What Does a Product Manager Do and Not Do

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WHAT DOES A PRODUCT
MANAGER DO
(AND NOT DO)?
WORKING PRODUCTS CONFERENCE, HAMBURG 2019
@JOCKBU
JOCK BUSUTTIL
PRODUCT PEOPLE LIMITED

ABOUT JOCK
@JOCKBU
Freelance head of product
Writer, speaker, mentor and trainer
Author of The Practitioner’s Guide To Product
Management
amzn.to/2tnHacR

INTERIM PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
MENTORING, COACHING & TRAINING
WWW: productpeo.pl
BLOG: imanageproducts.uk
@jockbu

SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU
@JOCKBU

WHAT IS A PRODUCT?
@JOCKBU

To have a great
mortgage rate?
To have affordable
monthly capital
repayments?

OR:
To allow people to
save money on rent?
To live closer to work?
To have space to start
a family?

A PRODUCT...
... SOLVES
USER PROBLEMS
... ADDRESSES
USER NEEDS
@JOCKBU
... HELPS THE USER TO
ACHIEVE A GOAL
... IS THE MEANS
NOT THE END

DIGITAL
PHYSICAL
PERSONAL
SERVICE
WHAT YOU BUILD
COMPLEMENTARY,
NEEDED ELEMENTS
WHOLE PRODUCT
CORE
PRODUCT

WHAT IS PRODUCT
MANAGEMENT?
@JOCKBU

amzn.to/2lol98D amzn.to/2tnHacR amzn.to/2CsRwdK

The job of the product
manager is to identify the
minimal possible product
that meets the objectives –
valuable, usable and
feasible – while
minimising time to market
and user complexity.
MARTY CAGAN
AUTHOR OF INSPIRED
Photo: Mind The Product

I’ve always defined product
management as the
intersection between
business, technology and
user experience.
MARTIN ERIKSSON
CO-FOUNDER, MIND THE PRODUCT Photo: Mind The Product

UX
TECH
BUSINESS
Source: Martin Eriksson / Mind The Product
YOU ARE
HERE

Source: Martin Eriksson / Mind The Product
UX
TECH
BUSINESS

UX
TECH
BUSINESS
Source: The Practitioner’s Guide To Product Management
LATIN
ANCIENT GREEK

WHAT DOES A PRODUCT
MANAGER DO?
@JOCKBU

DIVERSE TECHNICAL SKILLS
@JOCKBU
Credit: I Manage Products – How to
measure product manager performance

DIVERSE ‘SOFT’ SKILLS
@JOCKBU
Credit: I Manage Products – How to
measure product manager performance
EMPATHY
COMMUNICATION

T-SHAPED (OR π-SHAPED) PERSON
@JOCKBU
“My background is in
this area, but I’m
familiar with all
these other things”
GENERALIST
SPECIALIST

COLLABORATING WITH A TEAM OF SPECIALISTS
@JOCKBU

USER
NEEDS
BUSINESS
NEEDS

WHAT DOES A PRODUCT
MANAGER NOT DO?
@JOCKBU

Not a project manager
@JOCKBU

Not a programme
manager either
@JOCKBU

Not ‘just’ a product
owner
(Scrum role)
@JOCKBU

Not the ‘tweak the
website’ person
@JOCKBU

Not ‘sales support’
@JOCKBU

Not chief QA tester
@JOCKBU

Not ‘tech support’
@JOCKBU

Not the spreadsheet
wrangler
@JOCKBU

Not a replacement for
absent specialists
@JOCKBU

WHY DO WE NEED PRODUCT
MANAGEMENT?
@JOCKBU

USER NEEDS EVOLVE

Think about...
@JOCKBU

PRODUCTS THAT ANNOYED YOU
@JOCKBU
Source: GrumpyCats.com

PRODUCTS THAT DELIGHTED YOU
@JOCKBU
Source: Warner Brothers Studios

Attention to detail
Solving your
problems before you
even know you had
them
Truly understanding
your needs
Treating you like a
human

USERS ALWAYS HAVE A CHOICE
@JOCKBU
Source: Warner Bros. Studios

WHAT MAKES A
GOOD PRODUCT MANAGER?
@JOCKBU

EGO
@JOCKBU

Guesses &
assumptions
Solution before
problem
Will lead to
failure (usually)
@JOCKBU

Everything is an
experiment
@JOCKBU

Data / user research
shows that:
Users don’t like typing passwords
on their mobile phone
So if we try:
Sending an email with a one-time
login button
And measure:
Time to log in on mobile
User stress levels while logging in
We should see this
change:
>75% reduction in login time
Significant drop in stress levels

10%
tech
@JOCKBU
90% people

Team and
stakeholder needs
are not always
aligned with user
needs
@JOCKBU

A PRODUCT MANAGER ALIGNS THE TEAM
@JOCKBU

NO VISION EVERYONE ALIGNED TO A
SHARED PRODUCT VISION

DIVIDED THINKING
@JOCKBU
SHORT TERM LONG TERM
FINE DETAIL BIG PICTURE
CREATIVE ANALYTICAL

However
@JOCKBU

Product management can
also be challenging
@JOCKBU

Credit: Jock Busuttil

Photo: Michelle Bates CC BY-SA 4.0

ETHICAL PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
@JOCKBU
Photo credit: Google

Consider how your
product could be
misused or abused
@JOCKBU

Just because you can
create a product
doesn’t mean you
should
@JOCKBU

Do no harm
@JOCKBU

RECAP
@JOCKBU

A product manager is at the
centre of UX, the organisation
and technology
@JOCKBU

A product manager is a
generalist who collaborates with
specialists
@JOCKBU

A good product manager
considers the ethics of their
product
@JOCKBU

THANKS!
INTERIM PRODUCT MANAGEMENT,
COACHING AND TRAINING
WWW: productpeo.pl
@jockbu amzn.to/2tnHacR

QUESTIONS?
INTERIM PRODUCT MANAGEMENT,
COACHING AND TRAINING
WWW: productpeo.pl
@jockbu amzn.to/2tnHacR

What Does a Product Manager Do and Not Do

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