LET’S TALK ABOUT PRODUCT MANAGERS Josh Elman

PRODUCTS I’VE WORKED ON

WHAT EXACTLY DOES A PRODUCT MANAGER DO?*

*Can you explain it to your parents?

Photo: Brian Brooks/Flickr

WHAT DOESN’T A PRODUCT MANAGER DO?

- Write code (Engineering) - Create mock-ups (Design) - Sign deals (Business Development) - Plan PR (Communications)

Product Manager

Define the Market & Customer

Launch timing, Sales &

Marketing Collateral

Product Evangelist &

Champion

Define the requirements

& roadmap

Competitors, Products & Capabilities

Define the problem & value

proposition

Internal/External stakeholder

Communication

More simply...

UX Tech

Business

Image: http://www.mindtheproduct.com/2011/10/what-exactly-is-a-product-manager

You are here

UX Tech

Business

More simply...

Image: http://www.mindtheproduct.com/2011/10/what-exactly-is-a-product-manager

Definition: A Product Manager helps their team (and company) ship the right product to their users.

PRODUCT MANAGER

HELP YOUR TEAM

Photo: Jon Candy/Flickr

Your team is anyone working directly on the product (or an area of the product). - Designers, engineers, QA, documentation, marketing

- Assigned colleagues from team members from adjunct teams including business development, support, legal

WHO’S ON THE TEAM?

YOUR ROLE ON THE TEAM

You are not a “CEO of the product.” You are a team leader.

- SET THE CADENCE - BRAINSTORM EFFECTIVELY - MANAGE PRODUCT OPERATIONS

SET THE CADENCE

- Build the roadmap with brainstorm meetings (quarterly)

- Articulate the roadmap clearly and consistently - Hold regular product operations meetings

(weekly) - “Act Solid” (more on this shortly) - Take and share clear meeting notes

BRAINSTORM EFFECTIVELY

- Everyone pitches ideas to drive biggest impact (No ideas are bad!)

- Q&A where people pitch or describe ideas - Everyone votes for their top 3 - Discussion of why and how people voted - Re-vote - You now have top-3 roadmap plan. More or less.

MANAGE PRODUCT OPERATIONS - Share company news relevant for team - Gut check for features getting launched ASAP - Learnings and analysis of recent features - Roadmap check-in on new development

-  1-2 key topics for brainstorm/discussion or guest speaker

AH, THE LIFE OF A GLORIFIED NOTE TAKER Some people think the job of product manager is glorious.

Photo: OwlPacino/Flickr

In reality the most important thing you do is document decisions.

Follow-up notes usually take longer than actual meetings.

Involve people from extended team to get feedback, share plans.

Photo: OwlPacino/Flickr

ACT SOLID Support Ops Legal International Design

Analytics Communications Trust/Safety

THE COMPANY FOCUS IS YOUR FOCUS Understand and communicate the company’s overall goals and objectives.

Remind the team of the founders’ vision.

Attach incentives to company goals.

Bonus Hiring Tip: When interviewing product managers, look for how often candidates refer to the bigger vision of the company.

HELP YOUR TEAM SHIP

Photo: NCDOTcommunications/Flickr

SHIPPING > PERFECTION

Helping your team only matters if you can ship the product to users

- Providing clear criteria for launch readiness - Make the difficult tradeoffs - Prioritize ruthlessly

Great product managers understand the very tricky balance

between getting it right and getting it out the door.

HELP YOUR TEAM SHIP THE RIGHT PRODUCT

Photo: Alan/Flickr

Start with your team’s most creative solutions. Improve your ideas with: - Feedback from testers and active users - Criticism from non-users - Input from founders and leaders - Ideas from anywhere you can get them

BELIEVE BUT LISTEN

MEASURE RESULTS Have a theory of the impact you want to have.

Identify metrics to demonstrate that impact.

Generate data: what works and what doesn’t.

Keep an eye out for unexpected learnings.

TO USERS

HELP YOUR TEAM SHIP THE RIGHT PRODUCT

Photo: Josue Goge/Flickr

ADVOCATE FOR THE USER A Core Use Case tells the story of who should use the product and why

- Articulating the core use case is the hardest part of building a new product

A good product manager advocates for users every step of the way:

- By understanding the challenges/issues of target users

- By understanding how the product can deliver the value target users are looking for

- By continuously listening to feedback (usability tests, meetings, tweets, etc.)

THE “DO’S” FOR PRODUCT MANAGERS - Coordinate key decisions based on team

members’ input

- Negotiate disagreements and maintain progress

- Develop consensus from team factions, (disagree but commit)

THE “DON’TS” FOR PRODUCT MANAGERS - Don’t try to build what you think is right - Don’t expect that the team will execute

orders blindly - Don’t forget where credit is always due

As a product goes to market, you should be game-planning the next iteration: - Plan for improvement (with entire team) - Additional testing - Brainstorming solutions based on data

and feedback

YOUR JOB IS NEVER DONE

There is no right product... but there is a right way to be a Product Manager. Effective Product Managers simply help their team move forward.

THE PRODUCT IS NEVER FINISHED

No product will ever quite be right for everyone; it’s an ongoing process of

continued development and iteration to make it better.