Collect data on product performance
Your team can only determine problems with your product's performance if they know the product and its performance inside out. Collecting data should be top of mind. Not just about technical performance, but also about the task performance for users. Getting feedback from users is paramount. Indirectly, through your client service department or, even better, directly from review sources (websites like Getapp or Capterra, app stores like Apple's or Google's, etc).
Work with user insights
Your team can only make the right calls on improvements if they know what makes the product valuable to its users. How do users actually use the product? What role does the product play in their process? What requirements do they have to perform their tasks adequately with the product?
Collecting this information and keeping it up to date is only the first step. Your team must constantly keep that information in mind to make the right decisions in every part of the development process.
Apply a value driven mindset
Many developers once started out in their profession because they wanted to create great products. But in big companies especially there’s often a culture of ceding authority about how a product should function to someone else. Product managers, marketeers, product owners, user experience designers, or even the CEO.
A value-driven approach will not work without the authority, the mandate, for developers to make their own decisions. In fact, every team member should have an active role in value creation. After all, every team member has their own body of knowledge that could help add value to the product.
Of course, not all developers will be able to adapt this mindset. We’ve seen some developers leave value-driven teams because they prefer the product owner or a UX designer to make the choices for them. It may even take some time for teams to make the transition. But when they’ve made it, they are usually much more involved in the entire process and product. With a huge boost to their performance and the results that go with it.