Product Management: Philosophy & Practices

What's product management? And what's it got to do with me? We'll talk through the basic principles behind building an unbelievably great product, and then walk through the practices we use at CloudFactory to make that happen.

Transcript

1. Product Management: Philosophy & Practices Jess Martin & Kailash Badu
2. What the heck is product management?
3. Sounds BORING.
4. Product management
5. Product management
6. Product management design
7. Product design. Better. ...but what’s that?
9. You are not Steve.
10. Product design is PEOPLE PROBLEMS PRIORITY
11. Know WHO you are building for. PEOPLE
12. Know WHAT they need. PEOPLE
13. Lots of users @ CF... PEOPLE Clients
14. Lots of users @ CF... PEOPLE Clients Workforce
15. Lots of users @ CF... PEOPLE Clients Workforce Solutions (Production Managers)
16. Lots of users @ CF... PEOPLE Clients Workforce Solutions (Production Managers) Cloud Seeders
17. Lots of users @ CF... PEOPLE Clients Workforce Solutions (Production Managers) Cloud Seeders Data Scientists
18. Lots of users @ CF... PEOPLE Clients Workforce Solutions (Production Managers) Cloud Seeders Data Scientists Cloud Workers
19. PROBLEM Software exists to solve people's problems.
20. Design focuses FIRST on problem definition. PROBLEM
21. PROBLEM
22. I need a faster site. PROBLEM
23. I need a faster site. PROBLEM Why?
24. I need a faster site. PROBLEM Why? It’s too slow.
25. I need a faster site. PROBLEM Why? It’s too slow. When do you notice?
26. I need a faster site. PROBLEM Why? It’s too slow. When do you notice? When I’m entering data. It’s really slow moving between fields.
27. I need a faster site. PROBLEM Why? It’s too slow. When do you notice? When I’m entering data. It’s really slow moving between fields. Where is data coming from?
28. I need a faster site. PROBLEM Why? It’s too slow. When do you notice? When I’m entering data. It’s really slow moving between fields. Where is data coming from? Excel. I copy it.
29. Problem: Manually copying data into the website from Excel. PROBLEM
30. Problem: Manually copying data into the website from Excel. PROBLEM I know! CSV import!
31. Not so fast... PROBLEM
32. PROBLEM
33. What do you use the data for? PROBLEM
34. What do you use the data for? How does it get into Excel? PROBLEM
35. What do you use the data for? How does it get into Excel? Who else needs to see it? PROBLEM
36. What do you use the data for? How does it get into Excel? Who else needs to see it? Who else works on it? PROBLEM
37. What do you use the data for? How does it get into Excel? Who else needs to see it? Who else works on it? PROBLEM Why do you need the data on your site?
38. What do you use the data for? How does it get into Excel? Who else needs to see it? Who else works on it? PROBLEM Why do you need the data on your site? How often do you do this import?
39. Don’t jump to solutions too early. PROBLEM
40. Make sure you fully understand the problem. PROBLEM
41. You can’t build it all. PRIORITY
42. When to build is as important as what. PRIORITY
43. Sometimes that means saying NO to features. PRIORITY
44. PEOPLE PROBLEMS PRIORITY
45. Getting sleepy yet?
46. Thinking about the dal bhat you just ate?
47. Who are the product designers at CF?
48. This is not the product.
49. This is not the product.
50. This is not the product.
51. sales process Cloud Worker onboarding character principles workflow engine worker interface client contracts Facebook app comments QA test plans server configurations logo worker payroll client interface task forms work accuracy Cloud Worker support
52. sales process Cloud Worker onboarding character principles workflow engine worker interface client contracts Facebook app comments QA test plans server configurations logo worker payroll client interface task forms work accuracy Cloud Worker support This is the product.
53. Each of you shapes the product every day.
54. HOW? HOW? Ok...
55. Let’s talk process.
57. TALK to users #1
58. TALK to users #1 DESIGN and DOCUMENT solutions #2
59. TALK to users #1 DESIGN and DOCUMENT solutions #2 DECIDE what to do #3
60. TALK to users #1 DESIGN and DOCUMENT solutions #2 DECIDE what to do #3 DO (build) it #4
61. TALK to users #1 DESIGN and DOCUMENT solutions #2 DECIDE what to do #3 DO (build) it #4 REPEAT #5
62. TALK to users
63. Ask good questions. TALK to users
64. TALK to users What do you need in order to accomplish your goals? What's painful about your process these days? When have you thought “I wish our product would ____”? Have you noticed any problems this week?
65. Don't suggest solutions too early! LISTEN TALK to users
66. Listening tip: Repeat back what they just said to make sure you heard correctly. TALK to users “So what I hear you saying is...”
67. Use your own product. (eat your own dog food, or as Evan says, gourmet meal) TALK to users
68. DESIGN and DOCUMENT solutions
69. Sketch. Wireframe. Discuss. DESIGN and DOCUMENT solutions
70. Involve the user in the design process. DESIGN and DOCUMENT solutions ANYONE CAN DRAW!
71. Write up your solution with a user story. DESIGN and DOCUMENT solutions
72. DECIDE what to do
73. Different for each team... DECIDE what to do
74. Census John delegated to Sarwagya & Safal DECIDE what to do
75. Platform Trying out a larger meeting with all the stakeholders.... DECIDE what to do
76. DO (build) it
77. ...and finally
78. REPEAT
79. Talk to users. See if your solution worked.
80. So...
81. “I thought this presentation was about product management?”
82. What exactly IS product management?
83. Making sure product design gets done well PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
84. Listen up, engineers.
85. No matter how good we are at “engineering” we won’t succeed if we build the wrong product.
86. How can we become a product-focused team?
87. Understand the WHY as well as the WHAT.
88. Design solutions rather than just raising issues.
89. Nothing (or very little) is impossible.
90. We need YOU. How do I become a product manager? • Top-notch communication skills • Passion for nicely designed products • Ability to put yourself in your user shoes and empathize with their needs • Know the industry (rivals, competing products, industry trends) • Eye for design • Awareness of technology • Creativity
91. You are already a product designer. TAKE AWAY / HOME PACK You should be improving the product every day. Think about it: is product management for you?