The PRINCE2 Product Description – Part 1
Once detailed planning gets underway, Product Descriptions should be created for all the projects products. Product descriptions are not optional. They govern the development of the products and their subsequent review and approval.
The level of detail in a product description is a matter of judgement, with the primary aim being to select a level that provides a secure and appropriate measure of control sufficient to fulfil the customer’s quality expectations.
The content of a product description Is described fully in Appendix A of the official Manual.
The purpose section of the product description should clearly state who needs the product, why they need it and what it will do.
In addition to the purpose, the sections specific to quality are: quality criteria, quality tolerances, quality methods, quality skills required and quality responsibilities.
These define the quality controls that must be applied during the product development and in the review and approval procedures for the completed product.
Care should be taken not to write product descriptions in too much detail as they exist to help support the planning, development, quality and approval methods. Product descriptions that are too detailed can lead to unnecessary increase in the cost of quality for the project.
Incomplete or inaccurate product descriptions can lead to acceptance disputes if the delivered Results do not match the customer’s expectations. Where necessary, the product description should reference supporting information, such as any applicable standards or specialist design documents.
The time needed to create good product descriptions will depend on factors such as how important, complex and unique the product is, how many stakeholders will review and approve the product, and whether the organization has a library of standard product descriptions for reuse.
The PRINCE2 Product Description Quality criteria
The product description should include the quality specifications that the product must meet, and the quality measurements that will be applied by those inspecting the finished product.
The quality criteria should be of sufficient detail and clarity to enable those reviewing a product to unambiguously confirm whether the product meets its requirements.
The PRINCE2 Product Description Quality tolerances
Quality tolerances for a product can be specified in quality criteria by defining an acceptable range of values. For example, “Is the duration of the presentation 30 minutes (Plus or -5 minutes)? “He’s temperature maintained in the range of 1-5° C?”
An example of quality criteria
Consider a project to design and manufacture A new camera. One quality criterion is that the camera and its packaging must wait no more than one KG. The product breakdown structure identifies a user guide product. It follows that the size and weight of the user guide is an important factor and not, for example, the number of pages
Questions to be asked to include: What is the target market for the camera? Does this also imply that the Manual needs to be written in several languages? Will that mean it gets heavier? Or will a CD-ROM based Manual suffice? This could reduce the weight of the Manual and allow the camera itself to be heavier.
Considering quality criteria often highlights connections and factors such as these which inform the subsequent planning process.
… to be continued …
