How are features selected for application development?

Technology is ever changing. Methods and tools for development are continually being evaluated. The needs of our customers and users are taken seriously and thoughtfully when selecting new features to be developed into Syniti’s product offering. New features, tweaks to existing code, and improvements in performance and productivity are among the reasons for development. Customers, implementation teams, and customer success groups are queried regarding needs at customers sites, in the market and problems that need resolving.  

Existing and potential customers are encouraged to submit ideas in the Product Ideas Portal. The Ideas Portal is directly linked to Syniti’s Product Management team and is open to any and all users of Syniti’s products. Individuals are able to add suggestions, view other submissions, and vote on existing ideas. Product Management regularly reviews this information and will determine the appropriateness of the idea, ask questions for clarification and often will place the idea into the development backlog. 

Another source of suggestions is from Syniti’s Customer Success organization. A customer or user will contact Customer Success with a question of functionality or suggestion for improvement. Any suggestions will be reviewed by Product Management and Engineering to determine their placement in planning for development. Typically when a product suggestion arrives at Customer Success, the originator is directed to the Ideas Portal for submission.

In addition, user research is conducted via interviews with users and  and observations of how the product is utilized. These are done in an attempt to gain a clearer understanding of how the products are applied to a user’s own business process. Also, the User Experience (UX) team will conduct contextual inquiries where users are observed using Syniti’s products.  These observed users are then asked to explain why they do certain things. This may include how a user sorts results on a page or click sequence when logging into an application all to gain a better and clearer understanding of how to make the user’s experience with the product more straightforward and productive. 

In addition to the above sources, Product Management also conducts market research. The market itself is analyzed to determine the best options in order to satisfy the needs of customers both existing as well as potential. Product Managers are always focused on what new features will be both beneficial to existing clients and enticing to potential ones. Analyst groups like Gartner and Forrester are also engaged to determine the data market’s direction and the focus of the needs of the client.

Syniti Product Managers attend several conferences throughout the year. They use these opportunities to gain insight on what problems the Syniti product line can and should solve.  What data issues are companies facing and if new features would meet the needs to provide a solution.    

Product Management, Engineering and Customer Success all work together to provide features and applications to support Syniti’s customers, both current and future.  It is this dedication to providing solutions that meet and exceed the needs and demands of our customers that makes us explore as many areas to help us transform potential into power, and power into infinite possibilities.