The Secret to Good Product Prioritization - Product School

No one becomes a good Product Manager in a day, but we help you look inside the minds of great PMs to understand the mindset that makes them succeed. Because Product Management isn’t just a role, it’s a worldview, a set of skills that guide the way you think, and most importantly lead.

Main takeaways:

- How to set clear objectives and align your team
- Run discovery and focus on which problems to solve
- Understand the 3 levels of prioritization (roadmap, idea backlog, development backlog)
- Use a framework to foster discussion

Transcript

1. Prioritization Frameworks The secret to good product prioritization
2. A little about me Andrea Saez, Senior PMM  airfocus • 10 yrs experience in product management and support • Product speaker + writer • Helping organizations be more outcome-focused
3. Andrea Saez None of them. Which is the best framework?
4. Andrea Saez From Waterfall to Agile Predictability is King
5. Andrea Saez Small iterations Velocity of work Agile Agility
6. Andrea Saez RICE ICE WSJF SUP Reach Impact Confidence Effort Impact Confidence Effort Weighted Shortest Job First Shape Up The Rise of the Acronyms
7. Andrea Saez Frameworks tend to be output focused and assume you have already run discovery
8. Andrea Saez Prioritization is not a linear process
9. Andrea Saez 01 Roadmap Always start with your objectives. • What are your objectives? • What is the desired outcome for those objectives? • If achieved, what does success look like? Desired Outcome
10. Andrea Saez Desired Outcome Opportunity Problem) Opportunity( Problem) Opportunity Problem) Solution Solution Solution Solution Solution Solution Solution Experiment Experiment Experiment Experiment Experiment Experiment Experiment 01 Roadmap Always start with your objectives.
11. Andrea Saez Desired Outcome Opportunity Problem) Opportunity( Problem) Opportunity Problem) Solution Solution Solution Solution Solution Solution Solution Experiment Experiment Experiment Experiment Experiment Experiment Experiment 02 The Idea Backlog Test hypotheses and experiments
12. Andrea Saez 03 The Development Backlog Understanding capacity and output
13. Andrea Saez So what are frameworks good for anyway?
14. Andrea Saez Frameworks help with comparison
15. Andrea Saez
16. Andrea Saez Frameworks help you frame conversations
17. Andrea Saez Frameworks are just inputs
18. Meet Luis Director of Product @ Tori.fi Framework of choice: WSJF
19. Director of Product @ Tori.fi “I ask my team to use WSJF on a weekly basis, not because the end score or inputs matter, only because it gets them to think about a wider context of things. Tunnel vision can often be a problem, and the framework reminds them of any information they may have missed, and thus helps them frame information better.” Luis
20. Meet Jen Product Consultant Framework of choice: Kano model
21. Product Consultant “I love the Kano model for sorting out the relationship between experience impact and expectations. I’ve used it off and on for years and now find myself turning back to it for a team that struggles to convince the business partners that tech debt and keeping the boring - but foundational- stuff working needs to be considered in the same context as new delighter features” Jen
22. Meet Steve CPO  Fiska Framework of choice: ICE
23. CPO  Fiska “I use ICE but it needs to be augmented for all the other business variables that it is not meant to include. Skillset/Engineering capacity at a given time, cost of opportunity, strategic/ reputational impact of doing something earlier, etc. All depends on the maturity of the business and ecosystem.” Steve
24. Andrea Saez • Product maturity • Product growth • Product industry • Product context Don’t tie yourself to one framework
25. Andrea Saez Find problems to solve Problems Run discovery to reach an outcome Experiment Build, measure, learn, repeat Learn and Discuss Align your team Objectives Focus on outcomes
26. “If leaders are not willing or able to make the right choices to focus on objectives and outcomes before prioritizing at random, then the product strategy is doomed from the start.” Marty Cagan
27. Thanks! Do you have any questions? Twitter: @dreasaez Want to know everything about prioritization? Read our Mastering prioritization guide. It covers tips, best practices, prioritization frameworks and a lot more. All you need to know to make the right decisions. Scan the QR code to get started!