The Amazon Operating Manual I Did Not Expect to Use
Working Backwards is written by two former Amazon executives who describe the internal culture as clearly as any management book has managed to. The press release backwards method sounded gimmicky to me until I actually tried it on a project I had been struggling to frame. Writing the imaginary customer review first completely changed what I thought the product was supposed to be.
Using the working backwards method on my current project brief
"Start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology.
"Colin Bryar
Reading Working Backwards
Usefulness
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Section
Amazon Methods I Have Actually Tried
Writing the press release before any design work starts on a new feature
Defining what success looks like for the customer before defining the product
Running a structured narrative review instead of slides for a team meeting
Defining the single most important metric before launching a new project