Product Management for non Product Managers

AKA How to Work with Tech Makers to Solve Your Problems

By Isaac SouweinePresented at a

May 16, 2015

What is Product Management?

UX

BUSINESS

TECH

PM

Source: https://medium.com/@joshelman/a-product-managers-job-63c09a43d0ec

What is Product Management?

Def. 1 - PMs partner with technology and design to solve

business problems

What is Product Management?

Def. 2 - PMs help the company decide WHAT, WHY, and

WHEN of product development

What do PMs do?

1. Identify Problems or Opportunities 2. Brainstorm Solutions 3. Define Success

====Prioritization===== 4. Define Solutions 5. Develop Solutions (driver = engineering + design)6. Launch Solutions (driver = marketing)7. Assess Performance

Q: But what if there aren’t any PMs?

A: Find ways to get PM work done without specifically assigning the role.

Teams who can share PM work

1. Founders2. Engineering3. Design4. Marketing5. Individual feature requestors

1/2. Identify a Problem/Solution

● With data● With user feedback (know your users!)● Based on company strategy● Based on copying other people● NB - This is the easy part! Everybody has

ideas about problems for tech to solve.

PM tricks for Problem/Solution

● Idea backlogs ● User surveys● User research ● Brainstorming● Get tech makers involved!?

3. Define Success

● What is the KPI?● What’s your guess on how it can move?● What’s the ROI if it moves in that way?

PM tricks for Defining Success

● Know your metrics!● Understand how product can drive metrics● Dashboards - push, pull, public● NB - Orchestrating data culture probably

needs to be someone’s job.

4. Define the Solution

● What does it do?● What does it look like?● What does it say?● How do users find it?● How do users master it?● What systems does it connect to?

PM tricks for Defining the Solution

● Google Docs (make content public)● Specs ● Spec wikis (archive)● User stories● Wireframes● Story trackers (Pivotal, JIRA etc.)● Developer input!

5. Develop the Solution

● Final graphics● Front end● Back end● Instrumentation● NB - This is the HOW of product development.

The tech makers should drive it.

PM tricks for Developing the Solution● SCRUM● Interface reviews● Spec adjustments● User Acceptance Testing● Formal QA● On call support● Shameless hustling● Chocolate

6. Launch the Solution

● On site promotion● Email promotion● Social promotion● Paid promotion● PR● User education● Stakeholder education

PM tricks for Launching the Solution

● Stakeholder updates● User training● Test launches ● Beta periods

7. Assess Performance

● Did it work?● Why or why not?● What’s next?

PM tricks for Assessing Performance

● Solid, reliable data ● Microsoft Excel● Smart analysis● Meetings● Slides● NB - If you did your job right up til now, this

part should be easy.

What do PMs do?

1. Identify problems or opportunities 2. Brainstorm solutions 3. Define success

====Prioritization===== 4. Define solutions in detail5. Develop the solution (driver = engineering + design)6. Launch the solution (driver = marketing)7. Assess performance

Prioritization is Unique

● In theory, individual projects can be PM’d by anyone, or by a group of people sharing the load.

● But prioritization is about choosing between lots of projects that aren’t easy to compare and that touch very different parts of the business.

● So if you don’t have a PM to run prioritization, you need someone with authority and a global view to do it.

● Or you could just hire a PM :-)

Isaac Souweine | @sonofsarah