product management best practice Archives | ProdPad Product Management Software Thu, 28 Mar 2024 16:33:07 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://www.prodpad.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/192x192-48x48.png product management best practice Archives | ProdPad 32 32 Closing the Feedback Loop: A Product Manager’s Guide https://www.prodpad.com/blog/closing-the-feedback-loop/ https://www.prodpad.com/blog/closing-the-feedback-loop/#comments Thu, 28 Mar 2024 16:33:06 +0000 https://www.prodpad.com/?p=81829 People love to complain. The earliest recorded customer complaint in human history was some product feedback carved into a stone tablet around 1750 BC, when frustrated buyer Nanni bemoaned the…

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People love to complain. The earliest recorded customer complaint in human history was some product feedback carved into a stone tablet around 1750 BC, when frustrated buyer Nanni bemoaned the low quality of the copper he bought from shady merchant Ea-nasir. Considering his hut had other, similar complaint-tablets from other unhappy customers, the Babylonians clearly didn’t know how to close their feedback loop!

Of course, the other side to that ancient coin is that people also love it when they feel they have been heard. User feedback can be positive, from requests for new functionality, ideas for improvements, and even just telling you that what you’re doing rocks.

Negative feedback is really an opportunity to solve a new problem – and in the process, you’ll show your users that their feedback makes a real difference.

Dealing with customer feedback has evolved quite a bit since Babylonian times though. It’s not enough anymore to just stick a box to a wall with a sign saying “Let us know how we did!”.

It’s a feedback loop, not a feedback line

Feedback shouldn’t be a one-way street. Your users don’t want to feel like they’re shouting into a black hole! They want to feel like their voices are being heard, that the effort they put in to let you know about the issues they’re having will be rewarded with a tangible change in your product.

Obviously, that’s not always possible. One complaint probably isn’t a sign that everything’s going wrong just yet. But if you’ve got a load of people pointing to an issue with your product, you’re going to want to do something about it – and then, most importantly, you need to tell the people who flagged it that the problem is fixed.

That way, instead of getting bent out of shape and ditching your product like so much crappy Babylonian copper, they’ll feel valued, they’ll value the product more, and they’ll be more likely to let you know if any other issues crop up.

That, in a nutshell, is a closed customer feedback loop. Seems simple enough, right? But the reality is, unsurprisingly, not so simple. That’s why I’ve put together this guide for Product Managers, to walk you through:

  • What “closing the feedback loop” means
  • How a product feedback loop differs from a customer service one
  • The benefits of closing your feedback loop
  • How to close the feedback loop
  • And a look to the future of feedback loops

So, let’s dive into the nuances of closing the feedback loop effectively, so you can make it a cornerstone of how you do Product Management, rather than just a box-ticking exercise.

The customer feedback loop

What does “closing the feedback loop” mean?

At its simplest, closing the customer feedback loop involves gathering feedback from your users, analyzing it, acting on it, and then letting those users know what you’ve done about it.

It’s not just about acknowledging that you’ve received their feedback – it’s about showing your users that they have been heard, and that their voice has led to a recognizable improvement in your product.

I really can’t overstate how important it is to get this cycle right – it’s what makes the feedback loop an actual loop rather than a one-way street​​. It’s also a big driver of innovation and improvement because you’ll have engaged customers telling you what they need and why.

You’ll be able to lean into your strengths, and if you’re smart, you’ll turn negative feedback into positive opportunities.

Why closing the feedback loop matters more than ever

Tech moves fast, your users’ expectations are continually evolving, and the competition is always just a click away. Being able to swiftly adapt and respond to user feedback isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s a necessity for survival and growth.

Closing the feedback loop effectively ensures that products remain relevant, user-centric, and ahead of the curve.

By treating feedback as a pivotal component of product development, you can unlock unprecedented levels of innovation and customer satisfaction. It’s a journey of collaboration, where each piece of feedback is a stepping stone towards a better, more intuitive product.

Closing the feedback loop in Product Management

It’s easy to mistake closing the feedback loop for an advanced form of Customer Service. It’s true that both aim to address user concerns, but closing the loop in Product Management goes a step further.

It’s about strategically integrating that feedback into your product’s development lifecycle, using it to influence your roadmap, and finding the solutions that resonate with your audience. The difference is between solving individual problems and evolving a product based on insights from across your user base.

Let’s say your users are reporting that they’re having a difficult time navigating a certain feature. In a Customer Service context, the first solution that would jump to mind would probably involve guiding them through the existing navigation.

However, for a PM, this feedback becomes a catalyst for evaluating and maybe even redesigning the whole damn interface to make it more intuitive for everyone.

In other words, in Product Management, closing the feedback loop is strategic rather than reactive, and it’s a good idea to embed it deeply within your product’s DNA rather than treating it as a sideshow, or even a nuisance.

What are the benefits of closing the feedback loop?

Closing the loop will do more than just improve your product; it’ll transform your relationship with your users. When your customers feel valued and seen, they’ll love your product and your team more. They will be more forgiving of your mistakes. And they might even be more willing to pay more for a service that adapts to their needs.

This cycle of feedback and improvement can be a fantastic tool for driving continuous improvements to your product and how well it fits the market, directly impacting both your bottom line and customer satisfaction levels​​.

You’ll find out how to make your users happy

Closing the feedback loop does more than just resolve individual user issues; it’ll deliver a wealth of actionable insights, drawn from your users’ direct experiences and preferences, right into your lap. This intel can play a big role in shaping your product roadmap and strategy.

Systematically analyzing and acting on your feedback will help you to prioritize your team’s development efforts more effectively, making sure you’re using your resources on the initiatives that’ll have the highest impact and value for your users​​​​.

Analyzing customer feedback should always be a major part of any Product Manager’s role, and those who are smart about it will be leveraging tools like ProdPad’s AI Signals tool. What’s that you ask? When it comes to your customer feedback analysis, our Signals tool does the heavy lifting for you. When you use ProdPad to capture your customer feedback, our AI will analyze the whole lot and surface the common themes. 

You’ll be pushed to keep improving your product

One of the biggest wins from a well-managed feedback loop is that it will help you build a culture of continuous improvement. It’s based on the understanding that no product is ever truly complete but is always in a constant state of evolution, growing and changing with the times and user expectations.

Feedback from your users is the fuel that powers this evolutionary engine, encouraging your teams to be on a constant lookout for ways to enhance, innovate, and refine your product. 

Your customers will like you more

Possibly the most direct benefit of closing the feedback loop is the positive impact it’ll have on your customer satisfaction and loyalty. When your users see that their feedback is not just heard but acted on, they see for themselves how much they are valued by your company.

This feeling of recognition can really improve their overall satisfaction with your product and your brand. Even better, satisfied customers are more likely to become loyal advocates for your product, spreading your reach and influence through that all-important word-of-mouth and social proof​​​​.

You’ll drive business growth and revenue

Strategically integrating user feedback into how you develop your product doesn’t just improve the product itself; it can also drive growth and increase your revenue. Products that match their user needs and keep improving based on feedback are more likely to meet and exceed market expectations.

This will mean higher adoption rates, increased customer lifetime value, and the ability to command a premium price point. Engaged and happy customers are also much more likely to buy upgrades, and other products and services from your brand, boosting your revenue opportunities​​​​ even more.

You’ll gain a competitive advantage

In a world where differentiation is key to being picked out of the crowd, being able to quickly and effectively close your feedback loop can offer a compelling competitive edge. Companies that are good at it adapt more quickly to market changes, user expectations, and emerging trends.

This agility will ensure that your product stays at the front of the pack, and that it keeps meeting the evolving needs of your users. It turns feedback from something that’s interesting or even vaguely upsetting (if it’s negative) into a strategic asset – one that you can use to navigate the complexities of the market with confidence and precision.

What challenges might you face when trying to close the feedback loop?

If it was easy, I wouldn’t need to write this article! One of the big things that PMs often struggle with is the sheer volume of feedback. Sifting through this avalanche of input to find actionable insights can be daunting.

It can get even more intense when you start trying to prioritize which feedback to act on first. After all, not every bit of feedback will have the same impact on your product’s development or customer satisfaction.

Another big challenge is making sure that the feedback you’re collecting is representative and not skewed by the vocal minority. There’s a risk of making decisions based on feedback that, while loud, doesn’t reflect the broader needs and wants of your overall user base.

The actual process of closing the loop, i.e. actually communicating back to customers about the changes you’ve made, isn’t as easy as it sounds. You need to keep track of who said what, when they said it, and what you’ve said to them about it.

You’ll need a well-thought-out strategy to ensure your comms are working well and reach the users who provided the feedback, closing the loop effectively​​​​​​.

ProdPad to the rescue!

This is where tools like ProdPad can help you win, simplifying the collection, analysis, and integration of your customer feedback into the product development process. We can help you collect your feedback with a customized portal, an email dropbox, and a whole host of integrations, then collate all of that data and make it work for you.

Take our Signals tool that I mentioned before (version 2.0 will be launching soon!) – it can wade through all of your feedback to highlight common themes and opportunities, saving you hours of work.

ProdPad can even automatically link all the feedback to ideas in your backlog, to help you verify your initiatives and be sure that what you’re working on is something that your customers want.

Honestly, I’m just scratching the surface here, so take a look for yourself to see how you can integrate our customer feedback management tools to make your product better by arranging a demo with a member of our wonderful team!

How to close the feedback loop

How you communicate changes to your users is as important as the changes themselves. It’s about striking the right balance in your updates – being informative yet concise.

Also, leveraging feedback to influence your product roadmap is a big part of the process. This iterative process of integrating user insights into your strategy will keep your product aligned with what your market needs and expects.

Communicating changes clearly

Effective communication with your customers takes a little more than just pinging out a generic email update. You need to consider the content, timing, and channel of communication to ensure your message is both received and appreciated.

Personalization: Tailor what you’re saying to acknowledge the specific feedback provided by the user you’re talking to. You could detail how their suggestion was implemented, or explain why it’s not quite doable yet. Personalizing your messages shows your users that their feedback was carefully considered by a real person.

Clarity and conciseness: While it’s really important to provide enough detail to show that their feedback has led to tangible results, it’s equally important to avoid ‘overegging the pudding’, as the Brits say – keep it clear and concise. Users appreciate clear, straightforward updates that respect their time.

Choose the right channel: Different users might want to hear back from you through different channels. Whether it’s an email, in-app notification, or even a public post on your product’s blog or forum, or social media accounts, choosing the right channel can have a big impact on how the message is received.

Consider your timing: When you choose to communicate can have a huge influence on how well it works. Update users once the change is implemented or when a decision has been made about their feedback. Immediately acknowledging you’ve received their feedback, followed by updates at key milestones, will help keep your users engaged throughout the process​​​​.

Leveraging feedback for your product roadmap

Integrating all that feedback into your roadmap keeps your product evolving in ways that align with your user needs, and it shows your users that their feedback has a real impact on the product’s direction.

Visibility: Share how user feedback influences the product roadmap. This can be done through publicly sharing your roadmap, and providing updates in newsletters, blog posts, or dedicated sections within the product itself. Seeing how their feedback shapes the roadmap will reinforce the value of their input to your users.

Incorporate feedback into planning: Actively use your customer feedback to inform how you prioritize and plan new features and improvements. This might involve adjusting your time horizons (if you use Now-Next-Later, and you should!) or reallocating your resources to address high-impact user suggestions.

Feedback-driven iteration: Adopt a feedback-driven approach to product development, where your users’ input directly informs your iterative cycles. This will help ensure that your product continuously evolves in response to what your users need, keeping it relevant and user-centric​​​​.

The future of feedback loops

Just as tech keeps evolving and expectations keep shifting, so too will the ways we close the feedback loop. We’re standing at the precipice of an era where technology, particularly AI, is poised to redefine the boundaries of customer engagement and product development.

People want more than just reactive changes; they want you to proactively engage with them, and they want solutions that solve their problems before they’ve even worked out how to articulate them.

The role of AI in Product Management is already exploding exponentially. Almost every tool out there is building some sort of AI into their product. After all, a well-built AI can analyze vast amounts of feedback data to identify patterns and insights that might elude human analysts. This will allow product teams to prioritize feedback much more effectively and tailor their responses quicker than ever.

As AI keeps growing in sophistication, expect automated systems to take on a larger role in collecting and analyzing feedback. These systems will be able to offer insights in real-time, making the process of closing the feedback loop even faster and more efficient.

It’ll also make it easier to provide personalized responses to feedback, creating a bespoke experience for each user. Personalized updates on feedback implementation can enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty by making your users feel uniquely valued.

Adapt, innovate, overcome

Now you know what’s coming, what can you do to grab the bull by the horns and get the most from these changes?

First, stay on top of the latest technological trends. Be open to integrating new tools and platforms that can enhance your feedback loop process. Investing in AI and machine learning could offer you a competitive edge in understanding and acting on customer feedback.

As feedback mechanisms get more and more sophisticated, keeping your focus on user-centric design will be huge. Tech should serve to enhance your user experience, not make it more complicated.

The landscape of customer feedback is always shifting, like dunes in a desert. You’ll need to be constantly learning and adapting with it, staying flexible to change your approaches as new technologies and customer expectations appear, to ensure you don’t end up buried.

Closing (the loop) thoughts

Closing the feedback loop isn’t just best practice; it should be a fundamental aspect of your Product Management process. By actively engaging with and responding to your users, you’ll create more meaningful, user-centric, and people-centric products. The role of technology in this space is only going to grow, which means lots of new and exciting ways to make every user’s voice heard.

Closing the feedback loop might seem a daunting task, but with the right strategies and tools, it can become your product’s superpower. Remember, the goal is to turn feedback into fuel for growth, ensuring that every loop closed is a step forward for your product and your users.

Find out how ProdPad can help you close the feedback loop

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7 Brilliant Little Skills To Master Your Role As A Product Manager https://www.prodpad.com/blog/essential-skills-for-product-manager-roles/ https://www.prodpad.com/blog/essential-skills-for-product-manager-roles/#comments Tue, 05 Sep 2017 08:18:47 +0000 https://www.prodpad.com/?p=5076 Here’s what no one has told you about your role as a product manager: it’s essentially a sales job. Except it’s possibly the hardest sales job of your life. Because…

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Here’s what no one has told you about your role as a product manager: it’s essentially a sales job. Except it’s possibly the hardest sales job of your life.

Because you don’t get training or even training wheels when you start this gig – and no one tells you that the hardest thing about a product manager role is managing people.

As co-founder of ProdPad and Mind the Product, I’ve worked with hundreds of product managers and product teams so far.

There has never been an exception to this rule.

People are hard. People are unpredictable. They have office politics, opinions and expectations. They’re biased. They’re wrong more than they want to be. Then there’s this whole other group of people who have more power and money and who aren’t afraid to use it.

When things go wrong, what I can tell you for certain is that your roadmap won’t be the problem. It’s how you’re dealing with people problems.

This was the topic I dove into at my talk at a Mind the Product conference in San Francisco a little while ago. You can watch the full video above or skip right to the seven survival tactics I’ve learned over the years as a product manager.

7 survival tactics for your product management career 

1. Ask open questions to get people talking

Asking open questions

One of the more stressful myths about your role as a product manager is that you should be one with all the answers. That’s a tall order were it true – but it’s not. It’s not your job to show up with answers. You’re supposed to know less than your colleagues!

Instead, show up with the best questions to draw out insights that your colleagues can offer to you and the rest of the company. Use prompts to get people to continue talking and elaborating, whether it’s at your quarterly roadmap meeting or you’re getting oriented at your new product manager job.

  • “Go on…”
  • “What else?”
  • “Tell me what you really think…”

People clam up when they feel their ideas are not worth sharing – and this is toxic at a product company. The most valuable product ideas come from within your business, but not if they’re being dismissed, ignored or belittled.

Effective product managers let other people talk while they look for opportunities. You can too.

2. Make your roadmap tell a story

product roadmap template

A bad product roadmap is a symptom of underlying issues in the company.

It’s a bad sign if you use acronyms on your product roadmap. A pretty bad sign too if you have a bunch of features that require you and your scrum master on hand to translate. It shows that the most basic plans for your product’s future are inaccessible to the people working on them.

The essence of the product manager role is to be a storyteller. If you’re going to get alignment, your roadmap needs to tell the STORY of how you’re going to reach your product vision.

Stories have massive power to translate difficult concepts and to get people on your side. It’s why we write user stories and jobs to be done. It’s why we craft user personas and specs.

It’s your daily job to be the best communicator – and part of that responsibility includes aligning your organization around one product narrative. Simplify your roadmap and focus on communicating what matters: where you are now and what sorts of things you’re going to do moving forward.

RELATED:How To Build A Product Roadmap Everyone Understands

3. Play the Product Tree game

Product Tree Game

Don’t have a product roadmap? Build one together! The Product Tree is the perfect game to bring your team into early strategic discussions.

Find a big blank wall and put up a big blank tree outline. The trunk is what you currently have and will build from, and the branches represent product areas, or directions your product could grow in. The roots represent the infrastructure that holds your whole product up.

Get your team to write down as many product ideas as they can on to sticky notes. Then have them work together to place the leaves on the tree.

Your job as product manager is to lightly curate, but let them each make their own arguments for or against the placement of each leaf. This is your chance to learn what’s important to each person in your company.

The end result is the beginnings of your roadmap. Not a bad ROI for a fun afternoon project!

Get a blank Product Tree here (PDF version)

4. Invest in psychological safety

What is psychological safety?

I once worked with a customer who joined a company as Head of Product. In the interview itself, several people broke out in tears. They were desperate for help.

The culture at this organization was completely broken – and building back a sense of trust and psychological safety was her first order of business.

But what is psychological safety? It’s when you make people feel comfortable speaking up, whether it’s to report errors or pitch in to help with the product.

It can be as simple as a couple tweaks to your language that help people to feel like they can open up.

For example: “How might we…?”

Using this kind of language turns the issue into a collective problem. It supposes instead of asserts and it doesn’t make anyone feel like they’ve been put on the spot.

Then there’s this one: I bet…!

“I bet” is a bit of a language trick. It gives you permission to make a guess, but it also gives you space to fail and try again. After all, it not YOU that was wrong – it was your hypothesis.

Another big way to create a feeling of safety in the workplace is to elevate the voices of those around you and make your team feel valued.

  • “I like what Sam just said, when she suggested we so-and-so.”
  • “Mark had a great point about that earlier.”

Give credit where it’s due. If you want your team always to have your back, make sure you’ve got theirs.

4. When things get tough, make a product box

A product box idea

What if you have to sell your product vision to someone who isn’t buying in? If you can’t get your boss onboard with your plans, you’re going to have to bring more to the table than an opposing viewpoint.

Get you team ready for an afternoon of arts and crafts – I have another game for you.

The Product Box is a storytelling game. It’s a great lean validation tool when you’re thinking about a new pivot or feature.

Start with a bunch of crafty materials, like cardboard, stickers, markers, tape, whatever you can get your hands on. Then think about how you’d sell the feature if it was a cereal box.

By the time you’re done, it’ll be covered in what your team thinks are the biggest selling points. Practice selling your box to other groups and get a feel for what sticks.

You’ll develop something everyone on the team can get behind and believe in. Take that to the boss – this time, with the full buy-in of your team – and try again.

6. Call bullshit when you see it

Objection Handling for Product Managers

Sometimes you have to hit ‘em where it hurts to make your point.

I once worked with a client, Penny, whose exec team had told her the roadmap was set in stone. It had no scope for experimentation and it had to be delivered all at once.

No no no gif



This was crazy by any standard. But it was also a terrible business decision to invest in a roadmap that no one could validate!

So here’s what Penny and I did to get our way. She developed a spreadsheet that compared the cost of the 5 years development against the potential costs of building the wrong thing. Penny showed them the money, including the financial cost of supporting the accruing technical debt. That did the trick.

Her bosses came around to the fact that the roadmap was full of things that might not matter by the time they launched. Better to spend resources on experimenting and iterating.

So speak up when you’re told to cut corners. Call bullshit when you see it. It might be hard now, but not as hard as when you’re stuck with a product no one wants.

7. Use the old improv tactic: “Yes and…”

Have you heard of “Yes and…”? It’s an improv exercise to keep a scene going, but also a really useful internal sales tactic.

Product manager skills



Use it to agree with the person and their premise, and then add to it and rework it in a way that bridges the conversation back to your agenda as product manager.

  • “Yes and…that’s exactly what I was thinking about when I designed this workflow.”
  • “Yes and….I agree that our UI needs work which is why I suggest looking into this design?”
  • “Yes and…I think this is an important issue too. How about we start with this project I’ve suggested?”

It also helps you negotiate for what you want without shutting them down.

Get to know the executives in your company. Communicate in a way that makes sense to them. Find out their objectives and figure out what problems you can solve for them.  It moves the conversation in the direction you want it to go.

BONUS: Learn to live with Imposter Syndrome (we all have it!)

Finally, don’t apologize for what you don’t know. You’re not behind the pack and you’re definitely not alone. We’re all winging it here!

imposter syndrome

Having a touch of Imposter Syndrome is good for you. It means you’re self aware.

What I’ve shared here is advice that I’ve learned over a decade in a product manager role – it certainly doesn’t happen overnight. Great products are built with learning and iteration. Great product managers are too.

No two product managers will have exactly the same challenges. We’re all dealing with a product culture made up of different people, personalities, and politics.

The best way to speed up your progress? Surround yourself with other product managers! Reach out for help and you’ll get it.


Want the full slide deck from my talk at MTPcon San Francisco? Grab them here.

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What’s The First Thing A New Product Manager Should Do? https://www.prodpad.com/blog/first-thing-new-product-manager-should-do/ Wed, 18 Nov 2015 12:20:00 +0000 http://www.prodpad.com/?p=3625 You have a lot of general advice to pick from when you start your new job as a product manager. Usually it’s to listen, learn and absorb everything you can about your product, its market and…

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You have a lot of general advice to pick from when you start your new job as a product manager.

Usually it’s to listen, learn and absorb everything you can about your product, its market and your team roles. That’s all correct. If you haven’t set up meetings with everyone at the company (or a rep from each team, depending on the size of the company) and started to get in touch with customers to set up interviews, that’s exactly what you should be doing. So far, so good!

But here’s the red flag that I wish someone had told me to look out for when I started my first PM role: “If your customers think your product does X and your team thinks your product does Y, you’re in trouble.” 

Image of Andrea's tweet

Because if you do find that your CPO describes your product differently from your customer support reps, there’s been a communication breakdown that isn’t going to fix itself. That right there is the next six months of your work cut out for you.

It doesn’t matter what you thought your job would look like – now you drop your other plans, your assumptions around what you thought your role would look like, and work on addressing a company that’s pulling your product in different directions.

What you’re looking out for during this initial orientation period are flaws, discrepancies and even the language they use to describe your product.

And be glad you’re doing this now – because these are symptoms of deeper problems within your organization that you either fix now or suffer from down the road.

First, try the product as a new user

Right before you do start having those 1-to-1 chats with your colleagues, I always recommend opening up an account as a new user and and taking notes as you go. You only have one shot at a first impression, so take note of subtle points of confusion or frustration as you navigate through your product. If you’re experiencing problems, chances are your customers are too. As you make your way through, focus on the following:

  • What are user expectations?
  • Do those expectations match up to the customer experience?

You’re paying attention to two things here: the way the product itself works and whether it matches up to the way the product has been communicated. As product manager, get used to having both hats on. You’ll always be working towards syncing your product with the marketing and customer service that supports it.

For example, if your marketing automation company has put in a lot of effort to market an A/B testing section but hasn’t pushed out any resources or customer education around using it, this is something you would need to work out a plan for. After all, your success as a PM depends on metrics like feature adoption rates and usage intensity.

Anyway, don’t worry about what changes you’re going to apply just yet. Just figure out what the current issues are so you can bring them up during discussions with your team members. Decisions come later.

What you’re looking for during your 1-on-1s

Now that you’ve dug around on your own, you have an angle for approaching 1-on-1 chats with your teammates. When you do go in, start broadly:

  1. What do they think the product vision is?
  2. What are their frustrations?
  3. What would they like to see improved?

Look for the way they describe or pitch the product to you – and how they feel the product actually stacks up against it. Repeat the same sort of exercise with a handful of customers and end users.

Keep track of the differences you observe from team to team, from your CEO to your sales and support teams. Your first actions as PM will revolve around finding out why these discrepancies are taking place and setting out to fix them so they don’t happen on your watch.

Starting a product manager role is definitely overwhelming, but at least for now, all you have to do is listen.

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How Structuring a Roadmap is like Building a House https://www.prodpad.com/blog/structuring-roadmap-like-building-house/ Thu, 02 Apr 2015 14:24:00 +0000 http://www.prodpad.com?p=3178&preview_id=3178 A customer asked us the other day how to map his own product to our roadmap format, and threw in an analogy of a house to phrase the question: I…

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A customer asked us the other day how to map his own product to our roadmap format, and threw in an analogy of a house to phrase the question:

I need to build our roadmap this month, with our high level modules all covered, and then detail individual requirements within those roadmap elements, possibly again with sub elements. So something like:

  • Build A House
    • Build the foundations
      • Lay concrete
    • Put up the walls
      • etc.
    • etc.

We ran with this analogy to help explain how a roadmap works, and how elements in ProdPad can be used to put it together:

Build a House

This happens at the Product level: You would create a product in ProdPad, and give it a vision, KPIs, etc. in the Product Canvas. Once done, you’d then open up the Roadmap for this product, where you can build out the rest.

Build the foundations, Put up the walls

This maps well to the roadmap card level: You would then create roadmap cards in the appropriate columns for each of these high-level projects.

Lay concrete

This is at the idea/feature level: Here, you’d create Ideas to represent these sorts of features, and attach them to the roadmap. You can create ideas from any page, using the button at the top, and then attach them to the roadmap either from the idea itself, or on the roadmap card itself.

We can then take this to the next level down, too:

Mix concrete, pour concrete, watch concrete dry

For more detail, you can break your ideas into User Stories. These are in the Specs section of any idea page. These user stories can be attached to the roadmap individually as well – it just depends on how much detail you feel you need to go into to communicate to the rest of the team what needs to be done.

Typically, the cards in the ‘Future’ column will be higher level and have less detail added to them than the ‘Current’ column. Also, if you need to consider a wider set of products, you can create Product Lines and group your products into them. For example:

  • Build a Housing Complex (Product Line)
    • Build House A
    • Build House B
    • Build House C (Products)
      • Build the foundations (Roadmap Card)
        • Lay concrete (Idea)
          • Mix concrete (User story)
          • Pour concrete (User story)
          • etc.
      • Put up the walls (Roadmap Card)
        • etc.

Do you have any suggestions on how you structure your product roadmap? Discuss with us in the comments below or at @ProdPad

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Walk in Their Shoes. Do You Know Your Customer Journey? https://www.prodpad.com/blog/understanding-the-customer-journey/ https://www.prodpad.com/blog/understanding-the-customer-journey/#comments Tue, 28 Oct 2014 13:00:00 +0000 http://www.prodpad.com?p=3160&preview_id=3160 As product managers, our lives are centered on creating a great user experience that makes our products a success. But how well do you know what that experience really looks…

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As product managers, our lives are centered on creating a great user experience that makes our products a success. But how well do you know what that experience really looks like?

At this year’s Mind the Product workshop on Analytics and Testing, Craig Sullivan (@optimiseordie) recommended experiencing your own user journey as an important reality check. Only when you put yourselves in your customers’ shoes – at every step of that journey – can you understand whether you’re delivering the experience think you are.

Here are just some of the ways in which you can start to get a better insight into your products from the customer’s perspective.

Search for a solution to your problem

Your users’ experience of your brand starts way before they subscribe. What are you communicating when they first start looking for a solution to their problem? Your market messaging, search placement and advertising is generally the first touch point for prospective customers. Doing a Google search and reviewing these materials in the exact same way your customers would discover them can help you to discover whether that information is clear, informative and easy to discover.

Register for your product or service

The steps that allow prospective customers to become real customers – whether that’s creating an account, signing up to your service or getting in touch with a member of your term – are the most crucial. So try becoming your own user; your goal is to check that there are no unexpected barriers to that process. Is the button easy to find no matter when you decide to register? Do online forms seem clear and concise? What emails do you receive immediately after registration, and beyond? Does your site or platform prompt new users on what to do next? You know your product far too well to see what a real new user sees, but it’s important to be confident that everything works as planned.

Order something or complete a task

No matter what kind of product or service you have, try really using it. If you have an ecommerce product, add something to the checkout, process your card details and wait for your order to actually arrive. If you have an application, make sure it’s integrated into your daily life in every way possible. Look out for things that might frustrate or fail to make sense. Your own usage is not a replacement for good usability testing, but knowing your product in and out is important for achieving a smooth and consistent experience.

Try to find answers to a problem

Of course, a little roleplaying is necessary here because you know the answers (I hope) to your product’s inner workings. But if you take a look at your FAQs, is it easy to find an answer if you’re not the product manager? Do realistic search terms bring up clear results in your help section, or does a Google search index any useful articles? Understanding your user journey and helping your customers to stay on it is about preparing not just for when things go as planned, but when they start to derail.

Speak to your brand

You should be as aware of your product’s communication skills as you are its code. Tuning into your brand’s communication in real-time is very different to reviewing copy for proposed emails. Subscribe to your mailing list and follow social accounts. Does the information seem useful and interesting, or is something missing? Does the flow feel right, or does it clash across channels? And try reaching out to your sales or support team anonymously. When do you get a response? What does it feel like to be on the end of your support line? All of this is key to a good user experience that will keep your customers coming back.

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What Makes A Product Management Superhero? https://www.prodpad.com/blog/what-makes-a-product-management-superhero/ Tue, 12 Aug 2014 12:00:00 +0000 https://www.prodpad.com?p=2966&preview_id=2966 So you’re looking to hire that extra special product manager? Or perhaps you’re looking to be the best at your own game. Here are 5 giveaway powers of a product management…

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So you’re looking to hire that extra special product manager? Or perhaps you’re looking to be the best at your own game. Here are 5 giveaway powers of a product management superhero that can help you on the road to developing excellent products.

Superhuman curiosity

A product manager should have the sort of personality that means they never stop looking for answers. Rather than a simple question of creativity or ingenuity (all great qualities too, but you have a team at your disposal for that), the PM should be constantly asking ‘why’ and ‘how’. He thinks about whether a problem is really being solved in the best possible way. She’s genuinely intrigued by the needs of her users. A superhuman drive to explore the unknown equips a product manager to sniff out hidden solutions.

X-ray product vision

At the intersection of technology, business and customer and the reserve of countless sources of information, product management has to be a heavily organized game. It’s your job to take insight from anything from a sales conversation to a customer support request and translate all of that into workable product specs without missing a bit. But perhaps the biggest challenge in juggling each of these snippets of information is to maintain razor sharp focus. The product management superhero sees through all extraneous data to how to best achieve the product vision.

Charming communication

Product Managers need to be great communicators. And that means great communication of many different forms. You should be an active listener when discussing problems with your customers, but you should be assertive when explaining to your sales manager why a particular feature can’t be promised for Q4. Thoroughly understanding your countless audiences is a great basis for having real conversations with them. But combined with a strong sense of confidence, a noble product manager will go far in getting things done.

Earthly humility

Reading this post is a good sign that you’re a good product manager (as long as you’re looking to become a superhero, not just check off the list). A product management god can’t have a God complex. Always trying to learn and improve and never assuming your opinions are more valuable than others’ is hugely important to a grounded product process. A good product manager should assume that the answers lie outside of their own brains and be open to criticism of their ideas. Much like Superman and Batman keep their true identities in the shadows, a product manager hero doesn’t need the glory of being an idea’s brainchild.

Brewed in a science lab?

A product manager doesn’t have to be an engineer. In companies across many different industries product managers are coming forward from many different backgrounds, from customer support to coding. But for anyone managing even mildly technical products a strong understanding of those technologies is a must. And for anyone managing any kind of product at all, a sensibility for a scientific approach to experimentation is equally important. From A/B tests, to impact and effort measures, to simply a record of how many times a feature has been requested, product managers should be sufficiently equipped to make informed decisions. 

We already revealed our alter-egos – Prod Man and Epic Girl – for the product management superheros we try to be every day, at last year’s WebSummit. Tell us yours in the comments below!

Prod Man and Epic Girl

[bctt tweet= “What makes a product management superhero?”]

If you’d like to read more best practice, read our 7 pillars of good product management

And if you’d like to see how ProdPad might help you to bring out your inner superstar, sign up for a 14 day free trial here

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Overcoming Product Managers’ Biggest Challenges https://www.prodpad.com/blog/overcoming-product-managers-biggest-challenges/ https://www.prodpad.com/blog/overcoming-product-managers-biggest-challenges/#comments Tue, 05 Aug 2014 09:00:00 +0000 http://www.prodpad.com?p=2937&preview_id=2937 Although no job is free from obstacles, a day in the life of a product manager can often feel like a battle against them at every corner. You work with everyone,…

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Although no job is free from obstacles, a day in the life of a product manager can often feel like a battle against them at every corner. You work with everyone, you’re involved in everything, and you’re sought out everywhere. Here’s some advice on how to tackle some of the biggest of those challenges, for more productive (and serene) product management.

You’re struggling to manage expectations with your roadmap

Perhaps our number one challenge (at least according to this survey way back in 2009) is roadmapping. In my chats with product managers, what is specifically challenging about a roadmap is not simply deciding what to build when, but how to communicate this out to your team and customers. If you often find yourself backtracking when artificial deadlines come around, you likely need to reconsider many preconceived ideas about roadmaps to better manage expectations.

What can you do?

  • Banish dates from your roadmap, and instead be firm on your commitment to current, near-term or long-term developments.
  • If you can find a proxy that everyone is comfortable with, you can set vague time brackets for these allocations to help with communications.
  • Make your roadmaps as open and visible as possible so that your colleagues and customers feel that they are integrated in the product loop
  • Treat your roadmap as a fluid, changeable document. Use a format that is appropriate for demonstrating changes and making updates in light of new decisions. Share these processes visually with your team.

It’s hard to focus on your strategic product direction amidst day-to-day demands

Many product managers see their most important objectives slipping further and further away as the day is taken over by urgent, but less important tasks. Perhaps roadmap features are getting pushed back in favour of quick fixes, or the distraction of endless emails and meetings means you can’t find the time to concentrate on strategy.

What can you do?

  • Break down big strategic goals into manageable tasks – whether this be to interview a customer or source intelligence from a colleague – and integrate these into your daily routine.
  • Keep your product vision at the fore of your mind by making it physically visible. Print it out and stick it around the office.
  • Consider the business case for every decision, no matter how small. Develop a system whereby if you commit resources to a product change, you’ve measured whether the impact will outweigh the effort.

Aligning your company on product direction is threatened by different teams’ biases

A product manager should be 100% focused on the needs of their target customer. But there are many different people in your organisation who are key in how to get there. Sales, Marketing, Customer Support and every other customer-facing role has invaluable insight into what customers want and what is key to success in gaining new ones. Trouble is, every team is biased towards their own objectives and world-view, making it difficult to align each one on product direction.

What can you do?

  • Be the link that brings different teams together to collaborate on product discussions. When everyone is able to see the big picture – and the different viewpoints that come with it – part of your mediation work is done for you.
  • Make sure that all employee input is securely captured and traced. This way if a particular departmental concern can’t be satisfied by one project or development, you can point to how it is being actioned elsewhere.

Your executive level doesn’t always agree with your product decisions

The role of your executive team in the minutiae of product decisions depends heavily on your business, its size, and the individuals involved. But regardless of how interested your executives are in day-to-day product management, these are the people you ultimately have to convince of your vision and decisions to get there. So when they aren’t behind you, this is a product manager’s most crippling challenge.

What can you do?

  • Follow a rigorous and repeatable process to qualify new ideas, whether they come from a customer support rep or the CEO. You must be equipped with reasoned arguments for or against any product decision, and train your executive team to expect the same for their brainwaves too.
  • Make sure your product decisions are grounded in business value. If you’re finding yourself battling your senior team to push back on or push through a suggestion, are you sure you’re taking the right approach? Every product change should reflect a real value to the business – be it customer retention or competitive survival – and you should be collecting the evidence to prove it.
  • Again, be open and transparent on roadmapping. Once aligned with your executive team at the highest level of product strategy, the smaller decisions should be easier to support against this framework.

[bctt tweet= “Overcoming a Product Manager’s Biggest Challenges:”]

If you’d like more best practice, read our 7 pillars of good product management

And if you’d like to see how ProdPad can help to make your life easier, sign up for a 14 day free trial today

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What’s the Role Of Your Customer In Product Management? https://www.prodpad.com/blog/customer-role-in-product/ Tue, 15 Jul 2014 15:30:00 +0000 http://www.prodpad.com?p=2867&preview_id=2867 Sitting at the heart of technology, business and customer, product management is a process by which a product vision is translated into a valuable product. Getting organized internally is one thing,…

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Sitting at the heart of technology, business and customer, product management is a process by which a product vision is translated into a valuable product. Getting organized internally is one thing, but involving your customers presents different challenges. What is an appropriate level of customer engagement in product management processes and decisions?

A product manager must be a champion of customer needs. But involving customers is not about jumping to respond to every request and suggestion. Involving customers in product management is about knowing when this should be direct, and when to use other tools to represent their needs. Letting customers into product management at the right moments is key to building better products.

Direct customer involvement

Customer conversations

Whenever they get the opportunity, product managers should be having real conversations with real users. Depending on your business model this might mean picking up the phone or organising to meet with small groups in person. Whether to discuss a particular piece of feedback, an idea on the roadmap or just a check in with core users, it’s important to start talking. These conversations can not only surface fresh product insight, but help us to internalise our customers’ needs, problems and attitudes.

MVP and user testing

An important element of the MVP philosophy is to get products out to customers at the earliest possible stage. You should make only the necessary assumptions about your users’ needs to build minimum viable products that can be taken to customers for feedback. Use wireframes to walk your customers through new products and changes, and share prototypes with customers at different stages of product development to make sure you’re on the right track.

Open roadmap

Sharing your roadmap with customers both keeps them informed and gives you perspective on how effectively you’re moving towards your product vision. However, that doesn’t mean you have to share your entire inner workings with customers. If you have particular projects or developments you aren’t ready to make public, create a customer-friendly version of your roadmap that you’re happy to discuss in full detail.

Indirect customer involvement

Customer feedback

Although customer feedback comes from customers initially, it is a data source that should be analysed alongside other factors rather than taken at face value. Product Managers should base decisions heavily on customer feedback, but individual suggestions shouldn’t guide product evolution or development time. Listening to feedback is about trying to piece together the big picture of customer needs.  Look for trends in customer feedback, and weight ideas differently depending on who they come from – feedback from your target market is the most important of all.

User personas

User personas are virtual representatives of your customers. They have a name, a face and personal details, but they aren’t real people. They are fictional representations, based on the real conversations that helped you to understand your customers inside-out. Building user personas allows you to do product management grounded in user needs, without getting bogged down in the detail of specific customers and all their anomalies. Before you take your new product ideas out to real customers, test your inkling, staff suggestion or piece of feedback against your personas.

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If you’d like to find out more about how ProdPad helps you to work effectively with customers, get in touch with us here

And if you’re new to ProdPad, you can sign up for a free 14 day trial here.

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Opening Up Product Management: Involving Different Product Teams https://www.prodpad.com/blog/coordinate-product-teams/ Fri, 06 Jun 2014 09:00:00 +0000 http://www.prodpad.com?p=2781&preview_id=2781 Product Management sits at the intersection of customer, technology and business. The product manager’s role is a continual balancing act between each of these areas, which means involving the right…

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Product Management sits at the intersection of customer, technology and business. The product manager’s role is a continual balancing act between each of these areas, which means involving the right people, in the right ways, at the right times.

In this post, we take you through how you can bring together different product managers into a coordinated product strategy using good processes and ProdPad tools.

Organize your product landscape into portfolios

How product management is structured differs from business to business. But even those without diverse product offerings are likely to break product management into a series of different areas. If you have more than one product manager, organizing this effectively becomes even more important. Define distinct products and – if necessary – portfolios for groups of those products. This gives different product managers a key area of focus where they can update existing product materials, and review all potential and upcoming developments for the products they own. Uniting these in a consistent format in ProdPad keeps everyone working to the same processes, and moving in the same direction.

Coordinate product streams under a master roadmap 

If you have different products, and even different product management teams, that doesn’t mean that you’re running separate businesses. All of product management should be pulling together to achieve a single product vision, and be agreed generally on how they’re going to get there. On top of separate products and portfolios, creating a master roadmap that sets the direction of each product stream is key to turning your product vision into viable, meaningful products that work together. 

Give structure to the backlog with tags and filters 

A product backlog can easily become a huge mess when not managed efficiently, particularly when you have more than one product manager capturing and pruning potential ideas. ProdPad enables Product Managers to retain order over a backlog of any size with advanced tags and filters. Ideas can be categorized based on anything from product, to user persona, to an idea’s specific author. Product Managers can drill down to the ideas that are relevant to their own products, without losing visibility of what’s happening across different product portfolios and ultimately the big picture.

Allow every Product Manager to follow relevant ideas

Although different product managers might be responsible for specific products, it is inevitable that other new developments or ideas will be of interest to them too. In-built collaboration and granular notifications allow every Product Manager to stay in the loop. In ProdPad, an idea author can be set for any idea to ensure that product managers receive updates on any changes to their own canvases. However they can also opt in to follow any additional ideas, regardless of which products these are related to. ProdPad allows different team members to discuss the viability and progress of product ideas via comments and mentions, in an organized system where everything is logged and searchable.

If you’d like to find out more about how ProdPad can be used across a large or complex product management team, sign up for a free 14 day trial here.

Next week, discover how ProdPad can help you to open up product management to your executive team.

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