From Developer to Product Manager: The Hard Parts

I have been working as a front-end developer for ten years. In 2018 I changed my role after spending a few years working closely with product managers. It was something I liked and was already exploring back then. In these slides I share the main three problems I struggled with during the transition.

This was presented on March 31 at a Codemotion Webinar.

Transcript

1. From Developer to Product Manager THE HARD PARTS
4. Front End Developer Product Manager
6. A podcast where we look at how tech companies work from the inside. inprogressshow.com
7. t Outline
8. t Outline 2. Owning the why 1. Understanding what to do 3. Deciding what to build
9. t Outline 2. Owning the why 1. Understanding what to do 3. Deciding what to build
10. t Outline 2. Owning the why 1. Understanding what to do 3. Deciding what to build
11. Where should I start from? 1. UNDERSTANDING WHAT TO DO $_ whoami
12. 1. Tactical 2.Operational 3.Strategical Types of Work Done By a Product Manager
13. 1. Tactical 2.Operational 3.Strategical Types of Work Done By a Product Manager
14. 1. Tactical 2.Operational 3.Strategical Types of Work Done By a Product Manager
15. 1. Tactical 2.Operational 3.Strategical Types of Work Done - Remember it as “TOS”. TIP: By a Product Manager
16. Tactical Strategical Tactical Types of work done Operational Short-term activities like: - Scoping work - Crunching data to decide what to build next - Work with developers and designers
17. Operational Connecting strategy and tactical work: - Roadmaps - Aligning teams Strategical Tactical Operational Types of work done
18. Strategical - Positioning the product and the company. - Planning long-term. Strategical Tactical Operational Types of work done
19. Easy? Types of Work Done By a Product Manager
20. The Waiter The most common type of PM CEO requests Sales requests Marketing requests Customer requests
21. How these types of work map to my current position? The PM Career Path
22. Associate PM 50% Strategic - 50% Operational The Career Path PM Senior PM Director of product Manage people VP of product CPO Chair in directive board Product line First level of people management
23. Is everyone on the same page? 2. OWNING THE WHY
24. • You main job is to explore, define and communicate why you should build it. Owning the why • You main job is not to tell your team what to build.
25. How can I own “the why”?
26. Focusing on the problem instead of the solution OWNING THE WHY
27. • Our brains love to think in terms of solutions. Focusing on the problems • When someone is talking about the problem using solutions, your job is to get to the root of the problem.
28. Focusing on the problems Problem exploration User research Understanding the context around a problem to form a better solution to solve it
29. Focusing on the problems Solution exploration Problem exploration User research User testing Understanding the context around a problem to form a better solution to solve it • MVP = learn • Showing a prototype • Running experiments
30. Solution exploration Problem exploration User research User testing Understanding the context around a problem to form a better solution to solve it • MVP = learn • Showing a prototype • Running experiments WARNING Focusing on the problems
31. Solution exploration Problem exploration User research User testing Understanding the context around a problem to form a better solution to solve it • MVP = learn • Showing a prototype • Running experiments JUST GUESSING Focusing on the problems
32. Solution iteration without problem exploration
33. Communicating the why OWNING THE WHY
34. Communicating the why There is not better way to understand the problem that to see the user frustration it with your own eyes
35. Communicating the why Invite the rest of your team to your sessions and calls with customers
36. When you put yourself in your users’s shoes
37. Use templates to keep the why in the front line Communicating the why
38. Notion’s Product Spec Template
39. Notion’s Sprint Template
40. Once we understand the why, we need to connect it with the what Communicating the why
41. Why + What = Shared understanding Communicating the why
42. Story Communicating the why
43. Story Communicating the why
44. Story Communicating the why
45. We agree! Story Communicating the why
46. Shared documents is not shared understanding Communicating the why
47. There is no perfect way of writing stories Communicating the why
48. Using Story mapping Communicating the why
49. Story mapping consists of ordering user stories along two independent dimensions: activities and implementation Communicating the why
50. Image from manifest.co.uk
51. Try story mapping with your team when designing a complex feature or flow Communicating the why
52. Are we using our time the best as we can? 3. DECIDING WHAT TO BUILD
53. • There are frameworks we can use to decide what to build: benefits mapping, Kano model, etc. Deciding what to build • We need to be aware of doing only components optimization.
54. Deciding what to build Features Strategy A strategy is on top of features, it’s focused on goals and vision Feat. 1 Feat. 2 Feat. 3 Feat. N
55. Deciding what to build Features Strategy A strategy is on top of features, it’s focused on goals and vision Feat. 1 Feat. 2 Feat. 3 Feat. N Feat. X Nice to have Feat. Y Just a small thing ®
56. Deciding what to build
57. Image from the article “The Product Kata” by Melissa Perri
58. Deciding what to build Image from the article “The Product Kata” by Melissa Perri
59. Book Recommendations
60. Escaping The Build Trap MELISSA PERRI How effective product management creates real value
61. Inspired MARTY CAGAN How to create tech products customers love
62. Make Time JAKE KNAPP & JOHN ZERATSKY How to focus on what matter every day
63. @fjaguero