User-Centred Product Manager
Being a Successful
Hi, I’m Andrew and I’mpleased to meet you.
This is a conversation PLEASE ASK QUESTIONS
My ContextIn-house design and development
Design & development services
Installed software with licensing and support
Software as a service
Andrew Mayfieldnz.linkedin.com/in/andrewmayfield
@andrewfantastic
frustrations!!
please write 2 or 3 things you’d like to discuss today on post-it notes
!2 minutes
What does a Product Manager do?
What does a Product Manager do?
!
!
Please discuss as a group. !
5 minutes.
Align and prioritise activities that influence product design, development and positioning
Align and prioritise the wants and needs of people who use the product, and
people who work in or on the business
A Product Manager is responsible for making sure that a team ships a great product
…assessing product opportunities, and defining the product to be built
Product ecosystems
Systems thinking
Holistic thinking
Complexity theory
As Product Manager
you own
The Roadmap
How a Roadmap Works
Inputs to The Roadmap
!
How do things get onto your roadmap?
!
agile? !
lean? !
kanban? !
waterfall? !
iterative?
Stay nimble.
MVP
viableminimum
product
viable!feasible usable useful doable
ok, next?
COMMUNICATING The Roadmap
As clear as you can for 3-12 months
As fuzzy as you can after that for 3-5 years
Roadmapfrom where?
!
to where?
Roadmapfrom … the PROBLEM
!
to … your VISION
problemYour product exists to solve a
Quantifying the effectiveness of information architecture is hard work
PROBLEM:
visionYour product needs a
stories
Product Vision
Product Vision
For (target customer) Who (statement of the need or opportunity) The (product name) is a (product category) That (key benefit, compelling reason to buy)
Unlike (primary competitive alternative) Our product (statement of primary differentiation)
!!
from the book: Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey Moore
For information architects (IAs) !
Who want to make websites and intranets easier to navigate for their users
!Treejack is a tree testing tool for IA testing and validation
!That provides quantitative user research to prove or disprove terminology and hierarchy choices by isolating the IA from any
other visual concerns !
Unlike other methods and tools on the market !
Our product is inexpensive, easy to use and has great looking charts that management can read for themselves.
TreejackTREE TESTING
Help experience designers understand where and why people get lost on their website.
TreejackTREE TESTING
One Sentence
How does a Product Manager
differ from a Project Manager
How does a Product Manager
differ from a Senior UX Designer
User-Centred Input
Ideas for Ensuring
empathythe ability to understand and share the feelings of another
Building team empathy
Can you think of a way you could do this in your workplace?
!Discuss.
Dog food day
Dog food dayA day where you are the user.
!Invite a user, or a team of spend time with
you and your product team. !
You work with the user(s), or for them, to achieve their goals using your products.
User researchWhat methods are used at your workplace?
User researchMix of methods
Mix of people
Customer SupportHave you, personally, ever worked in customer support at your workplace?
Aim to be rid of customer support
Take action, don’t create more process
Roster everyone onto support
“BTW - I love your products.
I enjoy using them so much that I sometimes
get frustrated when I have to do other parts
of my job.
Mike
Work in pairs
PODS
SNIPER SQUAD
Who prioritises the work?
ok, but
Someone else?
Development team
Marketing team
Customer support
The Board
it’s your job.You’re the product manager,
He who screams the loudest
Watch out for:
Synthesise !
Analyse !
Decide
Prioritising as a group
ABC
Important vs Urgent
Impact vs Difficulty
kano modelIdeas for being
kano modelDelight, Performance or Basic needs
kano model
kano.io
Know what to do next, why, and who for.
THANK YOU,!YOU’RE AWESOME
Andrew Mayfieldnz.linkedin.com/in/andrewmayfield
@andrewfantastic
