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Product Management For Dummies®
To view this book's Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Product Management For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.
Introduction
Product management is a critical strategic driver in a company. It can make a huge impact in terms of whether products, as well as the entire company, succeed or fail in both the short and long term. It’s the only role in a company that grasps all aspects of the business, including customers, the market, competition, trends, strategy, business models, and more. As such, great product management makes great companies.
While writing Product Management For Dummies, we tapped into our combined 60 years of hands-on product management experience. We also took advantage of the methodology and learning we’ve discovered working with tens of thousands of clients and individual product managers over the past 20 years in the product management consulting and training business. The resulting book, we hope, will allow you to discover and apply great product management concepts to your business and products to create massive success.
Product management has grown tremendously in importance in the corporate world in the past 10 years, as have the resources available to learn about it. As authors, we can sincerely say that we wish there had been a book like this when we were just starting in the profession. We had to learn much of what is in this book by trial and error. We owe a great debt to our mentors and the organizations we’ve had the privilege of working for.
If you’re looking for the link to the downloadable Product Management LifeCycle Toolkit, jump to the “Beyond the Book” section later in this Introduction. We wish you tremendous success in delivering products that truly delight your customers!
About This Book
Product management as a topic is vast. The breadth of knowledge you need to be an effective product manager is very complex. The best answer to a question that arises is “It depends.” As such, covering concepts from all angles was a challenge. We have done our best to provide a well-rounded look at the product management profession.
One of the beauties of a product management career is that you can make how you perform your job unique to who you are. Rather than envisioning this book as a prescriptive set of rules, imagine it as a starting point in your own career. Understand why a concept is important and then pretend you are playing a jazz score. You find yourself improvising actions while keeping the end goal in mind. This is the true fascination of this work: It is endlessly different while retaining core principles.
Product Management For Dummies is intended for all product management audiences: new product managers, those who are looking to enter the field, and businesspeople and entrepreneurs who want to apply product management best practices in their companies. We give you guidelines as to what you should be doing given your situation at any particular time; share when you’re likely to be thrown off track; and provide handy lists, tables, and figures for reference. For those with more experience in product management, the book no doubt has some concepts you’ve never experienced and can serve as a good refresher on other things you have picked up along the way. Because product managers are by and large self-taught, for certain topics, you can at least take comfort in that you’re on the right track. We also hope that you can use the book to review, enhance, and extend the excellent work you’re already doing. With more information and preparation, you’ll have more confidence in reining in a difficult situation and the ability to keep the project and your product headed in a good direction.
Here are a few conventions we use throughout the book:
Info in the shaded sidebars or marked with Technical Stuff icons is text you can skip if you’re short on time. It’s good information, but it’s nonessential to the main concept.
We often use the term product to refer to both products and services even though a product is typically an actual physical good and a service refers to the work done by individuals and companies for customers. In any case, the basic concepts of product management are all highly applicable to products, services, and hybrid offerings.
Product marketing is a term that you may have heard interchangeably or in conjunction with product management. Its focus is typically responsible for making sure that the marketing, messaging, pricing, and other critical marketing success factors are in place.
Some companies have a dedicated product management group. Some companies have a dedicated product marketing group, and some companies have both product management and product marketing groups. And some companies have groups (called either of these terms) where the individuals perform all of the responsibilities for both.
In this book, we refer to both product management and product marketing using the term product management only. In this context it covers all activities in a product’s life from conception of the initial idea to when the product is retired. The only exception occurs when we’re discussing the difference between these roles.
Foolish Assumptions
In writing this book, we made a few assumptions about you. We assume that you have some business knowledge but not necessarily any particular technical knowledge of a subject or product area. We assume that if you need to have this technical knowledge, you have acquired or will acquire it elsewhere (and we let you know when you’ll likely need to get outside information).
In an ideal world, product managers would all be deep technical experts and have MBAs and business backgrounds. However, that isn’t the real world. We assume that as you grow as a product manager, you’ll develop your own philosophy of product management, create your own versions of our tools, and innovate and share with others in the profession. Ultimately, you may aspire to help grow the next generation of product managers, resulting in more great products available in the world.
Icons Used in This Book
Throughout this book, you find icons that alert you to information that you need to know:
Product management definitions vary widely. This icon calls out key terms and concepts that you’d be wise to file away.
This icon means we’re providing some technical information that may or may not interest you. You can skip this paragraph if you want without missing any important information.
The Tip icon flags quick tricks to make your job easier and ideas to help you apply the techniques and approaches discussed. If there’s an easier way to get through your workload, this is where you’ll find it.
You can easily run into trouble in product management. This icon marks hidden traps and difficult situations.
Beyond the Book
Downloading the Product Management LifeCycle Toolkit: In addition to the great content in the book you’re reading right now, the 280 Group has included with your purchase a single-user license for the Product Management LifeCycle Toolkit at no extra charge. This collection of templates and tools goes along with the book and allows you to produce more effective documents more quickly. In addition, there are completed sample versions of these documents that you can use as a guideline for how to actually complete them. Go to www.280group.com/toolkit and use the coupon code PMDUMMIES to get your complimentary copy.
Also available online are some quick answers to some basic product management elements. To view this book’s Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Product Management For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.
Where to Go from Here
If you are new to product management or investigating it for the first time, the best place to start is in Part 1 of the book. Read it from start to finish.
If you already have some experience in product management, we still recommend starting at Part 1 to refresh what you have learned and to find information that may be new to you. If you are facing immediate challenges, find the chapter that most closely addresses your issue.
Glossary
A/B testing
Also known as split testing. Used to compare two different versions of the same web page and determine which one is measurably more effective at achieving results. Results are usually measured as click through, purchase, or download.
active listening
The process of listening and responding by echoing some of the talker’s words to ensure understanding.
Agile
An iterative and incremental approach to, typically, software development that involves short phases of work followed by checking that the work achieves the agreed upon goals and adapting to new information given market changes.
alpha
The very first version of the software that works, sort of. Term mostly used in waterfall development.
application program interfaces (API)
A set of definitions, protocols, and tools used to build software. Especially important to define when different software parts need to work together.
assumption
Unproven business supposition used to make rapid progress toward a conclusion.
business-to-business (B2B)
A business model where a business primarily supplies its product to other businesses.
business-to-consumer (B2C)
A business model where a business primarily supplies its product to consumers.
barrier to entry
A set of obstacles that prevent or slow down a business from conducting business.
benefit
A description of a product advantage written from the perspective of the customer. Often includes emotional aspects.
beta
The almost final version of the software. Term mostly used in waterfall development.
beta plan
A plan to validate whether a product meets or does not meet customer expectations. A beta plan is created and executed prior to product launch.
beta program
A program to execute the beta plan.
brainstorming
A problem-solving meeting with specific rules intended to generate a wide range of ideas.
brand
A name, term, design, or symbol that identifies a company or product.
break-even
The financial point at which the total cost, including investment, of all products sold is the same as the profit generated by the same product.
business case
A financial and business justification to support investment in a particular product or solution.
business model
The specific way in which a business is organized to generate revenue and profits in a sustainable manner.
channel partner
A company that works with the provider of a product to sell it onto other channel partners or end users. A channel partner usually sells products from many different product providers.
conversion rate
In the digital marketing space, the percentage of all customers or website visitors who act in the way that the company wants at that point in time. For example, converting a website visit to a sale.
customer development
A process for bringing customers to the point of choosing your product through a deep understanding of their needs and the way that they purchase products.
customer panel
Groups of selected customers who provide feedback on a company’s strategy, plans, and specific product offerings. Customer panels can be strategic or tactical, but not usually both.
DACI
A decision-making matrix developed to ensure a company can make decisions more quickly and that the process is transparent to all parties. D stands for Driver, A for Approver, C for Contributor, and I for Informed.
daily standup
In Agile, a very short daily meeting where everyone stands up. Each participant quickly answers specific questions.
design thinking
An integrative process involving a small inter-disciplinary team to analyze problems from all sides including logical, empathetic, and systemic points of view.
differentiation
An aspect of developing products and solutions that ensures customers can distinguish different offerings on a basis that is meaningful to the customer.
distribution channel
A chain of businesses through which a product passes until it reaches the end user. Different industries use widely varying terms for distribution partners.
embargo (press)
A press embargo is a request that the information not be made public until a specified date.
feature
A distinctive factual attribute of a product or service.
frequently asked questions (FAQs)
A list with answers of the most commonly asked questions about a company, product, solution, or service.
gate
In the context of a phase-gate process: a decision point as to whether a product or project should proceed, be held back, or cancelled.
Golden Master (GM)
The final released version of software.
head count
The number of people allocated to a particular project or department. A fully loaded head count is the full cost including all personnel and business expenses of having the person employed.
ideation
The process of generating, fleshing out, and prioritizing product ideas.
inbound marketing
Marketing efforts that bring customers to you as a result of their searches for information on a certain topic. White papers, ebooks, blogs, and social media are examples of inbound marketing.
kanban
In software development, a method for developing software on a just-in-time basis. Kanban removes the scrum time boxed method to track work, which is useful when your development team members have specialized skills.
key performance indicators (KPIs)
A set of business metrics used to determine whether a person, product, group, or division is successful.
landing page
Landing pages are officially any web page that a customer is directed to via a hyperlink. For large websites, landing pages are used to direct customers quickly to a more specific topic of interest.
Lean
A methodology for approaching problems by delivering quality with speed and customer alignment. Usually followed by a descriptor of Lean: Lean startup, Lean UX. The goal is not to create anything unless it adds value.
market
A space where buyers and customers can interact to exchange money for products. In product management terms, often used to mean a group of customers who interact with the company in the same way.
market analysis
An analysis of specific markets with the goal of determining relative attractiveness of addressing a product to a particular group of customers.
market needs document
See market requirements document.
market offering
A combination of products offered to a market to satisfy a particular need.
market requirements document (MRD)
A document that defines the high-level market need for a product. An MRD is written from the point of view of the problem space and the customer.
market research
The process of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting information about customers and markets to determine their preferences.
market segments
A unique group of customers who share similar characteristics in the way that they react to marketing.
market share
The portion of the total market sales that accrues to one company.
minimum viable product (MVP)
The smallest and most tightly defined product that will generate initial sales. Customer feedback is then gathered to inform the next version of the product.
mockup
A model of a final product used to guide product development and gain customer feedback.
new product development (NPD)
The process of conceiving a product until it is finally delivered to market.
non-disclosure agreement (NDA)
A formal agreement or contract by which two or more parties agree not to disclose confidential information that they share with each other.
opportunity cost
The cost of not pursuing a different alternative instead of the one chosen.
outbound marketing
Marketing that reaches out from the company to the customer. This includes but isn’t limited to direct mail, email, and advertising.
payback time frame
The period of time needed to recover all the costs of the project.
persona (market and product)
An archetype of a customer, decision maker, or influencer that defines its role, attributes, behavior, and any other insights pertaining to its perception of your product or the way that the person perceives marketing messages.
phase
A time period during the product life cycle when certain prescribed activities are completed by different departments with the goal of completing specific tasks before the next gate. Also referred to as a stage.
phase-gate process
A project management technique where phases of prescribed work are punctuated by decision gates. Also known as stage-gate process.
pivot
In the Lean start-up world, a pivot is a structured, often rapid, course correction on the basis of new market, customer, and development information.
positioning
The marketing objective of a customer having a clear, unique, and advantageous understanding of a product.
product line
A group of products related to each other under the banner of a brand.
product line extension
An additional product added to a product line that prevents revenue decline or increases overall revenue for the overall product line.
product portfolio
A range of products sold by a company. Many products and product lines can be part of a product portfolio.
product requirements document (PRD)
A document that contains at least all the high-level product-specific requirements or features for that product to be developed and ready for market.
profit
In financial terms, the difference between the price that a product is sold for and the total cost to provide and sell the product.
prototype
The first model of a product. In software, it’s the incomplete product used for testing and validation before final development.
public relations (PR)
The development and maintenance of a positive public image of the company by an internal department very often in conjunction with external PR specialist firms.
RACI
A tool for identifying roles and responsibilities within and between organizations. R stands for Responsible, A for Accountable (to whom R is accountable), C for Consulted, and I for Informed.
requirement
A market need for the customer or product feature in a product that needs to be addressed for a customer problem to be solved.
return on investment (ROI)
A numerical financial calculation used to compare different investment opportunities. ROI = (net profit/cost of investment) × 100.
revenue
The amount of money a company receives from operations during a specific period.
risk
The chance of a negative thing happening.
road map
A time-based visual representation of future scenarios for products, technologies, and market forces.
scope
The features and characteristics of a product. Scope creep occurs when additional features are added during development.
scrum
An iterative and incremental time-boxed method of developing software using small, self-directed teams. The goal of scrum is to flexibly develop what customers find valuable.
scrum master
In software development, the person who facilitates the work and decisions of a scrum team.
segmentation
For product managers, mainly market segmentation where different markets are divided so that choices can be made as to which markets to address.
sprint
In scrum, the defined period of time during which an agreed upon list of tasks should be accomplished.
sprint goal
The goal of a particular sprint communicated to all team members.
sprint planning meeting
A collaborative meeting facilitated by the scrum master during which the plan is developed and clarified for the upcoming sprint. Product owners participate to clarify user stories for the team.
sprint retrospective
A meeting held at the end of each sprint to evaluate the previous sprint and decide on changes that the team agrees for the next sprint.
sprint review
A meeting held at the end of a sprint to demonstrate the work that was completed during the sprint and get feedback for upcoming work.
stage
See phase.
strategy
A plan for achieving major objectives under conditions of uncertainty, usually over an extended period of time.
SWOT analysis
An analysis of the company’s strengths and weaknesses compared to the opportunities and threats in the market place.
target market
The markets selected for the product to be sold to because they are the ones most likely to achieve positive company outcomes.
technical debt
In software, refers to code that should be reworked to improve it for a variety of reasons. Typically arises when shortcuts are done in development to get to market more quickly.
unique selling proposition (USP)
The unique reason that a customer should choose your product over other offerings.
user experience (UX)
The entirety of the customer experience with your company and product including purchasing, look and feel, functionality, and support.
user interface (UI)
Anything that the customer interacts with and gets information from your company or about your product. Primarily, but not exclusively, used in software development.
user story
Description of the functionality that a product should have, written from the perspective of the user. A very simplified and focused requirement description.
value proposition
A statement of the value that your product brings to your customer. The main reason that a customer should buy from you.
vision
In product management, the description of the future that will exist when your product is developed. Used to provide a “true north” description to bring all stakeholders on board.
voice of the customer (VOC)
The in-depth process of capturing customer needs, which includes market research and customer visits.
waterfall development
A linear and sequential development methodology where, for the product development part, product managers define all aspects of the product before it is given to engineering to create. There is no official role for feedback loops and flexible changes in waterfall development.
wireframe
In software development, a visual guide to the information hierarchy in the software as users follow a flow from screen to screen.
Part 1
Getting Started with Product Management
IN THIS PART…
Discover what product management is all about and what critical role it takes in delivering successful products to market.
Find out about the wide range of job functions you’ll be working with and bring to your team.
Understand the complete process of bringing a product to market.
Determine what information you need to compile to keep a product on track to achieve market success.
Chapter 1
Welcome to the World of Product Management
IN THIS CHAPTER
Grasping the vital part the product manager plays in product success
As a product manager, you have one of the most rewarding, challenging, interesting, difficult, and important jobs in the business industry. You get to step up and be a product leader for everyone on your team and throughout your company while learning how to influence and lead usually without any formal authority or people reporting to you directly. You get to be responsible for every aspect of the product offering and for the overall success and failure of your product. This position provides one of the best training grounds for moving onward and upward into roles like vice president, general manager, and CEO. And if you’re lucky and choose carefully, you get to work with some pretty talented engineering and development teams to create products that delight your customers, make a huge difference in your customers’ lives, and help achieve profits and strategic objectives that propel your company to success.
Understanding the Need for Product Management
The corporate world has recently gained a deep understanding about why product management is the best choice for driving products strategically to ensure companies’ customers are delighted and their businesses are growing. According to Aegis Resources companies that empower product managers are shown to be 50 percent faster to market. And in a 2013 CBS News MoneyWatch article, product management was listed as the fourth most important role in corporations, behind only the CEO, general managers, and senior executives. You’re part of a select and important crowd.
The benefits of having a great product management organization are hard to ignore:
Delivering products that better meet customer needs
Increasing revenues and profitability
Creating delighted customers who generate positive word-of-mouth referrals
Capturing and owning markets long-term as a result of solid product strategy which drives overall company efforts
These are just a few of the benefits. No other group in the company understands all aspects of the business the way that product managers do, and thus they become the central point of responsibility for product success or failure.
Recognizing the Critical Role of Project Management
Companies with great product management have a much higher degree of success. But what is product management? The following sections shed some light on what a product manager actually does.
Defining product management
You can think of product management as the function in a company that is ultimately responsible for making sure that every product the company offers to the market is as successful as possible both short-term tactically and long-term strategically. In other words, the buck stops here. You, as a product manager, must own everything about product success. Product managers rarely, if ever, have any formal authority or people reporting to them, so they must lead and influence in subtle yet effective ways.
Serving as a strategic driver for business
In a company each functional group has expertise and strives to be the best it can possibly be at what it’s responsible for. Engineers, also known as developers, build great solutions for customers. Marketing maximizes awareness and interest in products and services. The marketing folks ensure that the market knows the product differentiation and is enticed to consider purchasing. Sales is responsible for closing the sale with customers that are already enticed. Operations makes sure that the solution is delivered efficiently and at a low cost and that the company is operating as cost effectively as possible. Technical and customer support ensure the customer’s problems, if any, are resolved.
The role of product management
So how does product management fit in? One way to think about it is that product management is in the center of all company departments, as shown in Figure 1-1, as well as external entities such as customers, press, analysts, and partners. Although each of the other groups understands its role in making the company successful, product management is the only group that has a holistic point of view and understands how all the pieces fit together.
Without great product management, no one can take responsibility for all aspects of customer success. After all, someone has to make sure that the short-term tactical work gets done to make the product successful. Someone also has to set out and drive the product strategy so that success is ensured longer-term. This is the role of product management (see Chapter 2 for more on what the product manager role covers).
Owning the whole product
When customers think about your product, they have a mental pro and con list that includes items that have nothing to do with product and feature benefits. Does it meet industry standards? Who will install it? Do I trust them? Who do I call if I have a problem with it after I buy it? Will they pick up the phone? Can I purchase it in a way that is convenient and familiar to me? Can I finance it? If the product lasts many years, who is going to support it for all that time? These additional aspects of your product are called the augmented product. You can see how the core product, actual product and augmented product are related to each other in Figure 1-2.
The augmented product is the additional parts of your overall solution that support the customer’s experience with your product, such as warranty, support, purchase process, and many other factors beyond just the product and its features. A product promise is the implied guarantee of what kind of experience you’re offering to customers through your marketing, sales, brand, and other activities. This concept is covered further in Chapter 10.
If you’ve ever purchased a product that seemed to have great features and everything else you needed, yet you were disappointed with support or some other aspect of the experience, then you’ve experienced a broken product promise.
To further grasp the concept of product promise, check out this example: Say your product is a car and your company doesn’t have adequate infrastructure in place to ensure that customers can have it repaired locally. The market may love your car, but few potential customers may buy; they’re too worried that if the car breaks they’ll have to go hundreds of miles away to get it repaired. Do you as a product manager have full control over the company’s strategy and execution for making sure local repair centers are readily available? No. But you do have the ability to influence the people in your company who are responsible for this strategy and to hold them accountable for delivering this part of the solution. You also have the ability to tell the company not to proceed with making the car available if any part of the whole product offering will stop it from succeeding. Head for Chapter 18 to learn more about influencing without authority.
Keeping the product promise
As a product manager, you need to be aware of your product promise and how the augmented product delivers in a way that customers expect. Your responsibility is to try to do whatever you can to influence the other parts of the company to resolve any disconnects between customer experience and the product promise. Table 1-1 can help you to clarify how your product delivers (or doesn’t) what is promised.
TABLE 1-1 Delivering on Product Promise
Question
Answer
What are the product’s core benefits?
What are key features that support the benefits?
What does my brand represent to my customer?
Outside of the intrinsic properties of my product, what else is involved in a customer’s decision to choose my product?
How do these augmented product elements add to or detract from my product?
How can I influence this augmented product offering to better fit my product?
Product Management in a Nutshell: Checking Out Your Day-to-Day Life
A product manager’s job is varied and interesting; just look at Figure 1-1! In fact, there’s much too much of it to do. The question really becomes, “What is important to do right now?” The following sections offer a glimpse into the daily duties of a product manager.
Managing a product during every phase of its life
In Chapter 3, we discuss the Optimal Product Process, which is a seven-phase model that describes everything that happens in product management, from coming up with a great idea to officially retiring the product. As your product goes through its life cycle, you can expect to do the following as a product manager:
Generate and prioritize great new ideas for products or features by collaborating with a team, researching the customer, and analyzing the market (Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7).
After an idea is chosen, perform in-depth planning around concepts such as the market strategy (see Chapter 10), customer needs (Chapters 5 and 11), business case (Chapter 9), and other areas to ensure the plans are well thought out and support the strategic and financial goals of the company.
Communicate market needs to the engineering team and ensure that the product it’s producing delivers in a way that solves the problems of your customers (Chapter 11).
Negotiate with engineering to ensure that changes made to the plans keep the product on track (Chapters 12 and 18).
Work with external customers to validate whether the product is ready to officially launch in the marketplace (see Chapter 13).
Plan and execute highly effective product launches that ensure the company can meet the revenue, profitability, and strategic objectives of the company (Chapter 14).
Maximize revenues and profitability after the product is available (Chapter 15).
Determine whether and when to retire or replace the product and plan and execute a successful end-of-life campaign (Chapter 16).
Don’t worry; you’ll have plenty to do.
Reaching in to your bag of tricks
As you perform all your daily tasks, you need to draw upon a range of skills. You have to get executives and other key team members to buy in and support your plans. You’ve got to learn to say no to feature and schedule requests that don’t support your strategy and plans. You need to become perceived as the de facto leader of the team — the expert on the market and the voice of the customer. And you need to execute all of that with passion, persistence, and a drive to do everything possible to make sure your product succeeds.
Product managers succeed because they have skills in the following areas:
Communication: Product managers communicate when times are good and handle the tough situations as they come up.
Influence: Product managers use their communications skills and more to influence and negotiate with the many stakeholders they meet in their work.
Analysis: Product managers request, create, and absorb quantitative and qualitative data and communicate what it means effectively.
Empathy: Product managers have great empathy for their customers and all their stakeholders. They are interested in what makes people tick and how they can help others succeed.
Forward driving and thinking: Product managers can see into an ideal future and create almost tangible visions of what the world should look like once the rest of the world catches up to them. They want to bring others along with them in this amazing journey as they create valuable products and experiences.
Chapter 2
Getting in Character: Discovering Your Role as a Product Manager
IN THIS CHAPTER
Breaking down your role as a product manager
Seeing how your job fits in with other stakeholders
Assessing your product management skills
Deciding who does what by using RACI and DACI
Getting started as a product manager is a question of how to wrap your arms around a very complex role, as quickly as possible. Your co-workers and boss will expect you to hit the ground running. The best approach to being a successful product manager is keeping a level head. In this chapter, we break it down so you can approach your role with outward calm and set the stage for long-term success.
One of the beauties of a product management career is that you can make how you perform your job unique to who you are. Rather than envisioning this book as a prescriptive set of rules, imagine it as a starting point in your own career. Understand why a concept is important and then pretend you are playing a jazz score. You find yourself improvising actions while keeping the end goal in mind. This is the true fascination of this work: It is endlessly different while retaining core principles.
Product management definitions vary widely. This icon calls out key terms and concepts that you’d be wise to file away.
This icon means we’re providing some technical information that may or may not interest you. You can skip this paragraph if you want without missing any important information.
You can easily run into trouble in product management. This icon marks hidden traps and difficult situations.
Grasping the vital part the product manager plays in product success
