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An engineer's guide to working with product man...
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Adam Wiggins
May 23, 2013
Technology
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An engineer's guide to working with product managers
Adam Wiggins
May 23, 2013
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Transcript
An engineer's guide to working with product managers Adam Wiggins
April 2013
What do product people do?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV7u1VBhWCE
Bob's approach to product management
Customer Product manager Engineer
Customer Product manager Engineer
Customer Product manager Engineer
Now, real product management
Customer problems Product manager
Customer problems Engineering Product manager Prototypes, ideas, technology needs
Customer problems Engineering Usage analysis Watching the competition Support needs
Sales needs S Product manager Prototypes, ideas, technology needs
Customer problems Engineering Usage analysis Watching the competition Support needs
Sales needs S Product manager Synthesis & judgement Prototypes, ideas, technology needs
Customer problems Engineering Usage analysis Watching the competition Support needs
Sales needs S Product manager Synthesis & judgement Requirements Prototypes, ideas, technology needs
Why have product specialists?
To build something people will use and love.
How?
• customer-centric • understanding the problem • putting the solution
into customer terms
None
Product Engineering
Product • problems • customers • build the right thing
• solutions • technology • build it right Engineering
Aspects of product work
• customer validation • prioritization • internal communication • external
communication • analysis & synthesis
How can a product manager help you?
• defining the problem • determining what's important • non-technical
decision-making • unblocking you • usage analysis • notifying users of changes • coordination across teams • coordination with 3rd parties
What to expect from a good product manager
• evidence • customer perspective • context ("why" to match
the "what") • fast decision-making • internal marketing & buy-in • tracking & documentation
What does a product manager expect from you, the engineer?
• building stuff • frequent status reports • tight feedback
loops • reporting on technical blockers • new possibilities with the technology
What makes something a product?
• validated with customers • docs & announcements • pricing
• interfaces (CLI, web, API, mobile) • workflows • naming • code ownership • scalability & capacity planning • deploy process
• validated with customers • docs & announcements • pricing
• interfaces (CLI, web, API, mobile) • workflows • naming • code ownership • scalability & capacity planning • deploy process Product Design Engineering
Insist on a product owner for your project! fin.