Luisa Sofie Faßbender
Visit the TYPO3 CMS Product Strategy Group
Why We Need a Product Strategy
Having a product strategy is crucial for several reasons:
- Alignment: Align product development with business goals.
- Differentiation: Define unique selling points for market advantage.
- Customer Focus: Prioritize customer needs and preferences.
- Resource Optimization: Maximize efficient use of limited resources.
- Risk Mitigation: Include plans to anticipate and address uncertainties.
- Adaptability: Provide a framework for responding to market changes.
- Communication: Communicate vision and goals, fostering collaboration.
- Measurable Success: Establish clear metrics for evaluating product impact.
In summary, a product strategy is needed to guide development, ensure customer-centricity, and establish measurable success metrics. The development of a defined and overarching product strategy, as well as corresponding governance, is timely and will ensure TYPO3 achieves its vision, mission and purpose.
The TYPO3 CMS Strategy Group
The participants of this group were appointed based on their current position within the TYPO3 Project structure and their different insights from their respective specializations.
The working group members bring their strengths to represent different aspects of the project:
- Tymoteusz Motylewski as part of the TYPO3 Association Board and the person responsible for the TYPO3 Product Strategy.
- Thomas Maroschik as part of the TYPO3 Association Board, adding his expertise in platform and solution architecture.
- Rachel Foucard as part of the TYPO3 Association Board and TYPO3 UX Team Lead, streamlining all developments with UX and UI aspects.
- Benjamin Mack as Lead of the TYPO3 Core Team responsible for the further development and maintenance of the TYPO3 Core.
- Frank Nägler as the CTO of TYPO3 GmbH, adding insights and data from the company’s view.
- Oliver Hader as Lead of the TYPO3 Security Team, focusing on the security aspect of the entire TYPO3 Product Strategy.
- Susi Moog as part of the TYPO3 Association Board, bringing her experiences from taking part in the entire Association Strategy process.
- Luisa Faßbender as Success Manager at TYPO3 GmbH and TYPO3 Marketing Team lead, adding insights from agencies and providing communication support.
The working group was assisted with external support from Patricia Moock and Anna Reiners from 4L Impact Strategies.
Tasks Already Completed
The TYPO3 CMS Product Strategy group work is already underway. During 2023, the group undertook several in-depth market and business analyses to gain a better understanding of TYPO3’s current market situation, as well as to identify the possibilities and weaknesses of our current product setup. These activities included a SWOT and PESTEL analysis, a defined look at all current stakeholders and their needs, as well as a variety of Jobs-to-be-Done interviews.
The Jobs-to-be-Done Interviews
A quick explanation on the concept of Jobs-to-be-Done:
The Jobs-to-be-Done framework is a product development theory (pioneered by Tony Ulwick) that emphasizes understanding the fundamental jobs or tasks that customers are trying to accomplish rather than focusing solely on product features or customer demographics. It suggests that people hire products or services to get a specific job done in their lives, and successful innovation occurs when businesses align their offerings with the functional, emotional, and social aspects of these jobs. By identifying and addressing the underlying motivations of users, companies can create products that better meet customer needs and stand out in the market.
During the first quarter of 2023, the TYPO3 Association conducted around 20 Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) interviews with end-users, who were asked a simple, binary question of deciding in favor of or against TYPO3 CMS as their “CMS of choice”. With this question we wanted to get direct insights from our users about why people choose TYPO3 (or don’t). This is not the first time we’ve collected this information, but previous efforts have been based on assumptions or have been influenced by personal bias.
These interviews were conducted with a variety of different end-users from different target groups to get a better understanding of their needs and problems. They included end-users from the following groups:
- Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (SMB)
- Enterprise
- Higher Education
- Tourism & Culture
- Public Sector and Governmental Institutions
Data from the interviews and analyses laid the groundwork for a two-day workshop in Berlin, 6–7 September 2023, to analyze the results. The results of the JTBD interviews cannot be published due to data privacy reasons. While answers varied between the interviewees, we were able to identify several clear, overarching points of criticism and opportunities for optimization of the TYPO3 product. Based on the results of our analysis, we created 10 strategic goals for the TYPO3 Product as well as an overarching Product Strategy.
Next Steps for the Strategy Group
The TYPO3 CMS Strategy Group is working on finalizing our first product strategy paper, aligning its contents with the TYPO3 Association Board and TYPO3 GmbH. After approval, a condensed version of this confidential strategy paper will be publicly available for community members to read.
These strategic decisions will have a significant impact on the TYPO3 Project and therefore require an appropriate amount of care and time to formulate. Therefore, we’d kindly ask you to be patient when it comes to the publication of this document.
Questions?
If you have any questions concerning the TYPO3 Product Strategy, feel free to reach out to Tymoteusz Motylewski any time.
