Post on 17-Jan-2017
transcript
Amisha Thakkar@amisha_thakkar_
Product Manager @ UpToDate
Swimming with the Sharks
Image credit:dkidiscussion.blogspot.com
What does it take to be a
Product Manager?
• Passion!
• Product design skills
• Product building skills
• Business Skills
• Juggling
What does it take?
PASSION
• You wish a product had “this” feature
• You dislike something in a product & you know exactly how you would change it
Passion !!
PRODUCT DESIGNSKILLS
• Understanding what the user needs
• Defining requirements
• Designing intuitive products, solutions
• Good design vs bad design - “It’s not a defect, it’s a feature”
Product Design Skills
Image Credit: From the book “Don’t make me think” by Steve Krug
Book Recommendations
PRODUCT BUILDINGSKILLS
• Making sense of lots of data
• Prioritizing features
• Building smart analytics into your product
• Building roadmaps
Product Building Skills
Image Credit: http://www.fridgemagazine.com/marketing/practical-tips-
tools-conducting-market-research/
Short Term Roadmap Example
Image Credit: http://www.romanpichler.com/blog/goal-oriented-agile-product-roadmap/
Long Term Roadmap Example
Credit: http://www.tom-gray.com/2012/02/26/product-roadmap/
• Saying no to customers
• Saying no to internal stake holders
• It’s not easy !!
Saying NO !!
Image Credit: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/nadiabolzweber/2012/03/the-
spiritual-practice-of-saying-no-sisters-take-note/
BUSINESS SKILLS
The Business Case is a Decision Making tool• It helps the business quantify the opportunity
• Maximise its investments
• Find the opportunities that can deliver the highest returns
• It helps the business prioritize its activities
• Businesses have limited resources
• Determine the best opportunities to allocate its people & money
• Captures the assumptions and risks
Writing a Business Case
Credit: http://www.slideshare.net/brainmates/stop-writing-bad-business-cases
Communications
Managing Stakeholders
Image Credit: https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/managing-stakeholders-going-beyond-conventional-wisdom.php
Some timesyou will be
jugglinga
million things!
Why call it Swimming with the Sharks?
• You are dealing with a lot of complexity
• You have to understand different perspectives
• You are bridging the gaps
• You have to figure out what communication styles work
• You need persuasion skills
It’s tough
• Situation: When a developer says I can’t build this
• Situation: When your intention was to build a scooter but now it is becoming a bus
• Situation: Everyone wants what they want right now but you can only do so much
Common Challenges
It’s a lot of fun !
Image Credit: http://inthelittleredhouse.blogspot.com/2011/07/summery-ness.html
NEVER STOP LEARNING