Product is the growing knowledge, skills, practices, and beliefs about how to create compelling solutions to customers problems. The product is a “vehicle of value” that helps a customer do a job they want done.
Today, when product managers talk about the “Product” abilities or having “Product Sense” or being “good at Product,” what they’re talking about is being able to lead a team to discover and deliver a good or service that customers love and fits within the business model.
How product managers do this varies across the product lifecycle. At first, it might be customer surveys and market research, followed then experiments, prototypes, and early version releases. Finally, once mature, product managers experiment with split testing and customer discovery programs to continuous refine and improve a product or service.
The key idea is to first build-to-learn and then build-to-earn once the key problems are solved, such as design, technical challenges, commercialization. All of these aspects must be solved for, preferably with the minimal development effort, and scaled up only after the key risks are satisfied. Those key risks come from design thinking:
Ultimately, product management is about creating certainty that an organization will succeed in delighting customers and achieving its mission.
To do this well, product managers need to do apply skills in Discovery that help us “Build the Product Right” and Delivery that ensures we “Build the Right Product.” The Internet of Things (IoT) and smart devices gives us the ability to rapidly get answers to surveys, add telemetry and use metrics to products, and instantly combine insights across data sets. From this underlying wealth of data, Product Managers use three core competencies:
Today the need for product management is greater than ever. With the world quickly moving to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into every aspect of work and consumer products, the need isto revisit the problem-space for new solutions.This is exactly what product managers excel at doing. Product Managers become experts in the problem-space and helping to discover great solutions within technical and business constraints.
Product teams are at the heart of successful product development, where collaboration between diverse roles drives innovation, execution, and growth. A well-structured product team ensures that each facet of a product's lifecycle is addressed with expertise and focus. Core roles in this team include the Product Manager, ProductDesigner, and Tech Lead, each bringing unique perspectives and responsibilities to the table.
The Product Manager serves as the bridgebetween the customer, the business, and the development process. Their primaryresponsibilities encompass:
Contrary to common belief, ProductManagers do not necessarily require a background in technology. Their strengthlies in their ability to communicate effectively and collaborate with technicaland non-technical stakeholders to deliver solutions that resonate withcustomers.
The Product Designer complements theProduct Manager by focusing on the user experience. Key responsibilitiesinclude:
The Product Designer's seat at the tableemphasizes the importance of design in modern product development. A focus onprototyping and iterative testing allows teams to validate ideas beforecommitting to full-scale implementation.
The Tech Lead brings technical expertiseto the team, ensuring that the product is robust, scalable, and sustainable.Their responsibilities include:
By collaborating with Product Managersand Designers, the Tech Lead ensures that technological decisions support bothshort-term delivery and long-term strategic goals.
These three roles—Product Manager,Product Designer, and Tech Lead—form the core of a product team. Theircollaboration is essential for:
This cross-functional approach ensuresthat all aspects of the product are considered, from customer experience totechnical implementation. By fostering open communication and mutual respect,product teams can navigate complex challenges and deliver exceptional results.
Effective product management is abouttransforming strategic objectives into valuable, scalable, and sustainableproducts. We will delve into the critical tools of the trade, outlining thejourney from strategy to customer discovery, product discovery, and ultimately,product delivery. These tools and frameworks are designed to help you navigatethe complexities of product management and ensure success at every stage.
Every product journey begins withstrategic objectives, typically defined at the organizational level. Theseobjectives are the result of high-level strategy work. As a product manager,your role starts by examining these objectives and addressing key questions:
The answers to these questions lay thegroundwork for customer and product discovery, ensuring that efforts align withboth business goals and market opportunities.
Customer discovery focuses onunderstanding whether the identified problem is significant enough to solve andwhether the potential customer is worth targeting. Key tools and methodologiesinclude:
Customer discovery helps answerfoundational questions, such as:
Once customer discovery is complete, the focus shifts to product discovery. This phase involves creating high-fidelity prototypes and leveraging the Lean Analytics Cycle to refine the product. The goal is to de-risk the product by addressing four critical dimensions:
Product discovery is a collaborative process, requiring input from technologists, designers, and other key stakeholders. Together, these teams work to create solutions that are not only functional but also aligned with customer needs and business objectives.
The transition from discovery to delivery marks the beginning of the scaling phase. Here, the focus shifts to creating arobust product that is:
A critical framework used in this phaseis Set-Based Innovation. Thisapproach emphasizes evaluating multiple concepts simultaneously, identifyingtrade-offs, and iteratively narrowing down to the best solutions. By fosteringcollaboration across teams, it ensures that the final product integratesseamlessly and meets high-quality standards.
Product management stands at a transformative crossroads, shaped by rapid technological advancements and evolving market dynamics. According to Gartner's recent findings, by 2023, 40% of large enterprises will shift to a product-centric model, propelling innovation and fortifying their competitive edge. This burgeoning interest is evident as Fortune 100 companies have reported a 41% rise in Chief Product Officer roles over just three years. Furthermore, platforms like LinkedIn showcase an impressive landscape with over 2,000 CPO listings and 170,000 opportunities for product managers[1].
This growth trajectory is influenced by several key trends:
The University of Maryland's Master of Professional Studies (MPS) in Product Management is meticulously crafted to meet these shifts head-on. Our program offers a balanced mix of foundational theories and hands-on practices, preparing students to emerge as frontrunners in this digital age.
Embark on a journey with the University of Maryland to be at the forefront of product evolution, championing digital transformation, and harnessing the prowess of artificial intelligence.
[1] Product Management and Project Management: Alignment and Differences (pmi.org)
