What are growth loops? 

Growth loops are an evolution from the idea of typical marketing funnels. It’s all built around maintaining a continuous cycle of input, action, and output.

See, imagine your typical growth funnel. For it to be effective, you need to shovel in loads of leads and users at the top. Once they reach the bottom, great – you’ve got a customer, but to keep the funnel effective you need to go out and get fresh input, otherwise, the funnel runs dry.

The idea of a growth loop is that the output is then fed back into the machine, being used to drive more acquisition or growth. Each cycle feeds into the next.

It’s like making flour. You take the wheat (input), grind it all up in a mill (action), and then get flour (output). Now, you could just stop there and shovel flour in your mouth, or you can put it into another loop where you turn that flour into the much tastier bread. The first output has become the next cycle’s input.

In its essence, the growth loop is pretty simple. Just three main sections:

• Input: This is the starting point where users entire the loop. Strategies to get them into the loop can include your marketing or product-led growth tactics. Essentially, it’s how new users discover your product or service.
• Action: Once users are in the loop, they take specific actions that allow them to engage with and extract the value proposition from your product. For example, signing up for a trial, sharing a link with their network, or trying out a new feature. This step is where the magic happens.
• Output: This is where the real power of the growth loop comes into play. Outputs often take the form of new users, additional engagement, or revenue, and they feed back into the loop to create more inputs.

Growth loops vs AAARR funnel

Growth loops have developed as a fresh alternative to pirate metrics and the funnel that they create, but what brought about this evolution? The AAARR framework has been the dominant model for analyzing user growth for years, breaking down the customer journey into five linear stages:

1. Acquisition
2. Activation 
3. Retention 
4. Referral 
5. Revenue

It’s a great way to measure and optimize the key points in a traditional funnel. But as in life, things change – users are now more complex and behave differently and require a different framework that reflects this.

Growth loops are designed to tackle several core weaknesses of the AAARR funnel while offering benefits that suit the growing shift to product-led GTM. To understand this change, let’s break down the issues with pirate metrics.

What are the problems with the AAARR funnel?

Siloed team structures

One of the biggest challenges with the AAARR framework is how it creates functional silos within an organization. Each team, be it Marketing, Product, Sales, or Customer Success, is typically responsible for a single stage of the funnel, with their performance tied to metrics within that stage.

For instance, Marketing might focus on maximizing leads at the acquisition stage, while your Product Team focuses on keeping those leads in the product during the retention stage. This structure often results in a box-ticking mindset, where everyone is focused on individual metrics for their specific team and not the overall North Star metric that should be guiding everything that they do.

In short, this funnel approach can create disjointed teams.

One-directional growth

Funnels, by design, are linear and end at the revenue stage. Once a user has completed their journey through the funnel, their value to the company essentially plateaus.

Yeah, it’s great to have a customer chilling out, enjoying your product, and renewing every year, but if everyone is doing that you’re just treading water. You’re not using these potential champions to drive further growth.

There’s no built-in mechanism to harness these users to bring in others. This makes the model highly dependent on continually adding new users at the top – a costly and resource-intensive approach.

High maintenance costs

Maintaining momentum in an AAARR funnel requires constant effort and investment. Paid ads, cold outreach, and other acquisition-heavy tactics dominate the strategy, making growth dependent on how much you’re willing to spend. 

Without fresh inputs, the funnel slows to a halt, so you’re in a constant battle of making sure you’ve got enough leads at the top of the funnel to keep everyone else well-satiated. That’s a major cause of anxiety for marketing teams!

Thankfully, a growth loop can address these problems.

What makes growth loops so good? 

Self-sustaining, compounding growth

Growth loops are inherently circular. Instead of ending at a conversion point, they reinvest user actions and outputs back into the system to attract more users. 

For example, a common growth loop tactic is to encourage a satisfied customer to refer a new user, who then repeats the cycle. Over time, this creates a compounding effect, where each loop amplifies the next. The result? Sustainable growth that doesn’t rely on an ever-expanding budget.

Cost-effective acquisition

Unlike funnels, which prioritize top-heavy acquisition strategies, growth loops make use of existing users to fuel new growth. 

There are so many tactics to achieve this, such as tapping into mechanisms like referrals, user-generated content, or network effects, lowering the cost of acquisition. 

This approach aligns with the principle that retaining and engaging current users is far cheaper than constantly acquiring new ones and it turns these engaged customers into little sales reps of their own.

Breaking down silos

Growth loops encourage cross-functional collaboration. Instead of departments focusing solely on their slice of the funnel, teams must work together to optimize the entire loop. This means Product, Marketing, and Customer Success and Support work in unison, aligning on common goals rather than being blinkered to their team metric alone.

This unified alignment makes everyone more efficient, creating a cross-functional collaboration that works for all.

What are the different types of growth loops?

Growth loops can be unique to each and every company using them. That said, many conform to a certain type, depending on the desired goal, or the driving force behind the growth loop (i.e. what’s going to encourage that growth).

Here’s a look at the main types of growth loops you can deploy, with more information on some of the tactics associated with them: 

Product-led growth loops

Product-led growth (PLG) loops use the product itself as the main engine for user acquisition, retention, and expansion. The focus is on delivering exceptional value that drives users to adopt, engage, and recommend the product organically.

The product is both the driver and beneficiary of this loop, so consistent iteration is important. Metrics to track include product usage rates, feature adoption rate, and user feedback scores. 

Here are some examples of various product-led growth loops:

Acquisition growth loops

Acquisition growth loops focus on bringing in new users by capitalizing on the actions of existing ones. At its core, this loop relies on a cycle where users experience value from a product, share it with others, and attract more users who repeat the process.

To implement an acquisition loop:

• Make it easy for users to share your product or invite others.
• Highlight the value or benefits of sharing, such as enhancing collaboration or access to exclusive features.
• Create tools or prompts that naturally encourage sharing, like referral programs or social sharing buttons.

The success of this loop hinges on seamless user experiences and a compelling reason for users to spread the word, such as rewards and incentives for doing so. 

This type of growth loop works particularly well for products like collaboration or file-sharing tools, where one user may be using the product to share something with a colleague, inadvertently inviting them to engage with the product too.

Engagement and retention loops

Engagement and retention loops aim to deepen user satisfaction and reduce customer churn by keeping users actively engaged. These loops build momentum by ensuring users consistently experience value, fostering loyalty and advocacy.

To create engagement and retention loops:

• Identify your product’s wow moment and ensure users reach it quickly.
• Continuously add value through feature updates, personalized recommendations, or engaging content.
• Build mechanisms that reward consistent usage, such as streaks, progress tracking, or in-app achievements.
• Encourage these high-usage, well-engaged users to post reviews, share their experiences or work with you on case studies and testimonials.

To achieve this sort of growth loop you need to have a laser focus on user-centric design and pay extremely close attention to your customer feedback, making sure you’re responding to it and delivering exactly what your users need. 

Then, to close this loop and keep the process cycling through, you need to encourage the highly engaged users your efforts have created to spread the word with referrals and reviews, becoming your product advocates.

Expansion growth loops

Expansion growth loops focus on increasing revenue by selling more to your existing user base. These loops often rely on upselling, cross-selling, or introducing add-ons that complement the user’s current plan or usage level.

These loops work best when you have a tiered product pricing strategy or have a modular approach where users can pick and choose what features they want.

To develop expansion loops:

• Offer tiered pricing plans or premium features that scale with user needs.
• Analyze user behavior to identify when they’re likely to upgrade or purchase additional features.
• Use in-app messaging or targeted campaigns to promote relevant add-ons or higher-tier plans.

The key to a successful expansion loop is ensuring users see clear value in upgrading. You can show this value with a reverse trial and effective user onboarding techniques in your product tour. 

Viral growth loops

Viral growth loops are built around encouraging users to share your product widely, creating a self-sustaining cycle of user acquisition. This loop relies on human connections and the natural tendency to share experiences.

To design a viral growth loop:

• Make sharing effortless by integrating social sharing features or invite systems directly into your product.
• Leverage organic sharing and network effects into your product.
• Ensure the product offers inherent value that users want to share with their networks.

These sound pretty similar to acquisition growth loops don’t they, so what’s the difference here? Well, viral growth loops are designed where the product is spread naturally: sharing the product is part of its design. 

Acquisition growth loops are more deliberate, where you’re encouraging current users to bring in new users through things like incentives. 

So a SaaS product offering rewards for a referral is an acquisition growth loop, whereas communication products or social media platforms that need you to connect with other users to experience value will use a viral growth loop. 

Acquisition growth loops focus on consistently bringing in new users through intentional actions like referrals or incentives, creating a steady and repeatable growth cycle. In contrast, viral growth loops rely on existing users to share the product organically, leveraging network effects and natural behaviors to spread quickly, often with less control. 

While acquisition loops are predictable and incentive-driven, viral loops can scale faster but are harder to engineer

For a viral loop to succeed, the product must resonate strongly with users and have built-in mechanisms that amplify its spread. Metrics like viral coefficient (the number of new users brought in by existing users) and referral activity are key to measuring its effectiveness.

Content-led growth loops

Content-led growth loops harness the power of content to attract, engage, and retain users. This loop thrives on creating valuable, shareable, and discoverable content that connects with your target audience and aligns with their needs.

To create a content-led growth loop:

• Develop high-quality, relevant content that addresses your audience’s pain points or interests.
• Leverage distribution channels like search engines, social media, and newsletters to reach more users.
• Use your content to showcase the product’s value, embedding it naturally within the user’s journey.

Sustaining this loop requires a strong content strategy and consistent output. Key metrics to focus on through this growth loop include content engagement, website traffic, and conversion rates from content to product users.

Is a growth loop different from a flywheel? 

A flywheel is a concept borrowed from mechanics – think of a heavy wheel that takes significant effort to get moving. But once it gains momentum, it spins faster and more efficiently, requiring less energy to maintain. In growth terms, a flywheel describes the compounding effects of multiple systems (or loops) working together to create sustainable, long-term growth.

Here’s where growth loops come in: they’re the individual, self-sustaining cycles that fuel the flywheel. A growth loop has a clear input, a process, and an output which feeds back into the loop. For example, a user sharing content brings in new users, who then share more content, driving further growth.

Now, a flywheel connects multiple growth loops into a bigger, integrated system. Instead of relying on linear strategies, the flywheel leverages the combined momentum of loops to generate exponential growth. For example:

1. Content drives organic traffic new users join.
2. New users generate data   better personalization.
3. Personalization improves user experience users stay longer and share.

These are linking separate growth loops into a combined system.

Initially, you need significant effort to build the loops and align them into a cohesive flywheel. But as these loops begin reinforcing one another, the flywheel builds momentum, requiring less energy to sustain growth.

The key difference? Growth loops are smaller, measurable cycles driving individual gains, while a flywheel is the holistic, compounding system that connects these loops into an unstoppable momentum. Loops are the parts, and the flywheel is the machine that turns them into lasting growth.

Examples of successful growth loops

It’s hard to talk about growth loops without exploring examples of them in practice. Each loop is unique to each company, so it’s tough to get a full understanding when generalizing the framework. 

Here’s a look at how three major companies that you’ll probably recognize used growth loops to massively influence their growth. 

Netflix 

Netflix’s retention-focused growth loop is a masterclass in using data to fuel engagement. The loop begins with a new user signing up. Once onboarded, Netflix uses its extensive recommendation engine to analyze viewing habits and suggest highly personalized recommendations based on what a user has engaged with before. 

This improves the value of the service, ensuring that users get a customized experience. This keeps them around and on the platform – boosting retention numbers – while also making them more likely to refer others.

The loop unfolds like this:

• Input: A new user joins Netflix and watches a few things.
• Action: Netflix analyzes viewing habits to suggest suitable content. 
• Output: The user enjoys recommended content and continues to use the platform.

The trick here is that each time a customer goes through this recommendation loop, the stronger it gets. The platform reinvests the data from user interactions to continuously refine its recommendation engine. 

The more users Netflix has, the better these algorithms perform, rewarding users who stick with the service by improving the experience they receive. This compounding effect not only sustains engagement but also ensures that Netflix remains top-of-mind in the competitive streaming market, feeding the growth loop. 

Slack 

Slack thrives on a viral growth loop powered by collaboration and invitation. At the heart of this loop is Slack Connect, a feature that allows users to join or invite others into shared channels. 

This approach reduces barriers for new users, as they don’t need their own team or organization to give Slack a go. By participating in other teams’ Slack channels, invited users naturally become familiar with the platform, building affinity and curiosity for using it in their own professional environments.

Here’s how the loop works:

• Input: Initial users start using Slack for better communication.
• Action: These users create channels and invite others, introducing Slack to new audiences.
• Output: Invited users try Slack, recognize its value, and later adopt it for their own teams.

From here, these new users can refer other users, and the cycle continues. With this method, every new user becomes a potential advocate, inviting even more users. 

This continuous loop of value discovery and sharing drives Slack’s viral adoption, compounding its growth in a way that wouldn’t be possible without using growth loops.

Pinterest

Pinterest makes use of search engines to create an acquisition growth loop to grow its user base and retain engagement. The process starts when a user signs up or returns to the platform and is greeted with a personalized feed of relevant content. This content inspires users to pin or save items, signaling their preferences to Pinterest’s algorithm. 

In turn, these actions enhance Pinterest’s content distribution across search engines, making the platform’s pins discoverable to a wider audience, which attracts even more users.

The loop functions as follows:

• Input: A user signs up or revisits Pinterest.
• Action: They interact with the platform by saving or repinning content, providing Pinterest with valuable quality signals.
• Output: Pinterest’s distribution algorithms surface this content to search engines, attracting more users who sign up or return.

Pinterest’s loop is a perfect example of user activity feeding into a broader ecosystem. By repurposing user interactions to optimize content visibility in search engines, Pinterest ensures that its platform and the content on it are always being discovered by new users. 

How to create your own growth loop 

The transition from AAARR funnels to growth loops is a tough one, and it can be scary to step away from something that you’ve tried and tested over the years. 

Here are some steps to help you build a powerful growth loop for your own product that has enough juice to fuel your entire growth strategy. 

Step 1: Understand your ideal users

Building an effective growth loop starts with a clear understanding of who you’re building for. After all, your loop is only going to work if the right people are in it.

Tools like user personas or customer segmentation can help clarify this. Without knowing your audience, any effort spent on growth loops will feel like trying to hit a bullseye while blindfolded.

Once you have a clear image of your ideal users, you can build your growth loop to meet their specific needs. 

For example, LinkedIn knew their ideal users – young professionals – valued expanding their networks and gaining visibility in their fields. This informed their decision to create growth loops centered around free content-sharing and networking tools. By matching the growth loop with what users already value, LinkedIn created an organic, user-driven cycle of engagement and growth.

Step 2: Map the user journey

Growth loops don’t exist in isolation, they should be in tune with your user journey. Start by identifying all the key touchpoints where users interact with your product. These touchpoints can include signing up, engaging with content, referring others, or even leaving reviews. 

The goal is to understand where users naturally spend their time and how you can optimize those interactions to trigger your growth loop.

By mapping these paths, you’ll see where the most significant opportunities lie. For example, if many users arrive via social media, you might prioritize creating a viral loop that encourages sharing on those platforms. This user story mapping ensures your growth loop ties in seamlessly into the broader user journey.

Step 3: Choose the right type of growth loop 

Choosing the right growth loop depends on your product and audience. Different loops work for different situations, so take the time to understand which type aligns with your goals. 

A viral loop, for instance, focuses on user-generated content or referrals, creating a cycle of new users bringing in more users. These loops work well for consumer products like social media platforms or content apps by encouraging easy sharing and delivering value to both the sharer and the recipient.

Engagement and retention loops, on the other hand, focus on keeping users active and loyal. Strategies like a gamified product tour, personalized recommendations, or exclusive content encourage repeated interactions. While viral loops drive growth, engagement loops ensure users stick around, so you need to choose what works for your users and what works for you.

Step 4: Define success metrics

Growth loops are about driving measurable results. Start by identifying the metrics that will indicate success. These might include referral rates, retention rates, or the number of new users generated per loop cycle. Output metrics serve as your compass, showing you whether your loop is doing what you want it to.

Establishing these product benchmarks not only helps you evaluate the loop’s success but also gives you a framework to optimize performance over time.

Step 5: Design the growth loop

Take the time to map out your chosen growth loop with your team. Collaboration tools like whiteboards or workflow software can help you model the steps and test assumptions. Be detailed: specify how each stage flows into the next, and identify any bottlenecks that could disrupt the cycle. 

A clearly defined loop ensures everyone on your team understands the mechanics behind your growth strategy, helping them to effectively contribute to its success. 

Step 6: Optimize time to value

Time to value (TTV) is the time it takes for a user to experience the core benefits of your product. A shorter TTV means a more effective growth loop. 

Identify the key moments in the user journey where value is found and focus on making those moments as seamless as possible.

For example, if your product makes use of onboarding software, streamline the process so users can achieve their first success quickly. This might mean simplifying signups, offering interactive tutorials, or providing templates that make their first use productive. 

The faster users experience value, the more likely they are to participate in actions that fuel the growth loop.

Step 7: Implement and test

Once your growth loop is designed, ship it. Start small. Choose a single segment of users to test the loop and observe its performance. 

This controlled rollout helps you gather insights without committing large resources to an untested strategy. For instance, you could target power users first, as they’re more likely to engage with new features or incentives.

Testing should include analyzing metrics and gathering qualitative feedback. Are users engaging with the loop as expected? Are there any drop-off points? Use this data to tweak the design and optimize performance. An iterative approach of continuous discovery makes sure your growth loop evolves alongside your users’ needs and behaviors.

Around and around we go

Growth loops are a great framework for building compounding growth. Unlike funnels that demand constant and fresh input, the idea of growth loops is that they’re self-sustaining. Each output isn’t the end; it’s the start of something new, feeding directly into the loop and propelling it forward.

There are many different types of growth loops, depending on your end goal. Be it acquisition, retention, or expansion, there are many tactics you can use to fuel this loop. 

For Product Managers, growth loops are a reminder to think beyond one-off wins. They challenge you to build strategies that deliver continuous value, ensuring every step of the process improves the next. 

Whether you’re refining user onboarding, designing a viral referral system, or using content to reach new audiences, growth loops create a cycle that keeps on giving. 

The loop keeps spinning, and from that, your product evolves and improves. 

Need a tool to help you build a product that keeps getting better and better? ProdPad will help you communicate your roadmaps, prioritize the best features, and keep your entire team aligned to deliver growth like never before. 

See for yourself with a personal demo.

The post Growth Loops: How to use them in Product Management appeared first on ProdPad.

Most of the time, that evidence we’re looking for is shown in a resume, detailing the roles you’ve had, the types of companies you’ve worked for, and the products and projects you’ve overseen. But that might not tell the whole story. 

Resumes are pretty black and white and can sometimes lack context. Including a Product Manager portfolio can help add color, drive home the results you’ve achieved, and help you stand out when taking the next step in the Product Manager career path. 

Hiring managers aren’t always expecting to see a Product Manager portfolio, but it’s an application tactic that’s gaining some steam and becoming more common.

As ProdPad CEO, here’s some advice straight from the horse’s mouth on what you should include in your Product Manager portfolio, how it can help, and crucially, how it may detract from your application if you get it all wrong. 

What is a Product Manager Portfolio? 

A Product Manager portfolio is your professional story told visually and contextually. While your resume outlines your work history and roles, your portfolio serves as a narrative-driven showcase of the products you’ve managed, the results you’ve driven and the Product Management skills and approaches that led to those accomplishments. It dives deeper into the how behind your achievements: how you solved problems, managed teams, developed strategies, and delivered results.

Portfolios have been standard practice in creative fields for as long as any of us can remember. Remember those huge portfolio binder things with the handles? 

Portfolios broadly act as a visual ‘book’ of artifacts – a showcase of the things you have made. However, I believe a good Product Manager portfolio should go further. I want to see PMs clearly showing me what products they’ve managed and what results they’ve driven – but I also want to see some narrative around that. Show me what you’ve done, but give me the extra context surrounding your approach and decision-making. I want to understand HOW your Product Management expertise drove these results.

Think of it as your behind-the-scenes documentary, offering hiring managers or stakeholders a clearer picture of your Product Management style and expertise. A solid Product Manager portfolio should highlight things like:

• Specific examples and case studies of products you’ve launched or initiatives you’ve led – including the all-important results of that work.
• The KPIs and success measures that matter most to you.
• The Product Management tools, methodologies, and skills you’ve mastered along the way.
• The Product Management frameworks you favor.

A Product Manager portfolio is not just a ‘prettier’ version of your resume. We don’t really want to be reading your work history twice, we’ve got it the first time. Instead, your portfolio needs to supplement your resume, adding more context to your achievements, explaining things like your process, the frameworks you follow, the metrics that are important to you, and how you fit the job description of the role you’re applying for. 

Your portfolio is where you get to prove your work in action. If you say you’ve achieved something in your resume, your portfolio can break down the steps you took to do that. Ultimately, your Product Manager portfolio is a companion piece. 

The potential benefits of a Product Manager Portfolio

Having a Product Manager portfolio can help you excel and stand out from the crowd when applying for new roles – but only if you make a good one. Although not common in the industry by any stretch of the imagination, they can be useful documents to strengthen an application. 

Here are some of the benefits and how they help: 

• Provide context to achievements: A portfolio goes beyond listing accomplishments by explaining the steps you took to achieve results.
• Differentiate from other candidates:  Having a good portfolio can set you apart in a competitive hiring market where resumes often blur together.
• Demonstrate problem-solving skills: A portfolio allows you to offer concrete examples of how you’ve tackled challenges, prioritized tasks, and delivered impactful solutions.
• Visualize results:  A portfolio is a place where you can use charts, graphs, or dashboards to make metrics and outcomes more engaging and easier to understand.
• Facilitate better conversations:  A portfolio serves as a discussion point during interviews, helping you explain your work in depth and connect with the hiring team.

And remember, while a resume ties you to a chronological structure, with a portfolio you can break out to whatever flow makes the most sense. Lead with the greatest achievements, foreground the case study that relates most to the particular company you’re applying to – you have the flexibility to rejig the structure in whichever way puts you and your work in the best light. 

Do you need a Product Manager portfolio? 

Unlike a resume and cover letter, having a Product Manager portfolio is not a requirement (for us at least at ProdPad). Instead, treat it more as something that’s nice to have to enhance your overall application.

See, we’re still going to put more weight and emphasis on your resume and definitely your interview performance, so don’t think that a Product Manager portfolio is going to magically make you a top candidate if the other aspects of the application are lacking. 

It’s not going to make a poor applicant look good, but it can make a good applicant look great. 

Have you heard of creatine? It’s a supplement gym goers can get to help make their workouts more effective by aiding recovery and muscle growth. But creatine won’t do anything if you’re not hitting the gym regularly. On its own it’s worthless. If you haven’t nailed your gym routine and your diet, then creatine is simply a waste of time. 

This same principle applies to the Product Manager portfolio. It’s only really worthwhile if you have a quality resume, cover letter, and interview.

What we’re saying here is that you need to nail the more traditional aspects of your application first. Build a resume that clearly shows you have the chops for the role you’re applying to, and master the common Product Manager interview questions to demonstrate you know what you’re talking about. We’re always going to be looking at these things first and then we might focus on the portfolio to see if it pushes you over the edge. 

Let’s put it this way. I recently oversaw a campaign to hire a new Product Manager for ProdPad to join our awesome team. We had hundreds of credible applications, yet among them, there were only a handful of candidates that had a portfolio. 

And yes, these Product Manager portfolios did help these candidates stand out, but ultimately we went with someone who was able to demonstrate how they could help ProdPad, and speak about their experience and suitability for the company in their interviews. 

I’m a lot more interested in seeing how an applicant solved problems – ideally, problems related to the role they’re applying to – and the impact they’ve had on previous companies. Somebody might have an amazing portfolio but if they’re not interviewing well, then they’re not getting the job. That’s because a portfolio isn’t indicative of the day-to-day role.

That’s not to say that the people working on portfolios wasted their time, it’s instead a notion that you need to show how you can help a company in your applications. If your portfolio does that, instead of just acting as a showreel of all the products you’ve worked on, then you’re onto a winner. Then you’ve created something that’s pretty worthwhile and exciting.

Let’s talk a bit more about that. 

What should be included in a Product Manager portfolio? 

A strong Product Manager portfolio should showcase your experience, skills, and how you approach challenges. Here’s a breakdown of what to include and why each element matters:

Case studies 

Case studies are the centerpiece of your portfolio, giving hiring managers a chance to take a deeper look at the particular products and projects you’ve worked on. Your case studies need to be more than simply a list of the products you’ve had a hand in. 

Instead, use your case studies to outline the problems you needed to solve or the goals you needed to achieve and the steps you took to do that. 

Be specific in what you’ve achieved, and bonus points if the achievements you’re highlighting in your case studies relate to the needs of the role you’re applying for. These detailed narratives are a chance to demonstrate your strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.

Evidence of your impact 

This is really important – you should show What can be really neat to see is examples of how past products that you’ve worked on have changed while you had influence over them. A history of the successful features you’ve added and tweaks you’ve made can be really illuminating in a portfolio, especially if you serve it up with some data that tells you why. 

While showing off polished final products is tempting, what really stands out is evidence of the journey. It’s far better than just being like “Ta-da: here’s the product.” 

This really amounts to proving the ROI you have delivered in past roles. That’s not easy to do. Luckily we’ve got you covered. Download a copy of our ebook How to Prove the ROI of Product Management and check out the list of different calculations you can run to help you beef out this section of your Product Manager portfolio. 

You’ll find ways to calculate and prove the ROI you’ve delivered through:

• Your product discovery work
• The prioritization decisions you’ve made
• The strategic alignment you’ve ensured
• The cost protection you’ve brought about
• Your customer feedback analysis

You can run the numbers and include improvements in strategic yield, risk reduction, cost of delay, overrun, and product velocity – all of which are directly attributable to your own work and processes. 

So make sure you’re being hyper-specific here and including hard numbers by way of evidence. 

Testimonials

A good word from someone that you’ve helped can go a long way in proving your character and that your work has achieved results.

Endorsements from colleagues, stakeholders, or clients can add a layer of credibility to your portfolio. Testimonials provide an external perspective on your skills, leadership, and collaborative abilities, which can be especially persuasive to hiring managers. It’s not you blowing your own trumpet, it’s someone else. 

A few well-placed quotes from trusted voices can give your portfolio a human touch, showcasing how you work with and inspire others.

Your process

This is kind of related to the previous point. It’s far better to see the process to your end result instead of just the end result. It’s like a math test, you get points for showing your working out. Use your portfolio as a way to show that. 

Detail the hypotheses you set, how you tested it, the process you followed, and how you handled feedback and analysis. Give us an idea of how you’re going to operate if you get the job.

This all boils down to showing the story. Tell what the company you were at was trying to do and detail all you did to help them do it. 

Again, we have a free ebook that should help you understand how to visualize and articulate this. In The Product Management Process Handbook, we outline a best practice workflow from start to finish. Seeing this mapped out should kick-start your thinking about how to illustrate your approach and what to include. 

An appendix: 

Including an appendix is a great way to add in extra information and examples of your work and the way you do things. Think of it as a storage unit of all the additional proof that show that you’re good at your job. 

An appendix can include anything that you think is relevant, but two useful items to include here are: 

Strategy Documents 

Including details and examples of how you handle strategy documents like product roadmaps, market analyses, or competitive reviews can demonstrate your ability to think at a high level. A product strategy document showcases how you approach long-term planning, set priorities, and align teams to achieve business goals.

Giving access to these emphasizes your capability to walk the line between vision and execution.

PRDs

Product Requirement Documents are a staple in Product Management, and your portfolio is the perfect place to highlight them. A well-written PRD illustrates how you translate vision into actionable plans, ensuring that technical teams and stakeholders are aligned. Showcasing examples of PRDs can underscore your communication skills and your ability to manage the details that drive a project forward.

What to avoid in a Product Manager portfolio

If you put the wrong things in a Product Manager portfolio, the whole document can do you more harm than good. If you include the wrong stuff, a Product Manager portfolio can quickly become a missed opportunity, failing to highlight your suitability for the role and instead act as a superfluous extra that wasn’t really asked for. 

So, to make sure your portfolio isn’t a dud that causes hiring managers to roll their eyes, here’s what you should avoid:

Style over substance

Have you got a flashy and beautiful portfolio? Cool. Is it just a pretty design with little substance and value? Uh-oh.

The most disheartening thing to see is a stunning portfolio that doesn’t really get into the meat of what you offer as a Product Manager. Something that doesn’t scratch the surface suggests that you’re trying to hide something and win us over with pretty colors and shapes.

The truth is I’d much rather have a boring portfolio that looks into things like process, impact, case studies, and more.

Irrelevant or excessive details

It might be tempting to cram every project you’ve ever worked on into your portfolio. But remember: more isn’t always better. A long, unfocused portfolio risks diluting your achievements and overwhelming the hiring manager.

Instead, choose only the projects that best showcase your relevant Product Management skills and demonstrate your ability to solve the problems you’ll be tackling in the role, make an impact, and drive results. Quality trumps quantity every time.

Lack of metrics

Accomplishments without numbers can feel empty. If you talk about a successful launch but don’t mention how much revenue it generated, how user engagement changed, or how customer satisfaction improved, you’re missing an opportunity to show real impact. 

Metrics make your contributions tangible and prove that you’re not just talking the talk. You can walk the walk. 

Generic descriptions

Vague phrases like “worked on a product” or “led a team” aren’t going to cut it. Hiring managers want to know what you specifically did and how it made a difference. 

Did you transition your team from a timeline to an agile roadmap to improve delivery times? Did you lead cross-functional workshops to align stakeholders? Make your role, actions, and outcomes clear so your portfolio feels personal and powerful.

Inappropriate design choices

Your portfolio’s design should enhance – not overshadow – its content. Fonts that are hard to read, layouts that are overly complicated, or visuals that feel more like a distraction than an enhancement will hurt your chances. Especially if you’re looking for a more design-focused role.

Keep it clean, professional, and aligned with your personal brand. Remember, the design is just the wrapper – the content is the star of the show.

Ignoring accessibility

Your portfolio isn’t doing its job if it’s inaccessible. 

Whether it’s not optimized for mobile devices, has broken links, or requires downloading obscure files, anything that creates friction can frustrate hiring managers and take you out of the running. 

I mean, you’re a Product Manager, right? You should instinctively be bashing through barriers and eliminating friction! If your Product Manager portfolio feels like a clunky UX nightmare, you’ll be putting real doubts in the minds of any hiring managers looking for someone to spearhead the effectiveness of their product. 

Make it as easy as possible to view, share, and understand your portfolio. A good rule of thumb: if it takes more than one click to access, you’re overcomplicating it.

Overuse of buzzwords

Buzzwords might sound impressive, but without substance, they’ll work against you. Overloading your portfolio with terms like “growth hacking” or “synergy” without showing how you applied these concepts in meaningful ways can feel hollow. Speak plainly and back up your work with examples. 

Just talk like a human.

How do you build a Product Manager portfolio? 

So you’ve gathered what you’d like to show in your portfolio, but how’d you put it together to make a great one?  Crafting a stellar Product Manager portfolio isn’t just about assembling a collection of your past projects; it’s about creating a tool that communicates your value in a way that’s compelling, clear, and tailored to the role you’re targeting. 

Here’s a guide to help you build one that stands out:

Choose the right medium

In this day and age, pretty much every portfolio needs to be digital. When looking at the best Product Manager portfolio examples, the vast majority of them are interactive websites, so that’s something you should follow. 

Creating a digital portfolio gives you a chance to demonstrate your UI chops. That’s a blessing and a curse. Yes, a website offers the flexibility to showcase not only your work but also your design sensibilities and user-first thinking, but you need to make sure that the whole experience is intuitive and easy to follow. 

As I suggested earlier, it can ring alarm bells if you’re applying to a more design-focused role if your Portfolio doesn’t really work well and flows between the sections.

Tell a story

Your portfolio should do more than list achievements – it should narrate your journey and tell a story. 

That story is up to you and should be based on the role you’re applying to. Applying for a Growth Product Manager role? Showcase in your portfolio how you’ve driven growth in the past and your methods for achieving that. Looking to join a team that’s about to scale from start-up to SMB? Showcase how you’ve managed that transition before in your portfolio. 

Remember, your portfolio is the chance to really add color to your resume and show that you’re the right person for the job. 

Keep it clear

I want to be able to understand you, and I want to be able to understand your portfolio. Keep the content brief, and make sure to explain anything that needs context. I don’t want to be looking at product adoption metrics scratching my head trying to understand what they mean and what they prove because I’ve not got any prior context.

Be clear about what it is we’re actually looking at and what your contributions were.

Don’t assume knowledge

You shouldn’t assume that the hiring manager has prior knowledge about the market or industry you’re coming from. Make sure your portfolio is written so that anyone can understand it regardless of their background. 

Set the scene so that we can fully grasp the impact you’ve made. Otherwise, things can go over our heads. It might be everyday jargon for you, but a CEO might not know what a 40% reduction in customer churn means and why it’s a good thing.

Customize it for each role you apply for 

Yup. I know it’s a lot easier to make one generic portfolio, but you’re going to have a much greater impact by offering a Product Management portfolio that’s customized to each role. 

By tweaking what you talk about, you’ll be able to offer up something that’s more relevant and informative which is going to excite hiring managers more. Adjust your portfolio to align with the specific requirements of the position you’re applying for to speak directly to the needs of different employers. 

Say you’re a handyman looking to get a plumbing role. Sure a general look at your DIY skills is okay, but it’ll be loads better to focus on all the piping installation and bathroom plumbing projects you’ve done.  

Adding color to your resume

In today’s competitive job market, a Product Manager portfolio has the potential to help you stand out. Providing that what you cook up is more than just a visually appealing showcase of your experience; it can be a strategic tool that demonstrates your ability to solve real-world problems, make data-driven Product Management decisions, and deliver impactful results.

While it’s not a requirement for every application, a well-crafted portfolio can elevate your candidacy, especially when paired with a strong resume and interview performance.

However, it’s important to remember that your portfolio should complement – not replace – your traditional application materials. Focus on substance over style, providing clear examples of your process, results, and impact. Avoid clutter, irrelevant details, and buzzwords that don’t add value.

When done right, a Product Manager portfolio can offer hiring managers a deeper understanding of your capabilities and why you are the best person for the job.

So, whether you’re actively job hunting or just looking to refine your professional narrative, your portfolio is an opportunity to tell your unique story. Showcase your achievements, but more importantly, show how you can bring value to the role you’re applying for. After all, in Product Management, it’s not just about what you’ve done, but how you did it. Make sure you do things the right way with the best tools, like ProdPad. 

Take a peak at how ProdPad can improve your processes in our pre-loaded and free-to-explore live sandbox environment. 

The post Product Manager Portfolio: A Secret Weapon To Progress Your Career appeared first on ProdPad.

Our Complete list of Product Management frameworks

Let’s do it. 16 worthwhile Product Management frameworks. Explained and listed out for you so that you know what models are worth turning to. This list is not exhaustive. If it was, we’d be here all day. And because of that, if you know of a Product Management framework that’s really helping you out that we don’t cover here, tell us. Please. We’d love to know.

To make things easier, we’ve even gone and organized it based on what you’re using the frameworks for. Click from this list below to skip down to the types of frameworks you’re looking for. 

Product Management Frameworks for Prioritization

In the grand scheme of things, you’ll find that most Product Management frameworks are going to be focused on prioritization in one way or another. That makes sense, figuring out what’s most important to work on is a major part of Product Management.

Here’s a quick overview of some of the most important, but there are sooooo many more you can use. Get a better sense of the power of Prioritization Frameworks by downloading our ebook below. There you’ll be able to learn multiple nifty ways to prioritize. Check it out below:

RICE scoring

Potential features or ideas aren’t just categorically ‘good’ or ‘bad’. There are multiple factors that all come together to dictate if it’s something you should pursue. RICE scoring helps you collate all these factors and pump out an actionable score to help you see what’s the best stuff to work on.

To do RICE scoring, you need to first give a score, typically out of 10, on these four areas:

• Reach: How many users will this feature or update affect?
• Impact: How significantly will it improve their experience?
• Confidence: How sure are we about the above estimates?
• Effort: How much work is required to implement it?

Oh, would you look at that, the first letters of each word spell R.I.C.E, who would have thought? From here, you can then work out your RICE score by plugging it into the pretty straightforward formula: 

With RICE scores generated for each of your new ideas, you can then compare them against each other to see which ones have the most potential to move the needle with the least amount of effort.

Of course, there’s WAY more to RICE scoring. Good job we’ve put together this glossary article so you can learn more: 

Weighted impact scoring

Weighted impact scoring is another Product Management framework that helps you work out the best things to focus on based on different factors. What makes this different from RICE scoring is that these different factors are weighted depending on what’s most important to you. Because certain factors are simply more important than others.

For example, say your team really values something that has high customer demand and doesn’t care as much about its technical feasibility. You can illustrate that with weighted scoring, meaning that the value you give to customer demand has a higher impact on the final score.

To do weighted scoring, you’ll follow a process like this: 

1. Identify criteria: Define the key factors influencing success, such as market demand, customer impact, cost, or technical feasibility.
2. Assign weights: Allocate importance to each item, making sure that the total equals 100%. For instance, market demand might carry 40% weight, while cost might have 20%.
3. Score ideas: Rate each idea against the criteria on a consistent scale, such as 1 to 10. A higher score indicates a better alignment with the criteria you’ve created.
4. Calculate weighted scores: Multiply each idea’s score by its corresponding weight, then add the results to generate a total weighted score.
5. Rank ideas: Use the total scores to rank options. The highest-scoring ideas are prioritized for implementation while low-scoring ones can be deprioritized or excluded.

By following these steps, you’ll get something like this: 

In this example, it’s clear that Product Idea 2 is the best to work on first and will provide the biggest impact. Learn more about Weighted Scoring in our full glossary article: 

Kano Model

The Kano Model is a survey that allows PMs to work out what features are most important to their customers, allowing them to prioritize feature development and improvements. In this survey, you’ll ask two sets of questions about your feature ideas: 

• How would you feel if we added this feature?
• How would you feel if this feature was missing?

Users can respond by ticking one of five options that range from “I like it” to “I dislike it”. From these answers, you can then categorize your ideas or existing features based on what users like and dislike, helping you know what to drop and what to focus your efforts on in the future. Through this survey, you’ll be able to categorize your features or ideas into 5 sections: 

1. Basic: Must-haves that users expect.
2. Performance: Features that increase satisfaction the more they’re improved.
3. Delighters: Unexpected features that delight users.
4. Indifferent: Features users don’t care about.
5. Dissatisfiers: Features that frustrate users if present or missing.

The Kano model is useful but involves a fair bit of work to get it done properly. If you’re keen to follow the model, check out our step-by-step instructions: 

MoSCoW Prioritization Model

If you’re struggling to work out which features you should have in your product or need to know which ideas on your roadmap or backlog are worth sticking with, the MoSCoW Prioritization framework can help you.

The Product Management Framework allows you to assess ideas based on their importance and urgency, making sure that you allocate resources properly.

When using this framework, you rank your ideas based on them being a… 

• M – Must Have: Non-negotiable essentials for project success.
• S – Should Have: Important but not critical; can be postponed if necessary.
• C – Could Have: Nice-to-have features that add value but are not priorities.
• W – Won’t Have: Explicitly excluded from the current scope but may be revisited later.

This is what the framework stands for. By organizing requirements into these categories, the MoSCoW model ensures that teams work smarter, delivering what matters most while setting realistic expectations for all stakeholders.

You’ve probably guessed it by now, but we also have a glossary article covering this Product Management framework – perfect if you want to learn more. Check it out: 

Product Management Frameworks for Product Discovery 

Product Discovery is very important, so much so that it’s a core part of the Product Management Lifecycle. PMs constantly need to be learning about their audience and product to make sure they’re building the best thing possible. Here are some of the best frameworks for that. 

Double Diamond

The Double Diamond Product Management framework is a design and problem-solving approach that helps teams go from an initial kernel of an idea to a well-defined solution. It visually represents the process with two diamonds: the first focuses on defining the problem, while the second centers on designing the solution.

The framework has four key stages: Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver.

The Discover phase involves exploring the problem space through research and gathering insights. Teams cast a wide net to uncover user needs and pain points.

In the Define stage, the insights are analyzed to pinpoint the core problem, narrowing the focus to define a clear, actionable problem statement.

The second diamond begins with the Develop phase, where teams ideate and prototype potential solutions. This is a collaborative process, encouraging creativity and exploration of multiple ideas.

Finally, in the Deliver stage, the team tests and improves solutions, ensuring they meet user needs before scaling and shipping it to market.

In the context of product discovery, the Double Diamond Product Management framework ensures that Product Managers and teams deliver solutions that are both user-centric and aligned with business goals. It encourages collaboration across disciplines and fosters a mindset of continuous improvement.

ICE Scoring 

ICE scoring is a very simple framework, and allows Product Teams to evaluate potential solutions based on three key factors: 

• It’s Impact 
• How Confident you are in the idea
• How Easy the idea is to implement

By looking at these factors alone, it creates a simple way to decide on which initiatives you should focus on and if your potential ideas are going to work out.

To work out your ICE score, you first score each factor between 1-10, and you then multiply them together to get your final ICE score. The higher, the better.

The simplicity of ICE Scoring makes it an ideal framework for quickly comparing a wide range of ideas. It encourages objective decision-making by breaking down initiatives into measurable components, reducing biases that may crop up from gut feelings or organizational politics. If you need to make fast decisions, then this Product Management Framework is definitely a good option to have in your back pocket.

Learn more about ICE scoring: 

Opportunity Solution Tree 

The Opportunity Solution Tree is a framework developed by Product Leader and ProdPad friend, Teresa Torres. It’s a great framework for mapping out desired outcomes and working up ideas for actionable solutions. It gives structure to your discovery work and makes sure that teams are working on the right problems before they jump ahead.

When building an Opportunity Solution Tree, you’ll plot on three levels: 

1. Outcome: The overarching goal or desired result. For example, “Increase user retention by 20%.”
2. Opportunities: User needs, pain points, or problems that could help achieve the outcome. These are identified through user research.
3. Solutions: Potential ways to address the opportunities. Teams brainstorm and validate ideas here.

With these plotted out, you’ll then build a tree that may look something like this: 

Using an Opportunity Solution Tree encourages a systematic approach to product discovery. Instead of jumping straight to solutions, teams spend time actually exploring the problem space, ensuring they address real user needs. Breaking the process into steps reduces wasted effort on misaligned initiatives. Everything is focused on outcomes, not outputs, and every solution is tied to a validated opportunity.

Of course, this is just the ‘root’ of the Opportunity Solution Tree (see what we did there). Fully get your head around it by checking out our detailed glossary article: 

Product Management Frameworks for Product Development

Sometimes, doing can be the hardest thing in Product Management. Building and then implementing a plan can be tricky – especially if you’re cautious about doing things the right way. Thankfully, there are frameworks you can follow that make sure you’re always on the right track when developing and building your product.

Here are some of the best Product Development frameworks.

Kanban Framework

The Kanban Framework is a visual workflow management method that helps teams manage the work they have in progress. It’s a visual planner that’s shared with your entire team to improve visibility and reduce bottlenecks.

At its core, Kanban revolves around tracking tasks on a Kanban Board, which consists of columns representing stages in the workflow:

To Do
In Progress
Done

Tasks, represented as cards, move across the board as they progress through these stages. By representing tasks as cards on the board, teams gain clarity on what’s being worked on, who’s working on what, and where potential delays exist.

When using Kanban, you have a limit on what tasks can sit in each column, preventing teams from overloading themselves and encouraging a focus on completing tasks before adding another one. This creates a steady workflow while team members consistently review the board and make tweaks to their processes to improve the development process.

This framework is particularly beneficial for teams seeking to improve delivery times and reduce waste without overhauling their existing processes. Its focus on continuous delivery and responsiveness to change makes it a cornerstone of Agile practices.

GIST Planning

The GIST Planning framework, created by Itamar Gilad, is a lightweight, Agile-friendly framework designed to simplify strategic planning and execution for product teams. GIST stands for: 

1. Goals: High-level objectives that the team aims to achieve, such as improving user retention or increasing revenue.
2. Ideas: Potential solutions or initiatives to reach the goals. These ideas are collected, evaluated, and prioritized.
3. Step-Projects: Small, actionable projects derived from prioritized ideas. These projects are designed to deliver measurable results quickly.
4. Tasks: Specific actions required to complete the step-projects.

Here, the goal is to take high-level, ambitious goals and break them into tiny pieces that are more manageable and easier to focus on. It’s like eating a great big chocolate bar, you nibble on each block instead of shoving the whole thing in your mouth at once.

GIST Planning is important because it bridges long-term strategy and short-term execution. It helps teams avoid overcommitting to rigid plans and instead fosters a culture of adaptability. By breaking large goals into manageable pieces, teams can focus on incremental progress and ensure alignment with user needs and business objectives.

This framework is ideal for fast-moving teams that need a clear structure without the constraints of traditional planning methods.

And that’s the gist of GIST. If you want to learn more, we’ve actually spoken to Itamar about the benefits of GIST over Product roadmaps. Get your hands on the on-demand video. 

V2MOM

The V2MOM Framework is a strategic planning tool to align teams and ensure everyone is clear on how you achieve your organization-spanning goals. It provides a structured approach to defining priorities, aligning efforts, and tracking progress.

V2MOM stands for:

1. Vision: The ultimate goal or outcome the team wants to achieve. It sets the direction and purpose.
2. Values (the second ‘V’ hence the 2): The principles and priorities that guide decision-making and define success.
3. Methods: The specific actions or strategies required to achieve the vision.
4. Obstacles: Potential challenges or risks that might hinder progress.
5. Measures: The metrics used to evaluate success and track progress.

Getting different teams and the members within them on the same page can be pretty tough. The simplicity of V2MOM makes it a powerful tool for aligning teams, especially in large organizations. Each component ensures that everyone understands not just what they’re working on, but why it matters and how success will be measured.

In product development, V2MOM is particularly useful for maintaining focus and cohesion in cross-functional teams. By clearly outlining objectives and strategies, it prevents misalignment and ensures that efforts are directed toward shared goals – not just the core metrics for each specific team.

This framework is valuable for Product Managers seeking to straddle strategy and execution, learn about it:

Product Management Frameworks for Team Management

Product Managers don’t act alone. You’re surrounded by a team made up of multiple cross-functional roles, not to mention other stakeholders who all have a shared interest in the product and its direction. Because of this, you’re going to have to learn how to properly manage these teams and create a structure to avoid everything spiraling into chaos, blockers, and silos.

Here are some great Product Management frameworks to help you manage your teams.

DACI Framework

The DACI Framework is a decision-making and accountability tool designed to clarify roles and responsibilities within teams. It clearly states who owns and is responsible for driving decisions, making sure that no one goes off and starts a task without consulting the rest of their squad.

DACI is particularly useful for cross-functional teams working on strategic initiatives, product development, and organizational change.

DACI defines the four different types of people in a team and their association to decision making: Driver, Approver, Contributor, and Informed:

1. Driver: The person or role responsible for driving the decision-making process. This individual coordinates the discussions, gathers input, and ensures that decisions are made within the set timeframe.
2. Approver: The person who has the final authority to approve or veto the decision. The approver is accountable for ensuring the decision aligns with business objectives and long-term strategy.
3. Contributors: These are team members who provide valuable input, expertise, and recommendations to help inform the decision. While contributors do not make the final decision, their insights are critical in shaping the options available.
4. Informed: Individuals who need to be kept in the loop regarding the decision and its outcome. They are not directly involved in the decision-making process but need to stay informed for context, communication, or implementation purposes.

Assigning these specific roles to team members prevents confusion and overlapping responsibilities, which can lead to inefficiencies and missed deadlines. It also fosters accountability, as everyone knows exactly what is expected of them and who has the final say. It helps streamline decision-making processes, making sure that key stakeholders are involved at the right stages and that the right people are making the final call.

We’ve got loads more on DACI right here: 

RACI Matrix

Another framework used for clarifying roles in a team is the RACI Matrix. It helps ensure that tasks are completed efficiently by defining who is responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed for each part of a project. The RACI Matrix reduces ambiguity, improves communication, and prevents tasks from falling through the cracks. Here’s each role in action:

1. Responsible: The individual or team responsible for completing the task or action. They perform the work or take direct responsibility for getting it done.
2. Accountable: The person who is ultimately accountable for the completion and success of the task. They own the outcome and are the final decision-maker. There should only be one accountable person per task to avoid confusion.
3. Consulted: These are subject-matter experts or team members who provide input, advice, or feedback during the task’s execution. Their consultation helps guide the responsible individual, but they do not directly perform the task.
4. Informed: Individuals or groups who need to be kept updated on the progress or completion of a task. They are not involved in the decision-making or execution but need to stay informed to maintain alignment.

Hang on, this sounds pretty similar to DACI, doesn’t it? Well, despite the rhyming name, don’t get these two confused. DACI is all about decision-making, whereas RACI is more focused on execution.

The RACI Matrix is essential in ensuring clear communication within teams. It provides a simple, straightforward way to ensure that every team member knows what is expected of them and who to turn to for advice or approval. 

Product Trios

There’s a lot to know about Product Trios, but here’s the general gist:

The Product Trio is a framework designed to foster close collaboration among three key roles in product discovery and development: the Product Manager, the Engineer, and the Product Designer. These cross-functional roles come together from the very beginning of a project, working in unison to inform decisions, bounce ideas off each other, and create products that are viable, desirable, and feasible. 

By creating a Product Trio, teams break away from the silos that traditionally isolate these roles, ensuring that everyone involved has visibility into the product development process at all stages. This integrated approach leads to better alignment, faster decision-making, and a more efficient product development cycle.

Of course, there are multiple other frameworks you can choose to follow to nail your Product Team Structure, including the use of squads and cross-functional teams. Yet, trios are the easiest to implement and help give your Product Team a solid structure to build off as you scale.

Product Management Frameworks for Customer Experience

Every change, tweak, and update made to a product is designed to improve the customer experience so that users become lifelong advocates and champions of your product. There are many different things you can do to ensure you’re working on improving the customer experience.

Here are some Product Management frameworks that are focused on improving the customer experience and showing them the value proposition of the product. 

Value Proposition Canvas

The Value Proposition Canvas is a powerful framework designed to help businesses create products and services that truly resonate with their customers. The canvas is really important when creating your value proposition, and is used within a value proposition workshop to visualize the key components of the product and align it with customer needs.

It consists of two main sections: Customer Profile and Value Map.

1. Customer Profile: This section is divided into three sub-sections: Jobs, Pains, and Gains. Jobs refer to what the customer is trying to achieve, whether functional, social, or emotional. Pains are the challenges or obstacles customers face in achieving these jobs, such as frustrations or risks. Gains represent the benefits or positive outcomes customers hope to achieve, such as improvements in productivity or happiness.
2. Value Map: The Value Map outlines how your product or service addresses these customer needs. It identifies the products and services that help customers complete their jobs, the pain relievers that mitigate their frustrations, and the gain creators that provide additional benefits or pleasures.

The framework helps to clarify why a product matters to the customer, which is essential in developing successful marketing strategies and sales messages. By mapping out how a product fits into the customer’s life, businesses can create offerings that stand out in the market and build stronger customer loyalty.

AARRR (Pirate Metrics)

AARRR, also known as Pirate Metrics, is a Product Management framework developed to help growth teams track and optimize the customer lifecycle. Here you’re mapping out and measuring how the customer behaves from first contact to when they choose your product over others. These five key stages help businesses understand the path a user takes and assess how you’re performing at each stage. The stages of AARRR are: 

1. Acquisition: This refers to how users find and discover your product. Acquisition metrics measure how effectively your marketing and outreach efforts bring new users to your product.
2. Activation: This stage tracks the user’s first experience with the product. It answers the question: When do users reach their wow moment with the product that indicates they see value in it?
3. Retention: Retention measures how many users come back after their initial experience. This is a critical metric for gauging user satisfaction and product stickiness.
4. Referral: At this stage, the focus is on how likely users are to refer others to your product. Referral metrics help assess the virality of your product – how well users are advocating for it to their networks.
5. Revenue: This stage measures how the product generates income, either through direct sales, subscriptions, or other revenue models. It helps track the financial viability of your products

AARRR metrics are vital for startups and growth-stage companies because they offer a clear, actionable framework for tracking and optimizing the customer journey. Each stage helps businesses pinpoint where they are excelling and where they need improvement. For example, if you have low retention but decent acquisition, the team knows that focusing on user experience will be the most impactful.

Be like a pirate and learn more about AARR: 

User Story Mapping

User Story Mapping is a visual framework used to organize and prioritize user stories, providing a structured way to align product features with user needs. This framework helps product teams understand the user journey by mapping out the steps users take to achieve their goals, allowing teams to identify the most critical features to build and prioritize based on real user value.

User Story Mapping is typically done on a wall or digital board, with user stories represented as cards that can be moved around. The process begins by identifying the user activities or high-level tasks that users need to complete within the product. These activities are placed on the horizontal axis.

Next, the team breaks down these activities into user stories, which are smaller, manageable tasks that contribute to achieving each activity. These stories are placed vertically under each activity, helping to map out the full flow of tasks. The map is then prioritized based on the user’s needs, with essential features placed at the top and lower-priority features at the bottom.

With this visual framework, teams can see what users need to do to reach one of their goals, which can then influence decisions on how they do things in the future. 

Setting the foundations

And there you have it. 16 of our most beloved and trusted Product Management frameworks, all organized nicely and neatly by the tasks you need the frameworks for. These 16 models alone should set up strong foundations to operate with best practices and really hit your product goals.

Of course, once you start to know these Product Management frameworks like the back of your hand, there’s nothing stopping you from learning more. One of the greatest skills a Product Manager can have is curiosity. Seek out new frameworks, check if they work for you, and equip yourself with more tools to handle anything the role may throw at you.

Product Management frameworks are like the formulas sheet for a Math test. They don’t give you the answers, but they tell you how to get there as long as you use the right one.

Looking for other ways to ensure best practices are at the heart of your processes? Use a tool that helps you stay on track. With ProdPad, our features are thoughtfully designed to support your growth and make you an even better Product Manager, empowering you to build products your users will love. Book a demo to see ProdPad in action. 

The post 16 Product Management Frameworks You Should Be Using appeared first on ProdPad.

How do you get onto the Product Manager career path?

Looking longingly at a career in Product Management? Are you in a role where it feels like Product Management is the next logical step? Well, how are you going to get there?

That is honestly, still up to you. Product Management isn’t this closed-off industry where you need a certain qualification and particular experience to get into it. If you want to be a lawyer, you kind of need to go to law school. A doctor – you better be studying at a Medical school for 4 years. As for Product Management: the doors are kind of left open for you.

To understand how to get onto the Product Management career path, let’s look at how it was done in the past and compare that to how the way in looks now. 

Back in the day

If you want to become a Product Manager, my advice is don’t copy the great Product Leaders that came before. I say that because there’s not really a set route that you can copy. You see, Product Management is a relatively new role. Only in recent years have there been dedicated Product Management courses and education that can give you a qualification and help you enter this role.

Before this, people came into Product Management from loads of different backgrounds, both in terms of their education and previous career paths. The variety is staggering!

I asked my social network – which you should join by the way – about their pathway into Product Management and got so many varied replies. Although this isn’t a scientific study and is biased towards my connections, the results were still illuminating, so much so that I decided to put all the previous roles mentioned into a table:

As you can see, there are definitely some roles that appear to be more common stepping stones into Product Management than others, with Marketing roles, Software Engineering, Business Analysis, and Project Management being some of the most common.

But still, there’s an even spread between these roles, which says to me that there’s really no defined way into Product Management. Multiple roles can give you some crucial, transferable skills that can make Product Management a perfect career.

This graph doesn’t even include some of the more ‘out there’ roles that people had on their way to Product Management. Among the replies, we’ve had a Computer Scientist, a Theatre Production Manager, and even a Lifeguard.

All this is to say that if you don’t think you’re on the right path, don’t worry, because it turns out, neither were any of us. 

What to do today to get onto the Product Manager career path

As alluded to, things are a little different today than they were 10 or 20 years ago. You’ve got excellent Product Management qualifications to give you a kickstart – like the King’s College Product Management Career Accelerator course that I had a hand in creating – and loads more information to learn from.

We’ve asked some leading product pros what they recommend to someone who’s keen to get into Product Management today. Here’s their advice: 

Jason’s advice is spot on: if you’re eyeing a Product Manager role, jumping into an Individual Contributor (IC) position on a solid product team can be a great place to start. Whether you’re an Engineer, Designer, Analyst, or Copywriter, these roles give you hands-on experience with the nuts and bolts of product development, building, testing, prioritizing, and rethinking. It’s the perfect way to develop transferable skills while learning how to collaborate and tackle the messy, real-world challenges of creating great products.

He also singles out UX research as a standout prep role, and for good reason. Understanding the user or customer is central to effective Product Management, and a background in UX and UI equips you with the tools to gather, analyze, and apply insights that directly shape product decisions.

But what to do once you’ve gained this experience? Jump into a fresh PM role at a new company, or change position in your current organization? Well, most believe that the latter approach is the easiest:

It’s tough to get noticed without direct experience. By transitioning internally, you leverage existing relationships and company knowledge to make your case. Sometimes, building genuine connections with people in the industry can open doors that resumes alone can’t.

All in all, the best route into Product Management today depends entirely on where you are in your career. A person fresh out of school has different opportunities available to them than someone who’s been around the block in different roles. But whatever you do, gaining experience is crucial, no matter who you ask.

One interesting avenue of discussion is that many current PMs think a background in Business Analysis is going to support them. Heck, many don’t even think there’s much that distinguishes between the two roles, with Product Management simply being an evolution of Business Analysis.

I’m not going to go into whether I fully agree with that assessment or not, you can draw your own conclusions, but it’s clear that there is a strong connection between the role and Product Management. In fact, for many aiming to be a Product Manager, it was suggested to them that they seek out experience in Business Analysis first.

So why am I bringing this up? Well, because it highlights an important truth about Product Management: the skills you bring into the role matter just as much as the title you’ve held.

A background in Business Analysis equips you with some of the foundational tools you’ll need to succeed as a Product Manager – digging into data, understanding user needs, mapping processes, and collaborating with product teams. These are all core parts of the PM toolkit. For many, it’s a natural stepping stone.

But here’s the kicker: while Business Analysis is one path in, it’s far from the only one. The key is to focus on the transferable skills that align with Product Management.

So, whether you’re coming from a Business Analyst role or some other field entirely, don’t get hung up on the “right” path. The industry is wide open to those who can roll up their sleeves, ask the right questions, and create value for customers. 

What skills do you need to progress along the Product Manager career path?

So you don’t need a specific degree or background to break into Product Management, but you can’t waltz into the role without the right skills.

If you want to land a spot on the Product Manager career path, it’s crucial to develop attributes that align with the role’s demands. Many roles and courses can help you build these skills, but to give you a sense of where to focus, here’s a quick rundown of the core skills every aspiring Product Manager needs:

• Customer empathy: Understanding the needs, pain points, and motivations of your customers is essential. A strong sense of empathy allows you to prioritize features and solutions that truly matter, creating products people love.

• Strategic thinking: Product Managers must see the bigger picture. This means setting long-term goals, aligning your product vision with business objectives, and ensuring your team stays focused on outcomes over outputs.

• Communication skills: From pitching ideas to stakeholders to guiding cross-functional teams, clear and persuasive communication is non-negotiable. The better you are at explaining the why behind decisions, the smoother your development cycles will run.

• Data analysis: Numbers tell a story. Whether you’re evaluating user metrics, testing hypotheses, or measuring success, being able to analyze and act on data ensures your product decisions are grounded in reality.

• Prioritization: With countless ideas and finite resources, prioritization is a survival skill. Knowing how to balance user needs, business goals, and technical constraints is critical to shipping the right things at the right time.

• Collaboration: Product Managers work at the intersection of engineering, design, marketing, and sales. Being a team player who can bring diverse groups together to solve problems is key to driving success.

• Adaptability: Things rarely go as planned in Product Management. Whether it’s shifting priorities, unexpected user feedback, or changing market trends, the ability to pivot gracefully is a game-changer.

Breaking down a ‘typical’ Product Manager career path

So you’ve broken into Product Management. The Product Manager career path doesn’t just end there. There’s so much more room for you to grow.

There’s a notion that once you’re in Product Management, you have a straight, defined route to the top. Clear stepping stones you need to tread to reach the dizzying heights of Chief Product Officer. I don’t think it’s that simple.

Many people have come into Product sideways, through the back door. Who’s to say there are no more sideways and diagonal movements product professionals can make?

When looking into the Product Manager career path, you may be confronted with a simplistic structure that looks something like this:

You get your start as a Product Owner
You graduate into a Product Manager  
You then step into a Senior Product Manager role   
Soon enough you become a Director of Product
You then make the leap to Vice President of Product  
Finally, you’re the top dog as a Chief Product Officer

There’s soooooo much more nuance to this. There are loads more exciting and interesting roles that you can grow into. If you’re a new Product Manager, this route can make it feel like your future is already carved out for you. But what if you don’t want to step into a senior role that trades managing products for managing people? What if you want to specialize in a certain area of Product Management? Well, the good news is, you can.

Susana Lopes discussed the dual-track career path in one of her past talks at Mind The Product 2023 and it really left a mark on me. This is a great explanation in that there is a separate pathway for those wanting to stick around the product and stay in the weeds of product development, getting their hands dirty in improving the product. You don’t have to sacrifice your growth by pursuing this path.

It’s a fascinating discussion of how the Product Manager career path can branch off into different directions. But I think it can go even deeper.

See, I’d propose that the Product Manager career path isn’t a path at all, but a tree sprouting different branches. You’ve got your core Product Management role at the base, the truck, with everything else growing out from it.

Landing a role in Product Management doesn’t have to be the apex of your career. It can be the start. Imagine yourself a seedling – you can bloom into anything you want. 

And what about the roles that came before you? The roles that led to you getting your first Product Management position? Well, those are the roots that have given you a strong foundation and the skills needed to excel in Product Management.

Here’s a visual of what this Product Manager career tree may look like. Of course, we couldn’t fit EVERY product adjacent role into this, and it doesn’t include every possible route through Product Management, but based on our previous research, it appears to be some of the typical ways people move through the PM career journey.

I know not everyone will match this, but it should help paint the picture that the route up is not linear, it’s not a straight line – it’s a mess of different disciplines and skills and viewpoints and that’s what makes the industry so interesting. 

How is the Product Manager career path set to change?

Things don’t tend to sit still for long in tech and SaaS, so don’t expect the Product Manager career path to settle into a fixed rhythm anytime soon. There are so many new roles being introduced and different ways of doing Product Management –  I think this is going to change how the Product Manager career path looks going forward. Here are some key areas where the Product Manager career path may change.

A slowdown on specialized roles

See, not even a decade ago, Product Managers were seen as a jack-of-all-trades, dipping into different specializations and offering insight where they can. But recently, we’ve seen a major shift in this. Today, companies are focused on getting specialized PMs to perform specific tasks and focus on a certain area surrounding the product.

One of the biggest growing specializations is, somewhat fittingly, Growth PM roles. This position has risen 117% since 2022, demonstrating the appetite businesses have to scale. Here, core PMs are being usurped by ones specifically focused on driving business growth.

But here’s the thing, I think after an initial boom, these specialized roles are going to die off and become absorbed into the Product Management role, becoming core responsibilities instead of specified job role focuses.

If you’re in a position where you need to show you’re influencing growth as a PM, check out our webinar on how to ‘do’ Growth Product Management : 

Once again, I believe that these will become just another hat that a Product Manager needs to wear, meaning that those looking to enter Product Management will need to be pretty multifaceted. 

I’m not alone in this mindset. Other top Product leaders believe this is the next trend in the industry. 

IC track roles are going to catch up 

The IC track is still a new route to senior positions in Product Management, and because of that, there’s still a discrepancy between say a Distinguished Product Manager and a VP of Product.

This is changing, slowly and surely, with this route becoming a more viable pathway to follow, allowing more technically minded folks to continue to influence the success of their product without having to face managerial and leadership responsibilities that could leave them burned out.

Watch this space on the dual-track career path, as it’s seriously something that can take off and reshape the Product Manager career path. 

There’ll be even more PMs outside the US (and Silicon Valley)

Product Management can sometimes feel like a solely American role. That makes sense, FAANG companies were among the first to make the role trendy and pay big bucks for Product Managers. They made the role popular and most just so happened to all be headquartered in Silicon Valley, hence the still existing focus on the San Francisco Bay Area.

But things have been changing now – Product Management is undeniably global.

Yes, some companies may still require applicants for top Product Management positions to relocate to the US, but there are so many new Product Management hubs that are making the industry more diverse and more accessible than ever before, and they’re growing.

The rise of remote working – which is not going away – and the effectiveness of digital collaboration tools means we’re going to see even more international teams and more PMs from locations beyond the US. 

Product Managers can start to aim bigger

Don’t let our Product Manager career tree fool you. There are plenty of more senior positions that you can aim for beyond being a Chief Product Officer. There’s a growing trend of Product Managers spreading their influence in wider, more adjacent fields, which is going to have a big influence on where businesses in tech go.

More Product Managers are starting to land Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Operating Officer roles. Plenty have also climbed the ranks to become CEOs at some major companies.

Heck, loads of Product Managers are now becoming Founders of their own companies, using their expertise to build start-ups. The success that many have had should be a good indication that those on the Product Manager career path can begin to dream a bit bigger. The skills you hone and develop as a product person are now getting valued at the highest levels of business leadership. 

You set your own path 

The Product Manager career path is as unique and varied as the people who walk it. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, no golden staircase leading to the C-suite. You can forge your own path. Whether you’ve stumbled into the field from an unexpected career or carefully planned your every move, the beauty of Product Management lies in its flexibility.

Unlike more rigid industries, the pathway to the top is less of a ladder and more of a tree – rooted in diverse skills, branching into endless opportunities, and growing in directions that suit your ambitions.

If there’s one thing a new PM should take away, it’s this: whether you’re charting your first steps on the Product Manager career path or considering your next move, remember: there’s no “right” path, only the one that aligns with your goals and interests.

So embrace the unexpected, lean into your transferable skills, and trust that the winding road ahead is exactly where you’re meant to be. In Product Management, every twist, turn, and pivot is an opportunity to grow.

And if you want to supercharge your growth and become a better Product Manager, consider using the best tools for the job. Every Product Manager needs a roadmapping tool, and the best choice is ProdPad. With ProdPad you’ll have best practices built-in, with templates and prompts to help you better define your ideas, optimize your backlog, and build products that drive business growth.

ProdPad can make you go from good to great. See what we can do yourself with a free trial – no strings attached.

The post The Product Manager Career Path is Not a Straight Line appeared first on ProdPad.

What is product benchmarking?

Product benchmarking is the practice of comparing your various product metrics against a set of standards to judge how well your product is performing. These standards are goals that you’ll want to at least match, and ideally exceed. Product benchmarking allows you to assess your product’s performance relative to industry norms.

A lot of the time, product benchmarking involves analyzing your product against your competitors, seeing how you shape up against others in your industry. You can also benchmark against industry norms, which are the average performance metrics that you can expect an everyday company in your industry to achieve.

Benchmarking helps you assess your product’s strengths and weaknesses and lets you see how you’re getting on compared to the rest of the field. It’s like comparing your grades to everyone else in your class. If the class average is a C+ and you’re getting an A, that means you’re one of the star pupils. Great.

The goal of product benchmarking is to find gaps and uncover opportunities to make sure your product stays competitive. Benchmarking is not a one-and-done task, it’s an ongoing process that allows you to make data-driven decisions about every aspect of your product, like product pricing strategies, the features you offer, and more. 

The two types of product benchmarking

There are two main types of product benchmarking, internal and external. 

• Internal benchmarking: Focuses on comparing your performance and outcomes against yourself, seeing how things have changed over a period of time. By comparing performance against yourself, you’ll be able to see what initiatives have worked and what needs to change to improve performance. 
  
• External benchmarking: This involves analyzing your product against competitors or a set of industry standards. This is where you find out how you stack up against the real world. This is useful when you want to assess your product positioning and find areas where competitors have the edge. 

Ideally, you’ll be using both types of product benchmarking to get a better sense of how you’re doing relative to your industry and to yourself. Focusing on your own product performance helps keep you grounded too. You always want to be a little bit better than yesterday. 

What are the benefits of product benchmarking? 

Product benchmarking is something you definitely should be doing as a Product Manager. There’s a whole range of benefits waiting for you each time you analyze your performance against industry or internal benchmarks. When you benchmark properly, here are some of the things you’ll be able to do: 

Prioritize with precision 

Benchmarking helps you focus on what truly matters by revealing where your product excels and where it stinks. It can confirm areas where you’re already leading the pack or highlight hidden opportunities for improvement. For instance, if your conversion rates are already stellar, you can shift attention to other areas like retention or scalability.

Uncover market trends and stay relevant

Regular benchmarking keeps you informed about market shifts and emerging trends. This helps you adapt your product to meet changing customer expectations, adopt new ideas that are gaining traction, and avoid clinging to outdated features that no longer serve your audience.

Foster continuous improvement

Benchmarking provides actionable insights to improve not only your product but also your processes. Whether it’s optimizing workflows or refining features, this data-driven approach supports ongoing innovation.

Enable data-backed decision-making

With insights from benchmarking, you can confidently prioritize updates, allocate resources, and plan roadmaps based on facts, not hunches. This facilitates data-driven Product Management which allows you to reduce the risk of investing in features or strategies that don’t deliver ROI. 

Set realistic goals

Aiming for the sky is admirable, but set your target too high and you’re just going to end up disappointed. Benchmarking gives you a sense of what’s achievable by showing you where top performers are in your market. This helps set practical yet ambitious goals for your product and team.

What metrics should you measure when product benchmarking? 

When benchmarking your product, the metrics you focus on will typically differ depending on your industry and the type of product you have. For example, a B2B SaaS tool will want to focus on different metrics than an entertainment platform.

That said, some metrics are just more important than others and will be ones that you’ll want to measure and compare against regardless of the industry you’re in. We’ve broken down the most common metrics to benchmark and explain why they matter and why everyone looks at them. 

1. Activation rate

Activation rate measures the percentage of users who complete a key action that signifies they’ve experienced your product’s core value proposition. Known as user activation, this is often the first major hurdle in the user journey. A strong activation rate indicates that your onboarding process and initial value delivery are working as intended.

By comparing your activation rate to that of competitors, you can evaluate whether your entry-point experience meets industry expectations and pinpoint areas for improvement if your rate lags behind.

2. Product stickiness

Product stickiness refers to how often users engage with your product, typically measured by the ratio of Daily Active Users (DAU) to Monthly Active Users (MAU). A sticky product is one that users find indispensable, making it a critical indicator of long-term engagement and user retention.

Benchmarking your product’s stickiness against competitors allows you to gauge whether users are engaging with your product on a regular basis, signaling that your product is meeting their day-to-day needs. If your stickiness is lower than competitors, it might point to areas where your product is failing to capture frequent usage or ongoing user interest.

3. Feature adoption rate

Feature adoption rate tracks the percentage of users who regularly use a specific feature out of the total number of active users. This metric helps you understand how well individual features resonate with your user base. When benchmarking feature adoption, comparing your rates to others in your space can highlight features that are underutilized and suggest opportunities to improve those features, making them more valuable and appealing.

If a particular feature has low adoption compared to industry standards, it could indicate usability issues or a lack of user education around its benefits, which you can address by creating a killer product tour to improve overall engagement.

4. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Net Promoter Score (NPS) measures customer loyalty and satisfaction by asking users how likely they are to recommend your product to others on a scale of 0 to 10. This score gives a broad picture of your product’s reputation and overall customer sentiment.

A high NPS compared to industry benchmarks can suggest that users are highly satisfied and willing to advocate for your product. On the other hand, a low score signals areas for improvement.

By benchmarking your NPS against the average standard in your industry, you can gain insights into where your product stands in terms of user loyalty and identify specific areas to focus on for boosting customer satisfaction.

5. Customer churn rate

Customer churn rate refers to the percentage of customers who stop using your product within a specific time frame. High churn is often a warning sign that your product may not be meeting users’ needs or that there are issues with user retention.

By comparing your churn rate to benchmarks, you can determine whether your retention efforts are on par with industry standards. If your churn rate is higher than average, it might suggest a need for improvements in user engagement, product-market fit, or customer support to keep users satisfied and reduce turnover.

6. Pirate Metrics (AARRR Framework)

The Pirate Metrics framework, encompassing Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, and Revenue (AARRR), provides a comprehensive view of your product’s performance throughout the entire user lifecycle. Benchmarking each stage of the AARRR funnel helps you identify strengths and weaknesses across your product’s journey.

For instance, if your retention rate is lower than the benchmark, it might suggest that your users aren’t finding lasting value or engagement in your product. Understanding how each of these stages stacks up against the rest of the industry helps you focus on areas with the greatest impact on your overall performance, guiding you toward optimizing your product for long-term success.

While the above metrics are common benchmarks, the specifics will shift based on your industry:

• B2B SaaS: Should also focus on metrics like free-to-paid conversion rates, customer lifetime value (CLTV), and time-to-value. These reflect the subscription-based nature of the model and the importance of long-term customer relationships.
• B2C Products: Metrics like DAU, MAU, and user engagement are more critical, as these products typically rely on high-volume, frequent interactions to thrive.
• E-commerce: Metrics such as average order value, cart abandonment rate, and purchase frequency come into play.

By customizing your benchmarking efforts to your industry and target audience, you can ensure you’re tracking the metrics that matter most, providing insights that directly support your product strategy.

So you know what to measure, but what are the benchmarks you’re looking to beat? Well, Mind The Product has a pretty interesting benchmarking tool that gives details on the overall performance of these metrics for various industries. It’s worth checking out. 

Common product benchmarking mistakes you might be making

Alright, here’s the juicy bit. There are a lot of things at play that mean that you may not be getting the most out of your product benchmarking.

Have you ever done your product benchmarking and felt like crying because everything pales in comparison? Have you ever done your benchmarking, seen where you’re lagging behind, but have no idea how to improve it? If these are common experiences for you when undertaking product benchmarking, the good news is that we’re going to help set you straight and turn this comparison exercise into something truly valuable for you.

If product benchmarking isn’t doing it for you right now, here’s where you may be going wrong: 

You’re comparing against the wrong benchmarks

You need to find the most relevant benchmarks you can to get the most useful comparison. Don’t base your assessment on extremely broad benchmarks that haven’t drilled down into your niche. It’s important to do your research and try to find the most granular data you can. If your product is a B2B SaaS tool, don’t settle for benchmarks for all ‘digital products’.

If your product is an e-commerce platform and you want to assess your ‘time on page’ performance (for example), don’t base your comparison on a general benchmark, look for specific e-commerce website benchmarks. 

Otherwise, you run the risk of unfairly comparing your performance against products that will always have a stronger performance in some areas than you. For example, if you are managing an e-commerce site as your product, you don’t want to be assessing your performance based on benchmarks for, say, returning traffic, which also include tools like email platforms. People are in their emails every day – you can’t compete with that! And nor should you. You need to be looking at benchmarks for returning traffic that are specific to the e-commerce industry.

You’ll also hit issues if you’re trying to conduct your product benchmarking against specific products rather than general industry data.  And that’s because it’s only the super mega-successful companies that are openly sharing their performance metrics! 

It’s a lot easier to gather information from the likes of Google, Slack, and Dropbox, as they are proud of what they’ve achieved and want to boast. These companies often share eye-popping metrics that seem like the gold standard. But here’s the issue: their performance isn’t typical – it’s exceptional. These companies operate on a scale, budget, and level of maturity that most businesses can’t match.

The issue here is that measuring up against these companies means that you end up comparing yourself against the top 1%. Setting your product benchmarking against ultra-successful companies leads to unrealistic expectations. It’s like comparing your weekend jog to an Olympian marathon runner – it sets you up for disappointment and skews your understanding of where you really stand.

It’s fine to aspire to these performance results and try and learn from these companies that are killing it, but it’s not fair to assess your performance against them right now.

The fix: Use benchmarks relevant to your industry and based on aggregate data across the broad spectrum of products in the space.  

It’s like boxing, a Heavyweight can’t fight a Featherweight as it’s an unfair matchup. This “weight class” approach ensures the comparison is fair and actionable. You’ll gain insights that are actually relevant to your business. 

You’re measuring against unreliable data

So you want to benchmark against competitors, but that creates another issue. Unlike big players that often flaunt their success, most companies keep their performance metrics close to their chest. I imagine you’re not posting every minute detail about your Q3 performance, so don’t expect your competitors to do the same.

This means that you have to rely on industry reports that provide an average across a specific market – that’s what benchmarks are after all. Although useful, you need to be mindful that this only provides a snapshot, and may not be as nuanced as you’d ideally like. Plus, these reports are usually released annually, meaning that you end up benchmarking against outdated statistics.

All this can lead you to draw wrong conclusions about your product performance.

The fix: Combine external benchmarks with internal data. If you’re struggling to establish a baseline, draw on your own performance metrics to establish what you need to do and where you need to be going. This can help you supplement the industry benchmarks you may already know. 

You’re focusing on vanity metrics 

Some metrics are great for stoking your ego but don’t really tell you the true health and performance of your product. They may look impressive at first, but may not give you any actionable insights to help you improve things.

For example, having a huge number of overall app downloads might look cool, but it means nothing if your activation and retention rate is abysmal. By skimming this surface-level insight, you risk ignoring more useful metrics about your product’s actual performance.

The fix: Shift your attention from vanity metrics to actionable metrics tied to product outcomes. Things like activation and feature adoption give you more of a clue on whether users find your product valuable. With these detailed metrics as part of your product benchmarking, you’ll know what you need to focus on to improve. 

You’re looking at lagging metrics

Product benchmarking metrics can either look backward or point forward. Metrics like churn rate or revenue often reflect outcomes from decisions made weeks or months ago. While important, they’re backward-looking indicators that tell you what happened, not what’s happening now or what’s likely to happen in the future.

Lagging metrics don’t give you the foresight to make proactive changes. By the time you identify a problem, the damage might already be done. For example, noticing a spike in churn after months of decline means you’re reacting to a crisis instead of preventing it.

The fix: Focus on leading metrics when product benchmarking. These are statistics that by improving them, you’re sure to drive growth. metrics such as activation rate, feature engagement, or product stickiness, provide early signals of potential success or failure. Use these to stay ahead of problems and respond to trends before they snowball into larger issues. 

Your product benchmarking metrics don’t tell you how to improve

All metrics paint a picture and let you know how you’re performing, but when benchmarking your product, you want to isolate metrics that give you insight into where you need to improve. For example, say you’re benchmarking ARR and see that you’re pretty far behind the industry standard. It’s useful to know that you’re behind, but now you’ll be scratching your head trying to figure out why.

It’s like comparing your 100m sprint time to 2024 Olympic Champion Noah Lyles. You can see that your time of 15s (we’re being generous here) against his 9.78s is worse, but why? This metric doesn’t tell where to improve. Is it because he’s got a longer stride? A quicker reaction time off the blocks? Has better lung capacity? You just don’t know where to start to make the biggest improvements. This could lead to you focusing on improving something that gives you marginal gains.

Say you find out that your reaction time off the block is actually comparable to Noah’s, but it’s your stride length that’s letting you down. You’ll get bigger gains by focusing on what’s worse. This is the same thing you need to do with your product – look at metrics that shine a light on the best areas to improve so that you can allocate resources well and efficiently to improve performance.

The fix: Every metric you track in product benchmarking should have a clear purpose, and make it clear what aspect of your product you need to work on. Tracking monthly recurring revenue tells you nothing – but tracking your Customer Retention Rate tells you whether users are sticking around long enough to generate that revenue, and this can give a better indication of what you must do to improve it. 

So, how do you measure up?

Not getting the most out of your product benchmarking? Well, hopefully with this overview and advice on how to fix common mistakes, you’ll be able to compare better and see how you match up. Benchmarking is more than just seeing how you’re doing against others; the focus should be on learning where you should look to improve to make gains and stay competitive.

Product benchmarking is a tool to drive product growth and to make you more successful, so be sure to utilize these tips to take your product benchmarking to the next level.

And if you’re keen to improve your entire Product Management process, why not give ProdPad a try? Our tools help PMs implement best practices into their everyday workflow, helping you to manage roadmaps, tie customer feedback to ideas, and a hell of a lot more. Plus, we’re benchmarking pretty well against other Product Management tools .

But don’t just take our word for it word for it, why not see for yourself. Schedule a demo with one of our product experts and see what ProdPad can do for you.

The post Product Benchmarking: How to Do It Right to Improve Your Product Performance appeared first on ProdPad.

What is a Product Management report? 

Let’s clear something up right away: there’s no such thing as a “Product Management report.” Unlike a Product Requirements Document or a User Journey Map, there’s no standardized format or checklist for what this document should include. That’s exactly what makes it such a head-scratcher when a stakeholder requests one. What are they really asking for?

The truth is, a “Product Management report” is often shorthand for “Give me an update on what is happening in Product, what decisions are being made, and what success we are seeing as a result.” Without clear expectations, it’s easy to feel stuck, unsure of whether to include granular data, high-level strategy, or a mix of both.

Here’s the key: understanding what your stakeholders are really asking for is half the battle. Is your stakeholder looking for insights on your roadmap? Metrics on user adoption rate? A summary of feature releases? Clarifying their goals upfront will save you from creating a report that misses the mark – or worse, overwhelms them with irrelevant details.

This lack of a defined structure can be terrifying, as there’s no universal way to do things to measure your report against. But, if you want to get philosophical about things, this can also be freeing. As a Product Manager, you’re able to make your Product Management report just how you want to, and choose to include what you think is important and relevant for whoever the Product Management report is for.

At the end of the day, your stakeholder is just looking for a window into your product progress. Most of the time, you don’t even need to make a report to do that. In fact, some existing forms of product documentation that you’ll have might already serve as a “report” depending on the context. For example:

• Roadmaps provide a forward-looking view of priorities and progress.
• Release notes summarize what’s been delivered and the impact of recent changes.
• Product performance dashboards offer up-to-date metrics and KPIs.
• Customer feedback analysis reveals trends and insights driving your decisions.

When a stakeholder asks for a report, they might just need a tailored version of one of these, presented in a way that aligns with their specific needs.

By understanding their intent and leveraging existing documentation, you’ll be better equipped to deliver a Product Management report that hits the right notes.

Who is a Product Management report for? 

Anyone in your organization could one day come up to you and ask for a Product Management report. These documents can serve a wide range of stakeholders, each with their own priorities and interests. Here’s a look at who might benefit from a report and what they’re looking for:

• Executives (CEOs, CTOs, CFOs): High-level insights into how the product aligns with business goals, financial performance, and strategic initiatives.
• Sales Teams: Key information on upcoming features, value propositions, and competitive advantages to help close deals.
• Marketing Teams: Insights into product launches, customer personas, and feature adoption to shape campaigns and messaging.
• Customer Success Teams: Updates on user feedback, churn trends, and features that solve pain points for their accounts.
• Development Teams: Progress updates on the roadmap, blockers, and upcoming priorities to align their work with product goals.

Knowing who you’re reporting to is crucial for sharing a report that’s useful and engaging. Each stakeholder group will have a unique perspective and set of priorities, so a one-size-fits-all approach simply won’t cut it.

For example, executives care about the bottom line. They want to see metrics like ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue), market penetration, and strategic KPIs. Keep it concise, and tie the data back to company goals.

Sales Teams are looking for ammunition to win deals. They need clear, actionable insights into upcoming features, use cases, and competitor differentiation. Focus on what helps them sell.

Customer Success Teams thrive on customer-centric data. They want to know about churn trends, customer satisfaction scores, and which features are delighting users. Highlight the human side of your metrics.

Think of your role as a Product Manager as part translator, part diplomat. You’re not just sharing numbers; you’re presenting them in a way that resonates with the person reading the report. This skill is key when managing stakeholders.

How do I customize my Product Management reports?

You want what you’re reporting to match the people who you’re creating them for. Here are a few key things to think about when putting one together to make sure it’s right for them.

1. Ask what they need upfront: Clarify their goals for the report before you start creating it.
2. Filter the noise: Include only the data or insights that matter to your audience; don’t overwhelm them with unnecessary details.
3. Use their metrics: Speak in terms they understand. Financial stakeholders care about profit and loss; sales teams care about conversions.
4. Highlight their impact: Tie the product’s success to the stakeholder’s role. For example, show Customer Success how new features reduce churn, or demonstrate how marketing campaigns drove user adoption.
5. Keep it accessible: Use visuals like graphs or charts and write in plain language to ensure clarity across diverse audiences.

Do I need to create a Product Management report? 

We think reporting the progress on your product is super important, but we don’t think you need to spend time creating a static document every time you’re asked for one. That just creates more work for you.

Instead, the next time you’re asked for a Product Management ‘report’, it’s best to direct them to a dynamic view of your Product Management tool. If it’s anything like ProdPad, they’ll be able to see a customized view that shares things like your OKRs, the timing of each initiative, linked customer feedback, and the workflow stage for each idea. All things your stakeholders would want to see in a traditional report.

Reporting on your progress and letting the wider organization beyond your Product Team know how things are ticking along boosts alignment and helps improve things in multiple ways.

It’s always worth exploring the existing, in-built reports that your product tools already include. You don’t want to be doubling up and doing unnecessary work. So be sure to familiarize yourself with the reporting tools at your disposal. For example, ProdPad has a robust suite of ready-made reports ready for you to export and share. Check out our reporting features below:

Benefits of Product Management reporting

No matter if you’re crafting a new report or sharing insights from your Product Management tool, sharing reports about your product has a whole host of benefits. Let’s break down the reasons why every Product Manager should make reporting part of their routine:

Keeps stakeholders aligned

Product Teams work with a wide range of people, each with different priorities and expectations. A Product Management report consolidates information in one place, ensuring that absolutely everyone has a shared understanding of the product’s current state and future direction. This alignment minimizes miscommunication and keeps everyone focused on the same product vision and goals.

Showcases progress and achievements

If things are going well, you should shout about them. A well-crafted report is a platform to celebrate wins. Whether it’s delivering a key feature, meeting a critical milestone, or improving upon your North Star metric, the report highlights your team’s contributions to the product’s success. This not only boosts morale but also reinforces the value of the product team to the organization.

Facilitates data-driven decision-making

By presenting clear metrics and trends, a Product Management report provides the foundation for informed decision-making. Stakeholders can see what’s working, what isn’t, and where adjustments are needed. This clarity ensures that decisions are based on evidence rather than guesswork. This is a core foundation of data-driven Product Management.

Identifies challenges early

Listen, not everything about your product is going to be doing well all the time. If it was, you’d be a billionaire. Every product has its hurdles, from technical blockers to shifting market demands. Regular reporting helps surface these challenges early, giving teams time to adapt and implement a pivot strategy to mitigate risks. Including a dedicated section for risks and issues ensures they are acknowledged and addressed proactively.

Secures buy-in for new initiatives

Want to pitch a new feature, increase the budget, or justify additional resources? Providing a report gives the evidence you need to make your case. Highlighting trends, customer feedback, and business impact helps stakeholders see the rationale behind your recommendations, and can help convince them. A good Product Management report can be a tool to help you get what you want.

Supports continuous improvement

By consistently reflecting on what’s been achieved and what can be improved, the report drives a culture of continuous improvement. It encourages teams to learn from successes and failures, ensuring the product evolves in a way that delivers maximum value.

How often should you give a Product Management report?

How frequently you report to stakeholders largely depends on your organization’s product velocity and the needs of your stakeholders. While situational triggers like major releases, strategic reviews, or quarterly business updates often warrant a dedicated report, it’s better to build a regular habit of sharing product insights rather than waiting for someone to ask.

Weekly or biweekly updates can align with sprint cycles, offering stakeholders a snapshot of short-term progress. Monthly or quarterly reports work better for high-level updates, tying product developments to broader business goals.

However, don’t limit yourself to formal reports. Providing regular visibility into your dashboards, roadmaps, or other dynamic tools can be just as effective in keeping everyone on the same page. This proactive approach helps stakeholders see the progress and impact of your product in real-time, reducing the risk of last-minute requests for detailed reports.

This is something you can easily do within ProdPad. You can share Roadmaps, Ideas, and Initiatives across your entire organization, letting everyone contribute to bolster collaboration and alignment. See what else you can share in ProdPad – give us a go for free.

By consistently sharing insights – whether through reports or accessible tools – you create a culture of transparency and ensure that your product’s story is always being told. Remember, waiting until you need a report to fill people in only increases confusion and diminishes trust. Instead, make regular reporting an integral part of your Product Management workflow.

What should be in a Product Management report? 

As we’ve already mentioned, there’s no one-size-fits-all for a Product Management report, and you shouldn’t really be making a static document anyway. That said, when creating views and sharing your roadmap with stakeholders, there are a few things you’ll want to include.

These are the common elements that can provide valuable insights to your stakeholders. While it’s up to you to tailor your report to their needs, here are some key areas that should typically make an appearance:

• Progress against OKRs
  Track how the product aligns with broader business goals to show whether you’re on track to meet high-level objectives. This helps executives and investors understand the product’s contribution to company success.
  
• Roadmap status
  Provide an update on what’s on track, what’s delayed, and what’s upcoming in the product roadmap. This helps teams like marketing and sales plan their campaigns and set expectations.
  
• Roundup of customer feedback
  Summarize insights from user feedback, surveys, or support tickets to highlight customer pain points or areas for improvement. This is critical for Customer Success and Sales teams to understand user sentiment and for product teams to prioritize features.
  
• Competitor analysis
  Compare your product to key competitors to see where you excel and where others may pose a threat. This informs strategic planning, marketing, and sales, helping to refine product positioning and go-to-market strategies.
  
• Churn Rates
  Report on the percentage of customers leaving over a specific period. The customer churn metric is crucial for Customer Success teams to identify issues and for executives to understand product retention and areas for improvement.
  
• A Changelog
  Highlight recent product updates, new features, or bug fixes. Keeping teams informed on changes helps them stay up to date, particularly Sales, Marketing, and Customer Support, who need to know about new releases and updates.
  
• Product performance metrics
  Include metrics such as usage data, adoption rates, and retention to evaluate how well the product is meeting its goals. This helps Product Managers and executives assess the product’s success and areas needing attention. Unsure what to focus on? Download our ebook for the complete list of the product metrics that matter.

Remember, the specific content of your report should always be driven by the needs of your stakeholders. For example, while OKRs and roadmap status might be critical for executives, customer feedback and churn rates might matter more to Customer Success teams. By considering your audience and what they care about most, you can create a report that delivers real value, rather than just a collection of data points.

What should I avoid when writing a Product Management report? 

When reporting on your product, the main thing you should avoid is creating a huge, static, one-off document that’s going to be outdated the second you send it to your stakeholders.

Creating these separate documents keeps your stakeholders at arm’s length, making them feel separated from your product. Instead, you should aim to invite them in and give them view access to your roadmap and centralized Product Management tool, so that they can benefit from consistent transparency.

Instead of giving them an occasional, often overwhelming burst of information, by reporting on your product through a roadmap, you can constantly share with them what they need to know, allowing stakeholders to self-serve themselves and gather information as and when they need it. By providing this window, you allow them into your product decision-making process.

Depending on who’s asking for a report, you should set up customized roadmap views that include the right level of detail for each type of stakeholder. If you’re setting up reports in ProdPad, your stakeholders can see a bunch of juicy stuff, like: 

• The problems you are trying to solve for customers and the business
• The product Objectives and Key Results you are trying to achieve with each Initiative
• The timing of each Initiative
• The individual ideas within each Initiative
• The workflow stage for each Idea
• The linked customer feedback for each Idea
• The target outcomes you hope to achieve
• All the completed initiatives along with their actual outcomes

Of course, whether you’re creating static reports or sharing information on a dynamic Product Management tool, there are a few other important things you should avoid. Try not to make these silly mistakes, as they can make your reports more confusing, something you really don’t want.

Overloading the report with data without context

Raw data can overwhelm stakeholders if not interpreted properly. Numbers like monthly active users or churn rates need context to show their real impact on the product. Focus on the “so what” behind the data and use visuals to make the insights clearer.

Not tailoring the report for the audience

Different stakeholders care about different aspects. Executives want business impact, while developers focus on technical progress. Customize sections for each audience, highlighting what matters most to them.

Making the report too long or too short

Too much detail can overwhelm, while too little can leave stakeholders in the dark. Be concise and focused on key insights. Organize the content to be easily skimmed, using headings and bullet points.

Ignoring design and readability

A poorly designed report can make even the most valuable information hard to digest. Use a clean, professional layout with plenty of white space and visuals like charts or graphs to break up the text.

Neglecting regular updates

Infrequent reports can lead to misalignment and confusion about the product’s progress. Set a consistent reporting cadence that matches your organization’s needs.

Overlooking challenges or risks

Focusing only on successes can make the report feel incomplete or misleading. Acknowledge challenges and risks, and suggest solutions or mitigation strategies. Transparency builds trust and encourages collaboration.

Sharing Product Management reports the right way 

While traditional, static reports have their place, they’re becoming somewhat outdated – especially when a stakeholder simply needs a snapshot of your product’s progress. The good news is that you don’t have to spend your time generating a new report every time someone asks for an update. Instead, consider using a dynamic Product Management tool like ProdPad that allows for continuous visibility into your product’s evolution.

With tools like ProdPad, you can provide stakeholders with real-time access to your product roadmap, customer feedback, and key metrics. This means they can stay updated at any time, without waiting for a formal report. Not only does this save you time, but it also ensures that the information they receive is always up-to-date and relevant. This kind of transparency fosters better collaboration, enabling teams to make decisions faster and with more confidence.

By centralizing all product-related information in one accessible location, you also avoid the risk of outdated or inconsistent data creeping into your reports. Stakeholders are always looking at the most current state of the product, which makes the entire process smoother and more efficient.

While Product Management reports are still useful, moving towards continuous reporting via a centralized tool like ProdPad offers a more dynamic and streamlined approach. This shift from static reports to live, accessible data isn’t just more efficient – it’s the future of how product progress should be communicated.

Try it out in our pre-loaded Sandbox to see how it all works.

The post How to Write a Product Management Report appeared first on ProdPad.

What is a product demo?

A product demo is a carefully curated experience designed to help potential users grasp your product value proposition and functionality. In your product demo, prospects get a hands-on look at the core features most relevant to their needs and see how your solution aligns with their goals.

Whether it’s a personalized walkthrough led by Sales, a self-guided tour embedded in a product-led go-to-market strategy, or a recorded deep dive, a demo bridges the gap between curiosity and commitment.

Product demos can be a major step in the user journey. They’re an opportunity not only to showcase functionality but also to connect emotionally, helping users envision how the product will make their lives easier, faster, or more efficient.

Ideally, product demos are customized to a specific user or at the very least, user segment. This allows the demo to be more focused on their specific needs.

For example, a demo for one customer type may spotlight different features than another. When done well, demos are a powerful tool to create interest, build trust, and inspire users to take the next step – be it starting a free trial, subscribing, or arranging a deeper dive with the team.

For Product Managers, product demos are an extension of your work. They reflect the quality, positioning, and usability you’ve crafted, and while you may not always be in the room presenting, your influence on their effectiveness is undeniable. We’ll go into how in a little bit. 

Types of Product Demo 

We’ve already alluded to the fact that there are multiple types of product demos you can choose from. Let’s put them all under the microscope: 

Live product demo

Live product demos are typically conducted by a salesperson, Account Executive/Manager, or Customer Success team member. You might see these people being described as ‘Product Experts’ but they’re typically members of Sales and/or Success.

In a live demo, the presenter customizes the walkthrough to the specific needs of the customer, diving into features that align with their challenges and goals.

These demos can happen virtually or in person, and they allow for real-time engagement – prospects can ask questions, clarify doubts, and explore specific use cases.

Live demos work well in complex or B2B environments where personalized guidance helps prospects grasp the product’s full value.

Self-guided product demo

Self-guided product demos empower users to explore the product at their own pace, without the need for a live representative. This approach is commonly used by product-led growth companies and is often embedded in freemium or reverse trial models.

Self-guided demos are structured to provide an intuitive exploration of the product’s main features, leading users down a path that highlights the core value without direct and human assistance.

Self-guided product demos work best for products that are relatively straightforward and with very intuitive UIs, allowing users to explore without much hand-holding.

Recorded product demo

Pre-recorded product demos provide an on-demand overview of the product’s key features and benefits. Often available on a company’s website or sent as a follow-up in the sales process, these demos cover a curated selection of functionalities and are typically high-level.

Recorded product demos videos are scalable and easily accessible, making them ideal for reaching a broad audience. The drawback is that they lack interactivity and personalization, making it hard to address unique customer needs.

Interactive product demo

All the above types of product demos are a passive way for potential users to understand what you do. In these scenarios, users are being shown the product – kind of like a college seminar or a talk. Sometimes, you can only appreciate the value of something by doing it.

This is where interactive demos come in. Instead of watching a live presentation or exploring a series of self-serve demo videos, an interactive demo gives users access to a preloaded demo environment where they can actually try out the product themselves. Ever been to a department store and played a demo version of the latest video game on those big kiosks?  – this is kind of like that.

By letting you get your hands dirty, an interactive demo is often more engaging and immersive, helping you reduce the time to value.

Do note that an interactive demo is not a product tour. Unlike product tours, which are designed to boost user activation, interactive demos are sales and marketing materials used to show prospects the product’s potential.

By definition, ProdPad’s sandbox environment is an interactive product demo. We offer anyone interested in learning more about ProdPad, the chance to access a live, pre-filled demo environment, where they can play and explore.

Here, our potential customers can kick things around to their heart’s content, without needing to create an account, enter any card details, or speak to anyone on the team. Access is unlimited and forever – it won’t expire – but any ‘work’ they do in the sandbox (e.g. build a new Roadmap), won’t be saved (that’s what they’d need a free trial for).

Look, it’s probably easier if you go take a look for yourself. Like I say, access is free and forever and you won’t need to create an account or set a password or anything. 

Product demo vs product tour

We’ve touched on it briefly, but this is a discussion worthy of its own section. A product tour is not a product demo. I’ll admit, they’re pretty similar, like twins, but you can spot the differences if you look close enough.

A product tour is typically an in-app, step-by-step walkthrough designed to guide new users through essential features and workflows. Unlike traditional demos, product tours are embedded within the product and triggered once a user signs up or starts a trial. They’re particularly useful for product onboarding, helping new users quickly understand core functionalities and reach early success milestones.

In short, product demos are all about selling the product, while a product tour is designed to help users succeed within the product and get the most out of it. They’re both pretty important but don’t you dare get them mixed up ever again .

What type of product demo should I use?

So you know the different types of product demos. How do you know which one to use? As a Product Manager, you don’t run your demos, but you do have a say in how they should be delivered. Here are the three main things you need to consider:

1. What’s your go-to-market approach?

If you’re following a product-led growth strategy, your product itself drives user acquisition and conversion. It’s your primary piece of marketing material. In this case, interactive, self-serve product demos and tours can be your most effective tool, as they empower users to explore and engage independently. These tours provide an in-app experience that highlights the product’s core features, allowing users to see its value firsthand and make quick decisions.

You’re also likely using SaaS pricing models like freemium or reverse trial, making it well suited to self-serve or prerecorded product demos.

For a sales-led approach, where the user journey is guided by sales representatives, a structured demo video or live demo walkthrough often complements the sales process well. These videos can serve as a consistent, scalable resource that the Sales Team can use to deliver a polished overview.

2. Are you high-touch or low-touch?

Are customers connecting with your teammates from different departments at every step of their journey, or are you keeping an eye on them from far away? The amount of touchpoints you have with users impacts the best type of product demo.

In a low-touch onboarding model, users navigate their journey primarily through self-serve resources. Automated, self-guided product tours or video demos are essential here, offering users the flexibility to explore at their own pace and revisit material as needed. These options are scalable, helping users get up to speed without needing assistance.

For a high-touch onboarding model, live, personalized demos are often a better fit. High-touch approaches rely on relationship-building and tailored support, often catering to enterprise or high-value clients with specific needs.

A live product demo by a Sales Rep or Customer Success Manager can help users see how the product can be customized for their requirements, fostering a strong initial connection and trust.

3. How complex is your product?

The more complex your product is, the more likely users will need in-depth guidance to reach your desired activation point. Interactive product demos that break down key features in digestible steps can help make complex products easier to grasp.

Alternatively, if you have a high-touch approach to onboarding, a series of recorded video demos covering various use cases and workflows can provide an accessible knowledge base for users to revisit whenever needed.

For very complex products with intricate workflows, consider combining multiple formats: live demos for personalized introductions, supplemented with an online library of video walkthroughs or interactive tutorials that allow users to go back and review specific features as they deepen their usage over time.

Who’s responsible for a product demo? 

Well, this is kind of the whole point of this article. A Product Manager does many things – so many that we listed all the possible Product Manager tasks – but, presenting product demos is something you likely won’t actually deliver yourself – at least not externally to prospective customers.

For live demos, it’s typically the Sales Team running the show. They’ll be scheduling and customizing these interactive presentations to highlight how the product solves specific customer challenges. They’re the ones building rapport, adapting the pitch on the spot, and aiming to convert potential users into active customers.

For self-serve or automated demos, your users are left to navigate the product on their own, Here, the demo’s quality and intuitiveness are what will help users grasp your product’s value – without any human assistance. Your users are on their own.

This doesn’t mean that you should sit back and relax though. As a Product Manager, you can still very much get involved in your product demos, and do various things to ensure they’re as good as they can be. 

How do I make my product demo better? 

So, we’ve figured out that product demos aren’t completely out of your hands. Cool. So, what can you do as a Product Manager to improve them? Here’s our full list of tips and tricks you can try to make your demos better without having to get behind the camera and present them yourself. 

Craft the demo narrative

Product demos need to tell a story. As the expert on your product’s unique selling points and the customer needs, you should collaborate with Sales and Marketing to shape a demo narrative that resonates.

Instead of simply listing features, focus on storytelling: craft a journey that aligns the product’s capabilities with the audience’s challenges and aspirations. This ensures the demo delivers a memorable experience that highlights real-world value.

Don’t leave your other teams to create these without support. Provide material like user stories, write them internal PR documents, and even consider sharing the discovery work you did to validate the product or the major features in the first place. This will all help them understand the value of your product and the reason potential customers should care about it.

If your teammates don’t know why your product is so good, they won’t be able to share that with potential customers.

Share customer insights on pain points

You’re in tune with the pain points that brought users to your product in the first place. You spent countless hours in product discovery to learn that. By passing on these insights, you can help the Sales team tailor demos to address top concerns directly, making the demo feel more relevant and engaging for potential users. The result? A demo that doesn’t just show off features but actually speaks to the user’s needs.

Build complete demo environments and sample data

A realistic demo environment that’s reflective of your final product – complete with meaningful sample data – is essential for showcasing how your product works and why it’s valuable.

Work with your team to create demo accounts that highlight ideal use cases, guiding prospects through scenarios they can envision themselves in. This helps users connect with the product’s utility right from the start.

It can be tempting to leave features out of your interactive product demos, but this can lead to a frustrating experience. Give users enough to see the potential of your product.

Regularly refine the demo content

The needs of prospects evolve as the market changes. So should your demos. Keep a pulse on industry trends, competitor moves, and emerging customer demands. Updating demo scripts and sample data regularly to reflect these changes can keep your demos fresh and compelling, making sure your product stands out in a competitive landscape. Following data-driven Product Management practices can help you monitor and stay ahead of the curve. 

Set up a feedback loop with Sales and Customer Success

Feedback from the teams conducting demos is a goldmine for product insights. Listen to what’s resonating, what’s unclear, and where questions arise when presenting a live demo. By setting up a customer feedback loop with Sales and Customer Success, you can stay informed about how prospects are reacting to demos, which features get the most attention, and what might need clarification or enhancement.

This allows you as a Product Manager to leverage product demos to make improvements and create a more attractive product.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Salespeople, if they’re doing a good job, are busy as hell – running from call to call, chasing invoices, ringing bells. It can be hard to get them to take a hot minute to share feedback with you. We get it. We’ve been there.

But, fear not, we’ve created what you need to rectify this problem. Not only do we have a guide on how to Get Customer Teams to Share User Feedback, but we also have a ready-made training deck that you can take along to their next sales meeting and present to the team (it includes a speaker script). Download a copy of the slide deck below .

Refine the self-serve demo experience

For self-serve demos, use data and A/B testing to continually improve the user journey. Look at where users drop off or seem confused, and refine the flow to remove friction and better showcase your product’s core value. Consider split-testing different versions to understand which sequences are most effective at moving users to activation.

Show, don’t tell

Product demos play a critical role in the customer journey, helping prospects understand and experience the value your product offers. While Product Managers may not always be directly involved in presenting demos, their influence is essential in shaping the experience.

By crafting a compelling narrative, sharing valuable customer insights, and ensuring realistic demo environments, PMs can significantly improve the quality and effectiveness of demos.

Collaborating closely with Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success teams ensures that demos resonate with the specific needs of potential users, showcasing the product’s true value.

And don’t forget to keep coming back to these demos! Ongoing refinement is key. As customer needs and market dynamics evolve, you need to stay attuned to feedback from demo sessions and adjust content accordingly.

I’ve already offered you access to our interactive demo environment – why not also come and see our live demo in action! Come and see what the best Product Management tool in the world can do for you and your team  .

The post Making Your Product Demo Better as a Product Manager appeared first on ProdPad.

Why is it important to study good release notes examples? 

Why spend the time researching release notes examples? Well, it’s because it can point you in the right direction when shaping your own announcements. We think many companies do release notes a disservice. Not enough effort is put into them, as they’re often seen as a job to be done, and not as opportunities. 

By looking at how other top PLG companies are doing it, and by implementing some of their practices, you can make your release notes better than your competitors, helping you to boost performance and product adoption rate. 

By using your release notes as an effective Product Marketing channel, you can maintain engagement and nurture users into lifelong customers. 

Checking out release notes examples can help you get a feel for how others manage tone and context. Learning from others can help you fine-tune your language, and prioritize what you need to highlight in your release note documentation. 

What should be included in release notes? 

There are a few core sections we believe need to be included in your release notes, and the following release notes examples back that up. When crafting your release notes, make sure to include: 

• An introduction header 
• A summary of your main, most impactful changes 
• The impact this has on the users
• A more in-depth overview of all the new features, enhancements, and functionality 
• Bug fixes 
• Known issues and limitations that you’re working on

We go into far more detail on how to write quality release notes in our sister article on this subject. Check it out for a deeper understanding of what you need to do when writing release notes. 
We’ve also got an editable release note template that you can use as a step-by-step guide to crafting compelling release note documentation. Make sure you get your hands on it – it’s an invaluable resource to help you up your release notes game.

10 Awesome Release Notes Examples

We’ve searched far and wide to find some of the best release notes examples out there in the wild that you can follow to create fantastic release notes of your own. 

As we go through this list, you’ll notice that many different brands have different approaches to their release notes. That’s a good thing, as we don’t want them to all start looking the same. Release notes examples are varied, and it’s down to you to find the best approach that gels with your product, your market position, and your tone of voice. 

Another thing to consider when creating release notes is to think about the industry you’re in and your product type. Users in some industries expect certain types of release notes, based on the typical approach Product Teams take across the sector. It’s important to keep your release notes industry-specific, to make sure they hit the right note. We’ve split up our examples into different product types to help you find release note examples that match what you do. 

Right, let’s quit the rambling. Time to jump right in. 

Release notes examples for Product Management tools: ProdPad

Let’s start with us. We wouldn’t dare put other businesses under the microscope if we didn’t think our own release notes were up to scratch. We share release updates each and every week, so we’ve got the experience in creating regular release notes. 

A core feature of our release notes at ProdPad is that we keep them very well organized. We like to keep things tidy, so organize by month, and then add links to all the different product releases that have happened during that timeframe. 

This makes it easier for users to see the most recent changes. Plus, if a user tries our product, churns, and then returns after a few months, they can quickly check out previous release notes to see what’s changed during their time away. 

We also separate each specific release note writeup into different categories, depending on what we’ve done. In our release notes, users can easily scan between bug fixes, UX/UI improvements, beta updates, feature updates, and loads more.

Our release notes are purposely short and sweet but go into enough detail to help users understand what has changed and why we’ve made the update. Big new features also have images and diagrams to help users understand these changes and quickly get started with our integrations and updates. 

Unlike a few others, we keep our release notes within our Help Center. This gives users centralized access to self-serve and find release notes without needing to wait for an update email or notification.

Release notes examples for design tools: Figma 

Figma is a design tool that has a lot of different user segments. Not every user is going to be interested in, or directly impacted by, a new release for a feature that they don’t use or need to use in their role. Figma understands this and makes sure that its release notes can be customized to each specific user persona. 

This is done by organizing each release note into different categories and tagging them based on specific features and use cases. This allows users to filter through the updates and discover the information that’s most relevant to them. 

This is a great approach to adopt yourself, as it prevents users from being bombarded, and works great if you have a varied user base all using your product in different ways. The best release notes are relevant release notes, and following this release notes example helps you customize your documentation to the right users.

Release notes examples for customer support tools: HelpScout

HelpScout understands the value of making release notes engaging. They do this by supplementing their release notes with imagery and product tour videos to provide a more demonstrative way to showcase and educate users on their changes. 

This approach can improve overall feature adoption, and reduce the number of confused messages to the Support Team, making sure that users understand and explore the full range of the product. By doing this, the help center and live chat software product keep release notes personal and turn them into a supercharged marketing opportunity. 

They include loads of shoutouts for readers to try their new products, detailing the benefits of the new updates and how they help multiple types of users, giving them incentives to explore more. 

Release notes examples for analytics tools: Mixpanel 

The way Mixpanel handles software release notes is a great example for Product Managers who want to boost the visibility of their release note updates. Their approach here is to have their release notes front and center and easily navigational as part of their main website menu. This makes it super easy for users to access their changelog.

We think this is a great idea, as there’s no point hiding your release notes away in the back corners of your website or app. You should be proud of your release notes, so show them off. 

Another great approach from Mixpanel that you’ll find in many release notes examples is that they organize their release notes in a blog style. Most SaaS product users have experience reading blogs, so this approach makes release notes familiar to users and easier to understand. 

When viewing the blogs in Mixpanel, you first only see the main highlights, making it easier to scan through the product releases, while also giving you the option to dive deeper and learn more on any that interest you through a clear call-to-action. 

Release notes examples for communication tools: Slack 

The release notes from Slack are a particularly striking release notes example due to the uber casual and friendly way their notes are written. They read more like a conversation than a serious document, which goes well for a business in the communication industry. 

Now we wouldn’t recommend emulating everything about Slack. Often their release notes are pretty short and lack explanations, but we are big fans of their approach to the tone of voice, serving as a reminder that your release notes need to match your brand voice and should have some character and personality within them. If your release notes are dry and boring to read, they’re not going to be as effective as they could be.

What’s nice is that Slack consistently posts updates, even if there have been seemingly minimal changes. Sometimes it can be frustrating to check out a release note and just see ‘bug fixes’. Slack takes this as an opportunity to inject character, with some of their release notes turning into comical musings. When things get serious, or a bit complicated, they also link out to explainers to cover the more technical details. 

Release notes examples for CRM tools: Salesforce

Maybe you’re less keen on little-and-often release notes. Maybe, it suits you better to collate all your updates into larger, less frequent release notes. This is the approach Salesforce makes to suit its audience instead of a consistent stream of smaller less impactful updates. 

Salesforce publishes three release notes a year in their spring, summer, and winter updates. This could be a good approach, as it ensures that your updates appear significant and helps to reduce the number of times your users will have to engage with your release notes. But, it can lead to them being pretty overwhelming and intimidating. 

Although we’d suggest keeping your release notes snappy and easy to digest, sometimes you’ve made so many changes and updates that it’s hard to do so. In that case, we’d definitely recommend implementing the filter approach that Salesforce has done with theirs. 

This is somewhat similar to the Figma approach, with the main difference being that you can also jump between headings tags that interest you from a Table of Contents. This can make these larger documents easier to get through. If you’re only interested in a specific area of Salesforce, you can also filter by product area, feature impact, and by products. 

This helps users find information that best suits what they need. You can also export your filtered view as a PDF to have as your reference whenever you need it.

Release notes examples for marketing tools: Hubspot

HubSpot’s software release notes stand out due to their clear and user-friendly structure. They achieve this by having a lot of the previously mentioned functionality, like adding a filter, using a blog-style approach, and having it as part of their help center. 

What stands out instantly is the visual approach to Hubspot’s release notes, especially when first searching for them. With a distinct color scheme, you can easily identify release notes alongside other useful updates that may be interesting. 

A nice touch is a total views tracker. This can help readers understand what’s worth reading by seeing if it’s been heavily interacted with or not. A release note with many views is likely more important than one with fewer. 

Hubspot’s approach emphasizes accessibility and consistency, with well-organized notes that are easy to find within their help center. Consistent formatting across all updates builds trust and improves user experience, as they know exactly where to look for each type of information. This familiarity can also build brand identity, so it’s important to follow suit and stick with a consistent, reoccurring style. 

Our favorite thing about Hubspot is that they include links to their blog posts, making it easier for them to find useful educational material and continue their learning. 

Release notes examples for Project Management tools: Trello

Trello approaches their release notes in a very straightforward manner. In fact, they’re more like a changelog, documentation traditionally meant for your development team that removes some of the extra fluff and detail that makes release notes what they are. They keep things simple with short, bullet-pointed updates that highlight the new features or fixes. 

Each release note entry is succinct with plain language, allowing users to quickly scan through and get a sense of what’s been added or modified without overwhelming them with too much information. This format is ideal for Trello’s user base, which includes both technical and non-technical users who want fast and easy access to relevant information.

Doing something similar can be a good option if you value easy-to-absorb release notes, but we like things with a bit more meat on the bone that goes into a bit more detail to provide context.

What we do like about Trello is that they include clear tags to make it very easy to see what each product update is about on their changelog. These tags are color-coded and easy to search for, helping users find updates that they care about most. 

If you want more information about each update, there are dropdown menus that add extra context and relevant links. 

Release notes examples for E-commerce tools: Shopify

Shopify also swaps traditional release notes for a more technically-minded changelog. As their customers are e-commerce platform creators and users, this approach makes sense for the majority of their audience. Still, they keep things clear, using a very novel timeline approach to help separate product releases and make it clear what’s happened and when. 

As with others on this list, you can filter through based on product type and features you use, and can also easily see if each update is an improvement, a change, or a new feature. 

If you come across a release note that you like the look of and find interesting, you can click on the headline to learn more and get more information about the change. 

Release notes examples for fintech tools: Stripe

Stripe is a bit of a two-in-one, as instead of having one release notes example, they have a couple. Stripe has two different changelogs depending on the target audience, with one being designed to provide technical details, while the other created to be more universal and easy to understand for all. 

This more jargon-free and accessible changelog is found on their blog and organizes their entries across a timeline. 

These release notes don’t go into deep detail, instead just contain a headline about the change, alongside a category tag so that users know what features this change impacts. Like many other release notes, you can filter based on the tool, helping you find the release notes you need. 

From this more universal release note example, you can click on each item to be taken to the more technical and detailed changelog, found on their Stripe Docs help center. 

When viewing this version of the changelog, you get a hell of a lot more information, a lot of which may be too technical for all users. Like the non-technical version, you can still scan the headlines, but then access documents that provide more information on what the change is, how it impacts the user, and how to upgrade to make use of these changes. 

If you have a couple of different types of users that are distinct from each other, it could be wise to follow this approach and have two different release notes or changelogs, directing the appropriate audience type to the release notes that suit them.

Learn from what’s around you

To wrap up, remember: leveling up your release notes isn’t just a box to check; it’s a real opportunity to connect with users and build excitement around your product. By exploring how others are shaping their updates, you can pull in fresh techniques and discover what might resonate best with your own audience. 

The examples here showcase just how creative you can get with structure, tone, and delivery – these brands make their release notes work harder, standing out as more than just routine updates.

Take some inspiration from these examples and don’t be afraid to experiment. Whether it’s adding visuals, adopting a friendlier tone, or even crafting stories around your updates, each of these approaches can give your release notes that extra polish. 

Aim to turn a simple product update into a moment of connection with your users, keeping them engaged and invested in your product’s journey.

If our approach to release notes has sparked your curiosity, why not see it in action? Dive into ProdPad’s open sandbox, where you can explore all our features in a preloaded environment designed to give you hands-on experience. It’s a unique way to see how great release notes and powerful tools can make you a sharper, more effective Product Manager.

The post Best Release Notes Examples to Inspire You (And Your Users) appeared first on ProdPad.

We we cover:

• What is product management software?
• Where do these tools sit in a product management tool stack?
• What are the benefits of having the best product management software?
• What features do the best product management software tools have?
• Cost and pricing for product management software
• What are the best product management software tools in 2024?
• Frequently Asked Questions about product management software

Let’s get into it…

What is product management software?

It’s software that helps you do product management. Sorry, that sounds facetious… but in all seriousness, that’s what these software tools are designed to do – help Product Teams communicate their plans, run their processes and track their results. The very best product management software tools will help Product Managers make informed, smart decisions about the direction they should take their products and provide the tools to turn those decisions into actions and outcomes. 

But there are lots of different types of product management software tools. And that’s because the discipline of Product Management is so far reaching. Afterall, Product Management encapsulates almost everything involved in getting a product to market and then working it through its entire lifecycle. 

That includes initial ideation (market research, competitor analysis, discovery, prototyping, user testing and more) right through the development process (prioritization, speccing, delivery planning and more) and onto launch (release planning, beta launching, customer feedback gathering and analysis and more), and beyond!

And once that process has been worked through for a brand new product, the cycle continues for each new iteration and each new feature as you manage the product through its lifecycle. 

That’s a lot of very different jobs to be done there, and an awful lot of variation. Because of that, there is a plethora of Product Management software solutions available on the market today. Some will cover multiple stages of the Product Management lifecycle, some will focus on one particular task.  

The particular flavor of product management software we’re going to focus on in this list is the complete platform – the all-in-one tools that promise to provide you with one central home for all your Product Management work. While they may not help you with ALL the jobs you have to do as a Product Manager, they should allow you to connect all the pieces into a centralized hub, providing an easily accessible place to go for anyone interested in your product decision-making and process. 

Typically these complete product management software platforms focus on the core PM triad of product roadmapping, idea backlog management and customer feedback management. 

Where do these tools sit in a product management tool stack?

The product management software platforms we’re going to concentrate on here today form a solid base from which to undertake everything you have to do to manage a product, or indeed a portfolio of products. But they won’t directly solve every single Product Management problem or need that you have. You’ll want to combine them with a few point solution tools to ensure you have everything covered.


Let us illustrate this with a graphic. Using a complete product management software tool means you can reduce vendor management significantly without flattening your stack too far and leaving yourself with capability holes. Instead of 11 different product management tools, you’re using one of our best product management software tools to reduce that stack down to a far more manageable 7. 

You’ll want a central product management software tool to act as a single source of truth, covering:

• OKR management and goal setting
• Roadmapping and portfolio management
• Idea management
• Feedback gathering and analysis
• Knowledge management and documentation

Then individual point solutions to help you with:

• Prototyping and wireframing
• Delivery planning and your development backlog
• Testing and experimentation 
• Product engagement and adoption
• Product analytics
• Customer comms 

You’re better to have one of the best product management software tools surrounded by a few point solutions instead of struggling with a huge mix of endless individual products. 

What are the benefits of having the best product management software?

Alignment

When everyone has access to the bigger picture and the plan, teams can truly work in sync. With easy access to the strategy, teammates stay aligned with the broader vision and objectives, minimizing the risk of anyone missing out on what’s most important. 

The best product management software provides a straightforward way to be explicit about the objectives you’re focused on, keeping everyone on the same page.

Transparency

Visibility is key to building trust. When everyone can see both the strategy and progress in real-time, they gain insight into your decision-making process. Stakeholders will appreciate seeing your prioritization logic firsthand, and with updates available to them directly, you’ll spend less time fielding questions. 

With one of the best product management software platforms handling goal setting, roadmapping, and customer feedback all in one, you’ll be providing everyone in your organization with full transparency into your workflow and decision-making.

The Golden Thread

This is a term our Co-Founder and CEO Janna Bastow likes to use. The best product management software give you the power to connect the dots—linking every decision, objective, and customer need with your product roadmap. 

This “golden thread” shows the relationships between each element of your work, allowing you to track how each piece supports the overall strategy and helps you create a cohesive and meaningful product journey.

Simplicity and Ease

Centralizing all your product work in one platform makes life so much simpler. Gone are the days of tracking down different versions of documents, sifting through files, or hunting for updates. With everything in one place, you can save time, avoid miscommunication, and focus on what matters most.

A Bird’s Eye View

Bringing together your roadmap, idea backlog, and customer feedback into one of the best product management software tools allows for a comprehensive overview. Advanced tools, like prioritization frameworks and feedback analysis, enable you to quickly identify the most common customer pain points and spot the highest-potential ideas in your backlog. This kind of high-level analysis is a game-changer, letting you make informed decisions with ease.

Tools Tailored Specifically for Product People

Rather than wrestling with a generic tool and trying to bend it to a Product Management process, the best product management software is designed specifically for your needs. With purpose-built features and an intuitive setup, you can hit the ground running. Plus, you’ll find an array of unique tools and features crafted for the challenges product managers face every day.

You’ll find a whole bunch of tools and features that you won’t find anywhere else. Built for you and your challenges as a Product Manager. Which brings us nicely onto….

What features do the best product management software tools have?

So, you now know why product management software is important, what it can do for you and broadly what it includes, but now’s the time to get more specific. Exactly what features should you expect from one of the best product management software tools. 

Typically, these complete PM platforms will include:

• Customizable product roadmaps
• Idea submission
• Backlog management 
• Prioritization tools
• Discussion boards per idea to capture collaboration and decisions 
• Documentation repository
• Workflow management 
• Integrations with your development tool, your organization’s communication tools and more
• Customer feedback capabilities: portals, integrations with internal tools, email, browser extensions and more
• Ability to link related feedback to ideas in your backlog

And the very best of the best product management software tools will also have:

• Strategy space to declare your vision, value, personas and more
• OKR management and goal setting tools
• Ability to publish versions of your roadmap publicly  
• Feedback analysis tools
• Reporting 
• Plus the most robust and extensive integrations to allow you to capture ideas and feedback from more places, and collaborate with the rest of your organization through connection with the tools they are use

Nearly all the best product management software examples included on our list come with features from that first list above, and the truly great ones will also let you enjoy the additional capabilities from the second list. 

Cost and pricing for product management software

Sounds good right? Fancy some of that action? So how much will one of the best product management software tools set you back? 

Looking across all the best product management software tools on our list here, you’re looking at between $100 and $200 dollars per admin/editor user per month for a passable level of capabilities. However, most of the companies on our list put a whole bunch of restrictions and limitations on their self-serve, explicitly priced packages, and instead insist that you ‘get in touch’ with their Sales Team to get a price for everything you’ll need to do things right. 

The most common features that are hidden behind the enterprise pricing and sales consultation are OKR management, strategy tools, unlimited feedback portals, integrations, AI assistance, portfolio management, user access controls, SSO and SAML, and even access to your own Customer Success Manager. 

However, with ProdPad you can enjoy much more transparency and get all of that and more as part of either our Essentials or Advanced plans. To get the full capabilities of all three modules of ProdPad (Roadmaps, Ideas and Feedback) you’ll pay $116 per admin/editor with unlimited free Reviewers who can both submit and collaborate with both ideas and feedback. You’ll also enjoy the help and support of our Customer Success Team. Because we’re people people and love nothing better than talking to our customers!

What are the best product management software tools in 2024?

It’s time to actually put some products to the features we’ve been discussing.

As mentioned, the best product management software, in our opinion, always compromises roadmapping, idea and backlog management and customer feedback management as a minimum. What we’ve compiled here is a list of the best all-in-one, complete product management software platforms to act as your centralized Product Management hub.

They are all tools that will let you:

• Capture and evaluate product ideas
• Prioritize them onto product roadmaps
• Communicate and share those roadmaps
• Manage the execution through workflow processes
• Gather and analyze customer feedback to help evidence your existing ideas, guide your prioritization decisions, or spark new thinking. 

So without further ado, let’s get to the shortlist. 

1. ProdPad

Are you surprised? Of course we’re going to put ourselves at the top of the list, but we promise this isn’t unfounded trumpet blowing.

ProdPad was actually the first complete product management software on the market and has continued to lead the way in terms of innovative problem-solving, providing solutions to more and more PM challenges and pain points over the years.

From inventing the industry best-practice roadmap format, Now-Next-Later, many years ago, to being the first PM tool to use AI technology to automate backlog management, right through to our current day innovations that make our AI assistance the most mature and the most exciting of any other tool. 

Who is it for? 

ProdPad is best suited to outcome-focused Product Teams that work within an agile environment and want to move quickly to build-measure-learn, support continuous discovery and ensure everything they do is targeting strategically important objectives and aiming to deliver proven outcomes.

Whether you’re a small team managing a single product, or a large organization with a complete portfolio of products, ProdPad has the tools you need to set strategic Objectives and Key Results and capture your overall product strategy and vision. This bigger picture information sits right next to your Now-Next-Later roadmap making sure no one loses sight of the overall goals.

ProdPad is the best product management software built to keep teams strategically aligned and focused on delivering outcomes, rather than merely shipping features and counting outputs.

ProdPad is also particularly well suited when you want to ensure consistency of process across your entire Product organization. ProdPad comes with best practice built in, with tried and tested formats, templates and process workflows already set up by default. This also makes ProdPad a great tool for any teams looking to greatly improve their processes and significantly impact their core business goals. 

Assessment of core capabilities

Roadmapping

ProdPad is unique in that it is a tool that grew up from a truly innovative new approach to Product Management that has now become the definitive industry standard – namely the Now-Next-Later roadmap format. ProdPad’s Co-Founders invented this approach to roadmapping as a solution to all the problems they were facing as a result of using a timeline roadmap. As such, you can trust ProdPad to provide you with the right tools and the proper processes to work within this agile, lean approach and truly stay focused on delivering outcomes.

ProdPad also has the most mature publishing capabilities when it comes to roadmaps, meaning you can not only save multiple filtered views, but also publish those views externally. In this way you can work from a single roadmap and dynamically update the multiple stakeholder views that you’ve shared both internally and externally.

But most importantly of all, ProdPad is the only tool that is structured, by default, around a two tier hierarchy, allowing you to prioritize at the problem level with Initiatives, and then nest different Ideas under each. This structure leaves you open to experiment, test and iterate on the feature you plan to build, without needing to fundamentally rework your entire roadmap should your intended solution change. 

Idea Management

ProdPad excels at being a centralized repository for contributions from across your organization. So, with ProdPad it is super easy for anyone (whether they have a ProdPad user account or not) to submit Ideas for your consideration.

You can then enjoy automatic backlog refinement, with powerful AI de-duping ideas and linking related feedback. Once you’ve triaged your unsorted list of ideas, you move them into your backlog and track them through your workflow using the built-in workflow tool. This means you have the ability to manage your ideas through pre-development stages like defining, discovery and design, before pushing them into your preferred development tool and syncing the status updates (and content) to track the delivery progress from within ProdPad.  

ProdPad also provides customizable prioritization tools meaning you can set your prioritization scales and then visualize your entire backlog in a unique chart to quickly and easily see the idea worth developing further. 

Feedback Management

Alongside having the strongest set of feedback-gathering integrations of any of the best product management software tools on this list, ProdPad provides you with the powerful Signals tool to automatically analyze all that feedback and surface the themes to feed your product decisions.

ProdPad AI will also suggest which feedback should be linked with which ideas, so you never miss relevant insight to help inform your thinking or support your ideas.

Closing the loop is also made super simple with ProdPad. Every time a feature ships, you’ll find a list of everyone who gave feedback around that problem, and all you need do is click to let them know their feedback was listening to and a solution has been released. 

Strengths

• AI capabilities: ProdPad truly was the first of the best product management software tools to offer unique ways of boosting efficiency and improving results with AI-powered features. From generating your written work, to suggesting roadmap initiatives, product goals and even ideas based on your feedback, right the way through to coaching you on Product Management best practice and offering suggested improvements to things like your product vision and more. ProdPad AI has been proven to dramatically increase the velocity of Product Teams the world over. 
• Collaboration: Of the many advanced integrations ProdPad offers, the connections to both Slack and Microsoft Teams are often the most loved by customers. As well as pushing notifications from ProdPad to these important organization-wide communication tools, the ProdPad apps goes further and sync discussion threads between these tools and ProdPad – meaning you can capture entire conversations with the Product Manager in ProdPad and everyone else over in Slack.
  
  You can also select any comment or line of text in Slack or MS Teams and add it to ProdPad as either an Idea or a piece of Feedback – all without needing to log into ProdPad. 
• Workflow management: As mentioned above, ProdPad, unlike other tools, as a workflow tool as part of its product management software which enables a Product Manager to progress Ideas through their pre-development process and then sync with the delivery tool to track progress to launch, all from a single place. 
• Strategy & alignment: With ProdPad’s unique strategy canvas and a full OKR management tool, you can ensure that everyone you and the team are working on is explicitly linked to the strategic imperatives of the company and aligned to your product vision. With this bigger picture information sitting right next to your day-to-day workflow and roadmap, no one will lose sight of why you’re working on what you’re working on. 

Limitations

• No gantt charts: If you are absolutely determined to use a timeline as your product roadmap you might be better suited to another of the best product management software tools on this list. Although you absolutely can add specific dates to each Initiative on ProdPad’s Now-Next-Later roadmap, you won’t be able to lay out all your initiatives on a linear timeline ahead of them hitting delivery.

Pricing

ProdPad has a modular pricing structure meaning you only need pay for what you actually need. This means, depending on your needs, you pick and chose the levels and combinations of modules to suit your particular team.

One key difference with ProdPad’s cost over some of the other best product management software tools is the inclusion of unlimited reviewer users. While some other software options appear to offer the same, reviewers in ProdPad can do a lot more than in other tools. ProdPad reviewers can add and edit their own Ideas and Feedback, and view and comment on those added by others.

2. Aha!

Who is it for? 

Aha! would be a solid choice for a large organization that still maintains a traditional, operations-focused approach to Product Management. If, as a business, you’re focused on delivering against specific feature requests from customers, then Aha’s feature-request style ideas portal, alongside their single-level roadmapping tool will help you do just that. 

Aha! also offers a fairly advanced reporting suite that can help Product Managers deliver quite complex reporting on their operational processes if required to do so. So if you’re in an organization that puts emphasis on detailed operational reporting, then Aha! is definitively worth evaluating further.  

Assessment of core capabilities

Roadmapping

Aha! supports traditional timeline-based roadmaps, ideal for a feature-based approach to roadmapping. They also provide a portfolio roadmap view to give a coordinated view across multiple individual product roadmaps. Although they do offer a Now-Next-Later roadmap view, it only allows for single-level roadmap items so, in reality, is just a board view of a features list. 

Idea Management

Aha!’s approach to idea management is less discovery-focused than other tools on this list. The idea management tool within Aha!’s suite is structured around an Ideas Portal that is used to collect feature requests from customers which then become items on your roadmap. 

In this way, their approach to idea management is very operational, offering a process by which customer requests are taken at face value and worked through to delivery. Aha’s Ideas tool therefore lacks the flexibility to tie ideas to larger strategic Initiatives and then evaluate them as one possible solution to the problem you have prioritized on your roadmap..

Feedback Management

Aha! do not differentiate Feedback from Ideas, so rather than providing portals that encourage customers to share their feedback on your product, with Aha’s Ideas Portal you are asking customers for specific feature requests and asking them to vote on existing feature requests. In this way, Aha do not offer a distinct feedback solution.

Strengths

• Documentation: as a complete product management software Aha! do a good job of providing you with a centralized repository for all your product documentation. They have their own whiteboard tool that allows you to closely link any maps or collaborative session outputs to each feature entry on your roadmap, or into your central repository.
• Strategy: Aha! has a central area in the tool to allow you to capture your overall strategy. This comes with a number of useful tool templates so you can include things like SWOT analysis.

Limitations

• Single-level hierarchy: Aha!’s roadmap structure doesn’t support nesting ideas under initiatives, so teams are forced into a cycle of managing features rather than solving broader product challenges.
• Limited AI: Aha!’s AI assistance is limited, only providing generative AI in a few places to help you write up requirements or capture meeting notes. This means you’ll likely be left with a lot more manual work to do, compared to if you were using one of the other best product management software tools.
• Feedback gathering: As we’ve already said, Aha’s approach to feedback is actually more focused on feature requests, meaning you will struggle to effectively discover the root problem or challenges your users are facing. This restricts the ability you have to run discovery and find the best possible solution. This can lead to building features without validating their potential success and leading to feature bloat or, worst still, you becoming a feature factory. 

Pricing

In a similar way to ProdPad, Aha! have a modular approach to their pricing, with separate products for Roadmaps and Ideas. However, when you buy Roadmaps you’ll get the basic version of Ideas too.

To get both you’ll need to pay at least $59 per user, but to get features like OKRs, automation rules, user access controls, AI, feedback integrations and customizable portals you’ll need to pay over $200 per user.

3. Productboard

Who is it for? 

Productboard allows for a lot of customization and requires a significant amount of configuration, so if you think your Product Management process is particularly complicated or unique, you might want to put Productboard on your shortlist. As such, Productboard is most suited to mature Product Teams that already have an established process in place, looking for the best product management software to slot into that, rather than a tool to help drive significant improvements in process. 

Assessment of core capabilities

Roadmapping

Productboard offers a range of different roadmap formats to choose from. These include kanban and timelines which you can structure around releases, sprints or features. Productboard also purports to offer a Now-Next-Later roadmap, however it does not allow for the dual-level, initiatives + ideas structure that is inherent in the Now-Next-Later approach. Therefore, if you’re looking for the best product management software to support an agile way of working, Productboard would not be the best choice.  

Idea Management

Productboard will allow you to build a customized prioritization framework through which you can assess the ideas in your backlog. You can customize the view of that prioritization and see your backlog, sorted by your chosen factors, in either a grid or a matrix. 

However, Productboard doesn’t have a distinct workflow tool, separate from roadmaps. This means, after you’ve prioritized your idea backlog, the only way of tracking the progress of each idea through your process is to add it to a timeline or kanban roadmap. Productboard will not, therefore, give you the ability to track ideas through your validation process BEFORE they are deemed worthy (or not worthy) of appearing on the roadmap.

Feedback Management

Productboard has a robust set of integration options meaning you can gather feedback from multiple sources. Like ProdPad, they also offer an AI-powered analysis tool that surfaces the themes in your feedback.

Strengths

• Integrations: Productboard have a robust offering of integrations from whiteboarding tools like Miro through to AI analysis tools like Cobbaï.
• User access controls: Productboard, like ProdPad, is a tool that allows you to control the permissions and visibility each user has. This can be essential in larger organizations with multiple products and sensitive projects.

Limitations

• No strategy capture: Productboard does not have an area for you to document your product vision, values or add narrative to your overall, bigger picture, product strategy. This puts you at risk of misalignment and working on things that don’t help you achieve your strategic goals. 
• No OKR or goal management tool: Productboard allows you to capture board objectives only and does not have goal setting tools that allow you to set measurable and specific targets under those broader objectives. 
• Single item roadmap hierarchy: Like Aha!, Productboard only provides a ‘feature board’ by way of a time-horizon based roadmap, preventing you from communicating larger initiatives with multiple features ideas within them. 
• Complexity: This is a highly configurable tool which sees many users complain about the level of decision-making that has to happen before you can get started.
• AI only available for an additional cost: The AI assistance that comes with Productboard is only available with the top tier plans, or at additional cost, making these AI features less integrated or integral to the overall experience. 

Pricing

Productboard’s most popular package starts at  $59 per user with a minimum of two users. But you’ll need to pay extra for the AI capabilities at $20 per user.

On the $59 Pro package you’re also subject to quite a few limitations with numbers restricted for Objectives, feedback portals and roadmaps. You’ll also only be getting email support.

To get dedicated Customer Success and unlock things like SSO, Salesforce integrations and unlimited roadmaps, you’re going to need to pay enterprise prices and engage with their Sales Team. 

4. ProductPlan

Who is it for? 

ProductPlan began life as just a product roadmap tool but has gradually developed additional features in an attempt to become one of the best product management software solutions on the market. A lot of their capabilities outside of straight roadmap management and communication are more basic than other contenders on this list, making ProductPlan a possible choice for smaller teams that are just getting started with formal Product Management processes. 

Assessment of core capabilities

Roadmapping

As mentioned, this was ProductPlan’s original focus, and, as such, the area where their capabilities are the most robust. Once you’ve added all your roadmap data you can easily switch between a timeline, list or table layout.  You will however, be restricted to a single-level hierarchy and won’t be able to present broader initiatives on your product roadmap.

Idea Management

ProductPlan only lets you manually input ideas and lacks any tools or integrations to help you capture and gather ideas from different sources. While there is also on workflow capabilities aside from timeline roadmap, ProductPlan does allow you to tag ideas as being ‘in discovery’ and add a flag once they have been successfully validated. 

Feedback Management

ProductPlan has the most basic feedback tools of any product management software on this list. You can only manually add feedback into a ProductPlan account rather than being able to route feedback in through integrations. You then have the ability to tag that feedback and sort based on those tags. There are no tools to help you easily analyze the sum of what you have.  

Strengths

• Launch planning: ProductPlan has an adjacent tool included as part of the complete product management software offering that helps you run launch planning. This task management tool allows you to build to-do lists as you prepare for GTM launches and link those to the roadmap items as they approach the final stages. 

Limitations

• Integrations only for pushing info out: All of the available integrations for ProductPlan are for communicating outwards. There are no integrations available that will enable you to capture feedback, comments or contributions from across the organization via the tools different teams use. There are no CRM integrations, no Support system integrations and the integrations with both Slack and Microsoft Teams only facilitate notifications when changes are made to your roadmap – they don’t allow people to easily send feedback or sync comments from those tools. 
• Very basic feedback capabilities: If you have a large user base and gathering insight to inform and evidence your decision-making is of the utmost importance then ProductPlan probably isn’t the tool for you. ProductPlan’s basic and manual feedback logging system is only really usable for teams with a small and very manageable volume of feedback at any one time.
• No AI assistance: You’re on your own with ProductPlan, unlike a few of the other options on this list of best product management software. There are no AI enrichments at all, meaning everything is extremely manual and basic. 

Pricing

With ProductPlan you need to book a consultation to strike a deal. Unfortunately they offer no transparency into their pricing. 

5. Roadmunk

Who is it for? 

Roadmunk is a product management software tool designed to help both small and larger organizations, but is particularly relevant if you’re in an organization where a lot of importance is placed on stakeholder communication and presenting to leadership. It becomes particularly useful as your product management software platform if you’re juggling different stakeholder preferences in terms of roadmap communication and you’re unlikely to get buy-in for a consistent approach. With Roadmunk you have the ability to flip between different presentations of the same roadmap data. 

Assessment of core capabilities

Roadmapping

Roadmunk is another tool that started life as a roadmap-only solution but has recently branched out in an attempt to be seen as one of the best product management software tools around. As you’d expect from a tool that previously specialized in just roadmapping, the roadmap capabilities are robust. Roadmunk allows you to easily export roadmaps and present them to your stakeholders. However, Roadmunk do not offer a Now-Next-Later roadmap format so are less suited for outcome-focused Product Teams who want to retain some flexibility to do discovery, experiment, measure and iterate.  

Idea Management

Interestingly, with Roadmunk, only Product Managers are able to submit ideas to the backlog. This might work well if, for whatever reason, you feel strongly about retaining that level of control and not encouraging contribution from the rest of the team or the wider organization. However, if you want to be able to capture ideas from multiple sources, then Roadmunk might not be the solution for you. 

Feedback Management

Roadmunk recently introduced a feedback portal, so now you can spin up a page into which your customers can add their product feedback, however that is currently the only way that people externally or internally can get feedback into your list, without having to log into the tool and manually add it themselves. 

Strengths

• Ease of use: Roadmunk prides itself on a super user-friendly interface and a setup that means you can get started quickly. 
• Portfolio roadmaps: Roadmunk have a pretty robust tool for managing higher level portfolio roadmaps that roll-up multiple individual product roadmaps to give an overall view. 

Limitations

• Limited integrations: Roadmunk only allow you to integrate with Jira or Azure DevOps to push items from your roadmap into your development planning. They do not have any integrations with communication tools or tools from which you could route feedback (like CRMs or Support tools). Nor do they integrate with Zapier, meaning you can’t easily create your own connections without getting down and dirty in their API. 
• No AI: Roadmunk doesn’t have any AI capabilities at all. So you’d be missing the opportunity to accelerate some of your tasks and create more time to focus elsewhere.  

Pricing

Roadmunk don’t offer the option of subscribing on a monthly basis, so you’ll have to commit to an annual package. You can get a roadmaps-only basic, single user account for $19 (paid annually only), but to get a comparable package to the rest of the best product management software on the list, and access the complete all-in-one capabilities, you’re going to need to pay at least $99 per user per month.

But again, if you want a Customer Success Manager and unlimited reviewers you’ll need to speak to them about enterprise pricing. 

6. Airfocus

Who is it for? 

Airfocus is a product management software tool that claims to be able to facilitate a myriad of different team processes and approaches within one tool. So if you’re part of an organization with disparate teams working in completely different ways, Airfocus’ customization might make this your best bet. They offer a modulized product, letting you pick out the different features and functions your specific organization needs.

Assessment of core capabilities

Roadmapping

Airfocus allows you to present both a Now-Next-Later roadmap and a timeline, so you have the flexibility to use the best suited to the shareholders you’re working with and presenting it to. You can tailor your roadmaps to specific audiences and share them to improve visibility.

The customization options of their roadmaps means that you’re going to have to spend some time getting everything set up in a way that works for you and that complements your strategy. 

Idea Management

Airfocus allows you and your team a way to collaborate, evaluate and priortize the ideas in your backlog. With features like prioritization poker, and customizable scoring frameworks, it can help you better manage your ideas and find the right ones that will have an impact.

While comprehensive, it could benefit from enhanced categorization options or automation to better sift through large volumes of ideas.

Feedback Management

Airfocus allows you to centralize all your feedback into one space, collating it from multiple touchpoints like email, chat, and other channels. You’re able to link this feedback to ideas in your backlog to help inform product discovery.

Their feedback management features also allow you to include customer insights when prioritizing problems, letting you surface frequently requested ideas to better understand what your customers need.

Strengths

• Modular flexibility: Airfocus allows extensive customization with adaptable workspaces and views, letting teams tailor workflows and roadmaps as needed to suit them. 
• User-centric feedback management: Airfocus’s feedback capabilities centralize input from various channels, linking feedback to ideas and features for end-to-end visibility. Integrations with tools like Intercom and Slack make it easy to gather insights.

Limitations

• Learning curve: Due to the flexibility and customizability, new users may find initial setup and navigation challenging.
• Dependence on integrations: While Airfocus has strong integrations, it relies on them heavily for detailed workflow tracking, and reporting, potentially making it cumbersome for users without these tools.

Pricing

You’re looking at a minimum of $59 per user for the base package with Airfocus. But to get features like prioritization tools, user access controls, more than 1 feedback portal, customer success, and AI assistance you’re going to need to ‘get in touch’ about their Scale package. 

OKRs, Reporting, a lot of the integrations (Salesforce), SAML and SSO are further restricted to the Enterprise package only – which again, requires contacting their Sales Team.  

Wow, that was a long list with lots of detail! We hope you learnt a few new things about the best product management software and have started to formulate an idea of which would be worth evaluating further. We sincerely hope that ProdPad is on your shortlist and recommend you hop into a free trial and take it for a spin. But to go even deeper and get all your questions answered, why not book a demo with one of our product experts.

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