Blog: PM Decisions
It takes a special kind of person to want to step into the disparate and often thankless role of a Product Manager. We understand that journey and invite you to join us as we begin jotting down theProductPath.
Flickr image source: http://tinyurl.com/pmvvurb
To address one of the most critical problem areas for customers using our software platform, I decided to roll up my sleeves and conduct the fieldwork myself.
The Product Decision: Enlist the help of our User Research expert to coordinate formal interviews with a suitable group of administrators and end users from our active customer base.
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Flickr image source: http://tinyurl.com/orb4qg5
To learn more about post-purchase sentiment, I decided to engage with our Customer Success team and become more aware of where our users were struggling.
The Product Decision: Carve out time to listen to and understand some of the problems customers were having with our product and to help identify ways to address each distinct concern.
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Flickr image source: http://tinyurl.com/neccbh5
In yet another attempt to get out of the building and sit face to face with my customers, I decided to grab a seat in the next customer training session.
The Product Decision: Spend most of the class in listen-only mode but also weave in more interactive, product-focused discussions.
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Flickr image source: http://tinyurl.com/ngyurwt
After yet another desperate claim from an exasperated Sales team that we were losing deals because of presumed product gaps, I decided that I needed hear it first hand from the customers.
The Product Decision: Schedule discussions with the lost prospects to learn more about their exact decision criteria.
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Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/highwaysagency/5997001123/
In realizing I had not spoken directly with our customers in some time, I decided it was time to get out of the building.
The Product Decision: Leave the building (and the city) and spend some quality face time with a group of customers who represented a good cross section of our users.
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Image sources: https://www.flickr.com/photos/68751915@N05/6848823919, https://www.flickr.com/photos/nataliedowne/6446884983, https://www.flickr.com/photos/norue/9625271288
In what many Product Managers might consider an average week, I made three classic product decisions that would make Marty Cagan smile.
The Three Product Decisions: Determine what was most valuable for our customers, what was most usable by our end users, and what was most feasible according to our Engineering team.
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Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/orijinal/5024019897
Having joined an in-progress Release that included a feature request from a single (but high-valued) customer, I decided to scale back the team’s work.
The Product Decision: Pump the brakes on the implementation and the promotion of a poorly planned feature request.
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