What is Product Management?
Product management is an organizational function within a company dealing with new product development, business justification, planning, verification, forecasting, pricing, product launch, and marketing of a product at all stages of the product lifecycle. Similarly, product lifecycle management (PLM) integrates people, data, processes, and business systems. It provides product information for companies and their extended supply chain enterprise.
Product management is typically divided into strategic product management, technical product management, and Go-To-Market (product marketing). A Product Manager (often simply called a PM) is typically the person responsible for this role.
Here's a more in-depth overview of Product Management:
Customer Understanding: Product Managers invest time in understanding their customers. This can involve market research, user interviews, surveys, and other methods to gain insights into user behaviors, needs, and pain points.
Vision & Strategy: Based on customer and market understanding, Product Managers set the vision and strategy for the product. This provides a direction and purpose for the team and stakeholders, ensuring that efforts are aligned towards a unified goal.
Product Roadmap: With a strategy in place, Product Managers create and maintain a product roadmap. This is a high-level visual summary that maps out the vision and direction of the product over time. It indicates what the product will look like in the future and the steps needed to get there.
Feature Prioritization: Product Managers need to decide which features to develop next. They prioritize features based on customer needs, business impact, technical feasibility, and other factors.
Work with Cross-functional Teams: Product Managers collaborate closely with engineers, designers, marketers, and other teams to bring the product to life. They act as the bridge between the technical and non-technical sides of the business.
Go-to-Market Strategy: As the product nears completion, Product Managers work on the launch and go-to-market strategy, deciding how the product will be introduced to the market and how it will reach its intended audience.
Performance Metrics: After the product's launch, Product Managers monitor metrics to assess the product's success in the market. This could involve looking at user engagement, revenue, customer feedback, etc.
Iterative Improvement: Based on data and user feedback, Product Managers iterate on the product, making improvements and updates to better serve users and achieve business objectives.
In essence, Product Management is about ensuring that a product serves its users effectively and efficiently, aligning the product's trajectory with business goals, and continuously iterating and improving based on real-world feedback and performance. It requires a blend of technical knowledge, business acumen, and a deep understanding of user behavior.