product development

OK, it's about game design, but it applies to software and hardproducts equally. 

Naming products and companies. This is as much of a science as and art, and this doc will lead you through some of the reasoning behind why it is neccessary to find the right name and how to do it.

Design like Apple! Simple, elegant, functional, desireable!

A quick inspiration boost from Guy about out doing competitors.

Get a better grasp on market size, share, and structure.

Understand your competition and see where you can compete against even the largest companies.

Change thinking to deliver new ideas. 

 A little mental exercise on how to do things differently. Being
different is what generates success and this peice will help you to
work in creative ways to be different.

Fear of the unkown or failure will cause many to reject new idea. This list of arguments and objections you will run into when doing something new will keep you apprised of how to scale these walls.

You must understand how to address these issues and overcome objections to achieve just about anything.

Applies to: Building a team, Funding, Selling, product development, and any other area where you might try something out of the box.

Quick Excerpt:

1. Everyone has to serve someone else to ultimately serve themselves. this principle
manifests itself by what all buyers of ideas say to themselves, “So this idea of yours is going
to do what for me? What’s in it for me to embrace your concept?” Which, in other words, means
we all have to ‘give to get’ (which is just another way of expressing the universal principle of
‘cause and effect’).
2. The ideas that we ‘give’ (suggest) must be of interest to the receiver… before they
notice, accept, or buy into our concept. the form and function of every concept…must translate
into value and beneits for the receiver. Concepts must also feel right. they must be just, fair, and
good for the receiver. ultimately, the concept somehow has to make sense, by clearly demonstrating
‘the what’s in it for me’ beneit; so it is something the receiver can relate to. It’s all about addressing
the receivers ‘self-interest.’

According to Barry, choice is a good thing. Until there's too much of it, that is. By overloading us with options, in education, sex, religion, or clothing, more choices not only make us less satisfied, they debilitate us. Read an excerpt from his powerful new book.

This applies to product development and marketing, where decisions are made to impact the product and how the users discover, purchase, and use it.

More features and options is not always the best for the customer and your sales. Too many features, choices, decisions, steps, or options can confuse the customer and dilute your product. Apple does this well, they offer a small fraction of choice in computers, which alienates some customers. However, the rest are met with easy decisions in purchasing and a higher quality product. The product can be higher quality because R&D dollars and effort can be focused on a small set of products instead of spread over dozens and dozens of different products that Dell and HP offer.