ASIS&T IA Summit Pre-ConferenceSo, you want to be a product

manager…

March 22, 2007Chris Baum and Jeff Lash

Agenda►Housekeeping►Welcome & introductions►Introduction to Product Management►Living the Business Context

(break)►Transferring Your Skills

(break)►Your Life as a Product Manager►Wrap-up

Housekeeping►Mobile phones off please!►This is a workshop, not a lecture►Slides will be posted online►Follow-ups after the workshop are

welcome

Welcome►Introduce yourself, including–Who you are–What your current role is–Why you’re here

►In pairs / groups– Share one quality of a good product manager

you’ve worked with…–… and one quality of a bad one

Qualities of good product managers

(As mentioned by attendees)

► Leadership► Focused on metrics► Collaboration► Knowledge of roles► Expertise► Long-term vision► Negotiation/influence► planning

► Clarify goals► Respect expertise of

others► Getting the right

resources► Knowledge of market► communication

Qualities of bad product managers

(As mentioned by attendees)

► “Owning” products / dictatorship

► Throwing you under the bus

► Not respecting others► Micromanaging► Poor requirements /

shifting requirements► Bad management /

confidence in

► Lack of understanding of tradeoffs between scope, resources, time

► No vision► Too involved in details► Irrational► Unwilling to make

decisions► Defining team roles

improperly► Too process-oriented,

not enough delivery

Introduction to Product Management

►Product Management overview–What is PM and why is it important?–What do PMs do?– How can you be a good PM?–What would a manifesto for PM look like?

►Transitioning from UXPM–Why are UXers interested in becoming PMs?–What are the similarities / differences?–Why is there confusion and conflict?–What will / won’t you do as a PM?–Why can UXers make great PMs?

Introduction to Product Management

Or: No authority and all of the responsibility… where do I

sign up?!

If product management is

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:DVader.jpeg

… then we’re all

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Stormtrooper.jpg

What is a product manager?►Responsible for overall success of the

product►Includes requirements and design, but

also marketing, pricing, technical aspects, portfolio, etc.

►“President” of the product

The Role of a Product Manager“The role of a product manager is full of

opportunities to find passion for the product today, its future roadmap, sales strategies, finding and growing a sales champion, and working with and supporting service. In short, the best product managers I’ve worked with have a passion for their products and their success.”

Source: Surviving Product Management; Louis Columbushttp://www.awprofessional.com/articles/article.asp?p=453996&rl=1

Why is product management important?

►Ships have captains►Textbooks have editors►Apartment buildings have landlords►Sports teams have coaches

►Products need managers

PM is increasingly important►Increasing number of new products►Increasingly competitive marketplace

means increased need for new and innovative products and people to manage them

►Online products need regular maintenance, updating, and enhancements

►Technology products are not a technology problem

Traits of good product managers

Curiosity“The best product

managers have an inherent curiosity and passion not just for the technologies in their products, but most importantly, how they align with users’ needs today and in the future.”

curiosity: Uploaded to flickr by Emilio del Pradohttp://flickr.com/photos/emiliodelprado/225161313/

Source: Surviving Product Management; Louis Columbushttp://www.awprofessional.com/articles/article.asp?p=453996&seqNum=5&rl=1

Curiosity

CuriosityPoster: Uploaded to flickr by iTopherhttp://flickr.com/photos/74655092@N00/142836427/

“The #1 trait I look for in people who would make good Product Managers is an extreme sense of curiosity. Curious people are wonderful - they ask the most powerful question in the World: “why?” Curious people read a lot and tend to self-teach valuable skills. Most importantly, curious people aren’t satisfied with what people tell them, they stay awake at night wondering what they’re missing and love the process of discovery. Some skills can be taught; curiosity is a character trait.”

Source: The Most Important Trait a Product Manager Needshttp://www.productbeautiful.com/2007/01/22/the-most-important-trait-a-product-manager-needs/

Leadership“If you want to be a good product manager, learn

to lead without authority.”

curiosity: Uploaded to flickr by Beneath_B1ue_Skieshttp://flickr.com/photos/beneath_blue_skies/343096431/

Source: Understanding leadership and authority; Jeff Lashhttp://www.goodproductmanager.com/2007/01/10/understanding-leadership-and-authority/

Communication

Source: Seven Traits of Successful Product Managers; Michael Shrivathsanhttp://michael.hightechproductmanagement.com/2006/12/seven_traits_of_successful_pro.html

Communication

ProductManager

Engineering Design

Finance

Legal

Project Management

Sales

Marketing

Customers

Investors

IndustryAnalysts

Manager

Executives

Other PMs

CustomerService

Partners

Adaptability

DSC01884; Uploaded to flickr by Atari, Gracinha & Marco http://flickr.com/photos/gracinhamarco/95623563/

Adaptability

“Be willing to do whatever it takes.

 … I know of many cases where the

product manager needed to help out with deliverables for customer support, sales training, technical writing, QA, engineering, and marketing.  You may need to just do it.”

Source: Thriving in Large Companies; Silicon Valley Product Grouphttp://www.svproduct.com/SVPG/BLOG/58923D38-9EE2-4C5C-BA1D-7B1482D3E03B.html

Decision Making►Product managers do not make

recommendations, they make decisions.

“If you like making recommendations or have difficulty making decisions, you’re probably not cut out to be a product manager.” Source: Transitioning from User Experience to Product Management, Part 2; Jeff Lash

and Chris Baumhttp://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/transitioning-from26

Facilitating Change

We Must Be The Change We Wish To See in The World; Uploaded to flickr by kk+ http://flickr.com/photos/kk/17416513/

Tenacity

“Do have a wellspring of spiritual energy to call on to surmount any obstacle.”

Source: The Unexpurgated Stewart Butterfield; Erick Schonfeld interview with Stewart Butterfield http://blogs.business2.com/business2blog/2006/12/the_unexpurgate.html

Persuasiveness

“In our system leadership is by consent, not command. To lead, a president must persuade.”

Source: Rumsfeld's Rules; Donald Rumsfeldhttp://www.opinionjournal.com/wsj/?id=85000505

Market focus

irony; Uploaded to flickr by mrpattersonsir http://flickr.com/photos/mrpattersonsir/30325860/

Market focus vs. customer focus

►Customer focus– Responding to expressed customer needs– Identifying unmet and unarticulated needs– Predicting future customer needs

►Market focus– Evaluating expressed, unarticulated, and

future needs– Understanding competitive landscape– Identifying social, technological, political,

market trends and opportunities– Aligned strategically with corporate objectives

What would a manifesto for product management look like?

Manifesto for Agile Software Development

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it.

Through this work we have come to value:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Working software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

http://www.agilemanifesto.org/

Manifesto for Product Management

We are uncovering better ways of managing products by doing it and helping others do it.

Through this work we have come to value:

End results and KPIs over processes and methodsWhat the product should do over how it should

do it

Focusing on the market over following your gut Adaptation and innovation over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

Why are UX professionals interested

in Product Management?

Interest in Product Management

►Desire to shape the entire experience►Want to make decisions, not

recommendations►Frustrated working with bad product

managers►Looking for the next step in their career

►Product Management is in many ways similar to User Experience

PM vs. UX► Understand customer

needs

► Determine product features and characteristics to meet those needs

► Relentlessly customer-focused

► Understand customer needs

► Determine product features and characteristics to meet those needs

► Relentlessly customer-focused

When I describe what I do to people who have not encountered the term “interaction design” before, I say first that “I look at users’ needs, figure out what kind of product best addresses them, and create a behavior specification for that product which the development team then uses as requirements to drive their work.”

Often people say, “In my organization, we call that a ‘product manager.’”

Source: Where do product managers fit?; Jonathan Kormanhttp://www.cooper.com/content/insights/newsletters/2004_issue03/Where_do_product_managers_fit.asp

Where do product managers fit?

So what’s the difference?

ResponsibilityPM

► Overall success► Financial targets:

profit and loss

► “What the product should do”

UX

► User experience► Should be concerned

about overall success, but usually not “responsible” for it

► “How the product should do it”

FocusPM

► A little of everything

► Focus on areas that need attention; may shift

UX

► User experience

► Should be concerned with other components, but concentrates on user experience aspects

StrategicTactical

SingleDiscipline

MultipleDisciplines

Product Manager

CEO

C-level functional managers (e.g. CFO, CTO)

UI DesignerSoftware Architect

UCD Manager

Software Developer

Business Analyst

Project Manager

User Researcher

ReliancePM

► Rely on others

► Responsible for all of the pieces coming together

UX

► Not as reliant on others; have more control over their own deliverables

► Responsible for own area

Why the confusion + conflict?►Resources– Often the appropriate resources are not available

for research, design, and documentation, so Product Managers fill the role

►Skills–Many product manages have (or think they have)

the skills to complete these tasks to some degree

►Control– Product Managers are ultimately accountable to

the success of the product, while others often are not

–Misplaced accountability can lead to micromanaging

How it should work►Product Managers– Responsible for overall success of the product– Includes requirements and design, but also

marketing, pricing, technical aspects, portfolio, etc.

– “President” of the product

►User Experience Practitioners– Responsible for ensuring product is designed to

meet users needs and be easy to use – Objective advocate for user needs and good

design–Member of the product “Cabinet” (along with

Marketing, Sales, Development, etc.)

Source: Putting people together to create new products; Jonathan Kormanhttp://www.cooper.com/newsletters/2001_09/putting_people_together_to_create_new_products.htm

Striking a balance

What you’ll get to do►Focus product strategy on customer and

end user needs►Help ensure user focus throughout entire

product – not just the design, but communications, policies – the entire “customer experience”

►Work with marketing, sales, and other stakeholders to effectively communicate unique benefits of your product

►Have opportunity to provide input on strategies for other products within the organization

What you’ll have to do►Attempt to influence and coordinate

people over whom you have no actual (read: org chart) power

►Mediate disputes between stakeholders►Make and justify tough decisions, which

invariably will upset many key allies►Communicate with upper management

and be accountable for product decisions

What you won’t get to do►Pore over the details of a design►Make recommendations►Pass the buck►Blend in to the scenery►Answer with “It depends…”►Be the single expert for one specific area

T-Shaped people

TechnologyMarketing UX /Design

Sales Finance

Good product managers are T-shaped people.

“To innovate … a product and business opportunity, we have to secure insights into both by having an observant and empathetic view of the world. Only T-shaped people, who have well rounded personalities and broad interests, can obtain such viewpoints. Sophisticated engineers who do not understand the market and customers will never produce products, which have a shot at becoming a grand slam.”

Source: ‘T-Shaped’ Thought Key to Innovation; Lee Jeong-baehttp://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200701/kt2007012118072168040.htm

Introduction to Product Management

To Be Continued…