What is product management?
Product management is a process of strategically working on every stage of the product development lifecycle- from research and development to testing of the product to positioning to customers.
Product management acts as a bridge between the business and the customer.
They need to understand the business goals and objectives, as well as the needs of the target customer. They need to translate these into a product strategy that will meet the business and customer needs.
It is the responsibility of product managers to bring life to a product by understanding the needs of customers, defining the vision of the product & working with cross-functional teams.
In short: product managers analyze business, tech, and user goals, then define product solutions and guide a product team to deliver them.
Product Management Lifecycle
Idea generation and management
The very first thing in the product management lifecycle is to think about new ideas for products consciously. The goal of this stage is to find out new ways to upgrade the product,
The first step in the product management lifecycle is to come up with new ideas for products. This can be done through brainstorming sessions, customer interviews, or market research. Once you have a few ideas, you need to evaluate them and prioritize them based on their potential impact, feasibility, and fit with the company’s goals.
Research and analytics
Once you have prioritised your ideas, you need to conduct market research and analyze data to understand the needs of the target customer and the competitive landscape. This will help you to determine if there is a market for your product and if it will be successful.
Planning
The planning stage in the product management lifecycle is where the features, and priorities of the product are decided. Defining how the product will work, how the product will look etc. Afterwards, a roadmap is created to represent different deadlines related to the product.
All features in a product need to have a purpose and be aligned with the business goals. When prioritizing features, you need to balance your customers’ needs and your product strategy.
Prototyping
At this stage of the product management lifecycle, a product prototype is created to start testing the product & collect feedback.
The goal of prototyping is to have a prototype that reflects the final product and can be used to test out with users. Prototyping requires cutting away all non-essential parts and focusing on creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
Feedback collection from real users as early as possible is vital in this stage. It will help you iterate and improve your prototype before spending too much time and resources on it.
Validation
Now, it’s time to validate the product idea with an understanding of whether the idea is worth pursuing or not. Assumptions can be tested by gathering feedback from different potential users or reviewing the product plan. Feedback can be collected through interviews, surveys, or online communities dedicated to your industry or niche.
Another essential aspect to consider is the problem that exists in the target market, so that product has the optimal solution to obtain higher customer engagement.
In this phase of the product management life cycle, it’s essential to validate all the possible risks or issues which be a hurdle to a product’s success.
Delivery
The next stage in the product development stage is the product delivery. All the work in the product lifecycle till now is done for this stage – to deliver a successful product with working features.
At this stage, product managers have to see the delivery of the product for potential or current customers.
Launch
Once the product development & testing is done in the product management lifecycle, it’s time to launch. It’s critical to know how to market your product once it’s out there.
Product managers need to decide at what stage they want to launch the product – at beta or once all the testing is completed. Launching a product at the beta stage is quite risky, but it provides customer feedback & lets you know what all the issues are.
Be prepared for customer feedback. User feedback can be valuable (especially ex-customer feedback) as long as you don’t get too caught up in negative responses. Try finding ways to address any concerns voiced by customers, and incorporate those solutions into your final release of the product.
21 Product Management Frameworks
Product management frameworks are used to build new products. It gives the team a methodology which provides an objective process for evaluation, prioritization, and requirements definition.
Product management frameworks cover all the steps which are required to deliver new products features or experiences which include steps from brainstorming to design to analysis to testing.
Here are 21 frameworks for anyone practising the craft of Product:
Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
MVP framework emphasizes learning while developing new products. This strategy is also called learning software development. In this form of framework, a minimal product is created for testing first. The team builds a product with minimal resources & minimal features & functionality that is enough to solve the problem.
Once an MVP is launched & with consumers’ continuous feedback & learning, the team keeps improving the product.
Working Backwards
Working backwards is one of the product management frameworks which work backwards. This framework is created & popularized by Amazon, which is why it is also called the Amazon method.
In the beginning, the team will realise a press release which talks about the product availability with the problem & its solution. The team analyse whether the product is compelling or not. Afterwards, a viable solution with the proper roadmap is created.
North Star Framework
This framework works on the single most important metric. According to the north start framework, maric provides the core value that the product delivers to customers. It is complemented by the number of key inputs that help to drive it.
The team works on improving the input numbers to increase the impact on core metrics.
Business Model Canvas
Business model canvas is one of the product management frameworks where it is aimed to create value and shorten the product development cycle. It provides a complete & high-level view of different strategic points crucial for launching the product in the market.
The business model canvas is divided into 9 segments:
- Key Partners
- Key Activities
- Value Proposition
- Customer Relationship
- Customer Segment
- Key Resource
- Distribution Channel
Job To Be Done
This working framework focuses on identifying customers’ needs, based on scenarios rather than personas. It asks for a deeper understanding of customers and begins to understand the “why” behind the customer’s actions.
It helps to develop a better solution plus to think of a new and better competitive solution to enter the market.
Opportunity Solution Tree
In product management frameworks – an opportunity solution tree is a visual representation of how an organization can attain a desired outcome. A tool is designed to make a simpler process and to enable prioritization of opportunities.
To help product teams know the big picture in their work. It assists in properly thinking through any decisions to be taken.
Weighted Impact Scoring
The weighted impact scoring model involves ranking initiatives or features using a simple scoring model. Firstly, identify the key criteria of the product and then assign a percentage to show its importance. When using the weighted scoring model, the aim is to evaluate each competing opportunity on your list to help prioritise what will go on your roadmap.
RICE Prioritization
RICE prioritization is one of the product management frameworks on which product evaluations are based, as the name suggests the pillars are: Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort. A final score is generated for each initiative using these criteria. All industries are ranked using their final scores that indicate relative values to the product and company.
Design Sprint
This framework focuses on reducing the risk that can come at the time of launch. According to this framework, the product is a five-step or five-day process that draws inspiration from design thinking. In this design framework design team creates designs, and prototypes & validates ideas before introducing a product or feature. It helps in identifying the problems before launching.
Customer Journey Map
It is a visual representation of the customer journey, the way they interact with a product or service. It helps to get insights about user behaviour & their experience with a product or service. Afterwards, the product manager creates strategy & changes in features etc.
Kano Model
It helps in identifying the valuable attributes of the product that the user finds the most valuable. This framework features two axes, one depicts how well a need is met and the other shows how satisfied customers are as a result.
Spotify Squads
It involves product squads – small, cross-functional teams – that are autonomous. It is used to empower squads to choose what to work on to achieve a desired outcome rather than having tasks assigned to them. The only requirement is that the chosen work must match an organization’s overall strategy.
GIST Planning
GIST planning is referred to as Goals, Ideas, Steps, and Tasks it is most agile and tries to provide a fluid approach to prioritization assuming new ideas and step-projects emerge along the way. achieving goals is the desired outcome which helps to define the strategy – and everything that flows after is traceable back to those goals.
3 Pillars of Product
3 pillars of the product are referred to as discovery, planning & development. Firstly there is a consumer need, and finding an optimal solution. An analysis of what a product might look like addresses the opportunity and the key initiatives that would be needed to realize that vision.
Double Diamond
In this product development framework, there are four different phases or elements. These four phases are referred to as Definition, Development, and Delivery. It involves two types of thinking divergent and convergent and according to creators, it involves all four stages of creating something new.
DACI
DACI stands for Driver, Approved, Contributor, Informed. It helps in clarifying who will be responsible for what work within a team or project. Mainly this framework is used when there are new initiatives or configuring a new team to clearly define roles & responsibilities.
Product Team Competencies
It helps identify skills that are needed for project management, especially in the case of digital products. Also, it is useful for assessing, conveying, and enhancing overall team capabilities. It is a 2-dimensional model to identify the skills & capability, it puts product leaders on one of two sides: strategic or tactical and external or internal.
CIRCLES Method
This method provides a guide on how to provide thoughtful, detailed responses to design questions. It is helpful for deeply understanding what to design and why it is needed.
Product-Market Matrix
It shows four possible scenarios of market development, product development, market penetration, and diversification. Businesses use this framework to analyse the positioning and market conditions to design the products and strategies accordingly.
Innovation Adoption Curve
The Innovation Adoption Curve is a model of how and why a new product or innovation is adopted. The framework highlights when & how there will be demand for the product in each group so that users can be targeted accordingly.
Hooked Method
This model describes a user’s interactions with a product through four stages. It is a guide on how to build habit-forming products. The four steps or phases identified as being key for such products are trigger, action, reward, and investment.