What is Amazon's approach to product development and product management? (Quora)

There is an approach called "working backwards" that is widely used at Amazon. We try to work backwards from the customer, rather than starting with an idea for a product and trying to bolt customers onto it.

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For new initiatives a product manager typically starts by writing an internal press release announcing the finished product.

There is nothing backwards about that. It’s a very sensible idea.

A few years ago, I decided to design my own Harry Potter game for the then new Nintendo DS. I explored what such a game might be like by writing an extensive hands-on preview for the game. This was an immensely fun exercise, although I realised how impractical my ideas were.

You can save a lot of time with a little imagination and by playing a game such as Amazon does to force yourself to look at something with a different perspective.

(via Daring Fireball via Dare Obasanjo)