Continuous Delivery
What Is Continuous Delivery? Continuous Development (CD) is an approach in software development that involves teams working in short cycles. It entails pushing out code to production as they become ready, rather than waiting until
Read More ⟶Action Priority Matrix
What is the Action Priority Matrix? An Action Priority Matrix (APM) is a simple diagram that classifies activities based on the amount of effort required and the impact expected. It is a tool for choosing
Read More ⟶A/B Testing
What Is A/B Testing? A/B test is a test that compares variations of something (e.g. a web page) to determine which works better. It is a randomized experiment that involves the comparison of two or
Read More ⟶Digital Transformation
What is Digital Transformation? Digital Transformation (DT) refers to the adoption of digital technology in the processes and culture of an organization to meet changing requirements and improve customer experiences. CIO’s Clint Boulton describes it
Read More ⟶Working Backwards
What is Amazon’s Working Backwards? Working backwards is an approach that defines how the world’s leading online retailer Amazon does business. It entails starting from the customer or their needs and problems when doing any
Read More ⟶Shape Up Method
What is the Shape Up Method? The Shape Up Method from 37 Signals describes how they approach product opportunity discovery and development. It captures processes that are used by development teams to shape ideas into
Read More ⟶Product Metrics
What Are Product Metrics? A product metric is a quantifiable measure or data point that enables a business to define, check on, and analyze how its product is faring. There are many metrics that businesses
Read More ⟶Product Analytics
What Is Product Analytics? Product analytics may be described as the process of capturing and analyzing data for insights that help in making informed product decisions. Typical information that analytics can provide include a customer’s
Read More ⟶Net Promoter Score (NPS)
What is the Net Promoter Score? Net Promoter Score (NPS) is an indicator of how likely customers are to recommend your company, products, or services to others. It shows how pleased, or otherwise, customers are
Read More ⟶Product Design
What is Product Design? There is a lot of overlap between these two roles, though Product Design inherently rooted in User Experience and Product Management more rooted in business. Both roles focus on creating value
Read More ⟶Usability Testing
Usability testing is a technique for evaluating a product with real users to understand ease of use and where difficulty exists. It is a customer-centered practice that involves asking users to complete tasks while being observed.
Read More ⟶User Research
What is User Research? User research refers to the practice of trying to understand the user, their needs, and thought processes. It is about taking in user behaviors, motivations, and experiences through observation or data-driven
Read More ⟶Customer Empathy
Customer empathy is putting yourself into the customer’s shoes to know where they pinch. It is an effort to become more conscious of the motivations, needs, and emotions of users, in order to better serve them.
Read More ⟶Customer Experience
What is Customer Experience? Customer experience is an outcome of interactions between an organization and its customers. It is the perceptions or impressions that customers have from their interactions or throughout their journey with your
Read More ⟶Circles Method
What is the Circles Method? Created by Lewis C. Lin, the CIRCLES method is a framework that aims at helping product managers to provide well-thought-out responses to product design questions. It enables you to provide
Read More ⟶Cross-Functional Teams
What is a Cross-Functional Team? A cross-functional team is one with members from different departments within an organization. It boasts people of diverse functional expertise working collaboratively to achieve a common goal. For example, a
Read More ⟶Scrum Methodology
What is Scrum? Scrum is an Agile project management framework particularly suited for product development and has become the de facto framework agile companies today. Many people think of Scrum as the same thing as
Read More ⟶Agile Transformation
What is Agile Transformation? Agile transformation refers to the process of making everyone in an organization undergo a shift in mindset that makes it possible to get the maximum benefits of being agile. Agility has
Read More ⟶Product Squads
The Benefits and Basics of Product Squads A product squad is a small, cross-functional team that is self-organized. Its members plan and work together for long-term goals and have end-to-end responsibilities. Product squads are a
Read More ⟶Product Management Certification
The Best Product Management Certification Programs Education is not only helpful to aspiring product managers but also the practicing ones. It offers an avenue to get a better knowledge of the role and so improves
Read More ⟶Product Vision
What is a Product Vision? A product vision is a description of what you hope to achieve with your product. It is a product’s targeted overall mission in the long term or its intended future
Read More ⟶Product Prioritization
Product Prioritization Techniques Prioritization refers to a thoughtful process of carefully assessing ideas and work to deliver the greatest value and ensure efficient resource use. Prioritizing is something that every product manager must be good
Read More ⟶Product Portfolio Management
A Guide Product Portfolio Management A product portfolio is the collection of all items, products, or services that are offered by a business or need to be managed collectively. Product portfolio management, therefore, describes the
Read More ⟶Customer Churn
What is Customer Churn? Customer churn, often referred to as attrition, stands as a pivotal metric in the business landscape, representing the number of customers who cease using a product or service within a specific
Read More ⟶Agile Roadmap
What is an Agile Roadmap? To many people, the idea of a roadmap in Agile is rather counterintuitive. Agile after all, is about keeping things flexible and that document seems to be a hindrance. This
Read More ⟶Gantt Chart
What is a Gantt Chart? A Gantt chart is a form of bar chart – a horizontal bar chart – that shows the tasks and schedule of a project. It presents the plan for a
Read More ⟶Kanban Roadmap
What is a Kanban Roadmap? Kanban roadmaps, also known as Agile Roadmaps, involve organizing cards relating to tasks into columns across boards. It presents quick insights into items and the stage you are in development
Read More ⟶Definition of Done
Definition of Done in Agile The Definition of Done (DoD) is a description of what must happen for a project or user story to be declared complete. What are those things that must be done
Read More ⟶The Product Backlog
Understanding the Product Backlog A product backlog is a prioritized list of items that the team plans to work on to achieve a particular outcome. It is a list of everything that the development team
Read More ⟶Product Roadmap
A product roadmap is a high-level summary that presents the product vision and strategy. It not only describes your product strategy but also the plans you have for executing it.
Read More ⟶Technical Debt
What is Technical Debt? Technical debt has many definitions. One of the better definitions comes from the Information and Software Technology Journal where it is described as the “consequences of software development actions that intentionally
Read More ⟶Fibonacci Estimation
What is Fibonacci Agile Estimation? Fibonacci agile estimation is a combination of two concepts: the Fibonacci sequence and Agile estimation. Let’s quickly define these two things before putting them back together: Agile estimation – is
Read More ⟶Scrumban
What is Scrumban? Scrumban is a hybrid Agile project management framework that combines elements of two popular Agile methodologies – Scrum and Kanban. It has gained considerable popularity over the last decade as a result
Read More ⟶Backlog Grooming
What is Backlog Grooming? Backlog Grooming, also known as backlog refinement, pre-planning, or story time – is a session in which items for the backlog are discussed, analyzed, and estimated. It is a recurring event
Read More ⟶Agile Retrospective
What is a Retrospective? Retrospective, in a general sense, means looking back on or directed to the past or past events, according to Collins English Dictionary. But, when talking about product development, it refers to
Read More ⟶Program Manager
What is a Program Manager? A program manager oversees the successful execution initiatives and/or operations of an organization. There is a natural overlap of Product and Program Management insofar as they both organize details that
Read More ⟶General Availability
What is General Availability? General availability, abbreviated as GA, refers to when a product is made widely available to users. It is the phase when all activities necessary to make the solution accessible to the
Read More ⟶Beta Testing
A beta test is the last limited release that may be implemented for a major new piece of software, before entering General Availability for the broader market. It is the second or final testing that
Read More ⟶What is Stakeholder Analysis?
A stakeholder analysis can be described as the process of assessing a system, program, or project and determining relevant parties. It entails identifying persons or groups that have interests or play a part in a
Read More ⟶What is a Stakeholder?
The success of a Product Manager in creating winning solutions isn’t an individual feat; Stakeholders too have an important role to play. There are a number of frameworks and methods for identifying stakeholders, and stakeholder
Read More ⟶The Basics of Roadmapping
A product roadmap is a high-level, strategic plan that presents the product vision and direction. It visually shows the steps to take toward achieving a desired outcome or goal. The document gives a hint of
Read More ⟶Key Responsibilities of Product Managers
Product managers have the duty of ensuring that products have a great market fit. The achievement of this goal requires involvement in many activities and sometimes those things are outside the core responsibilities of Product
Read More ⟶The Value Creation Plane
Creating and Identifying Differentiated Value Businesses exist for one major reason: the creation of value. This usually means having needs met for the customer and getting a good ROI for the company. Product management is
Read More ⟶Business Model Archetypes
In simple terms, a business model may be described as the plan that you have in place for your business. It is a conceptual framework that captures how you intend to create and deliver value
Read More ⟶Product Opportunity Heuristics
How to Recognize Great Ideas Worth Working On Businesses thrive on identifying opportunities and making the most of them. A good entrepreneur or product manager must have rules for an effective evaluation of opportunities to
Read More ⟶Product Team Competencies
What product management entails, depends on who you are asking. People have different ideas about what it is about due to the seeming lack of a formal definition. This is problematic because it imbues confusion
Read More ⟶Feature Gap Analysis
Prioritization is something that every good product manager knows how to do. With limited resources available, a Product Manager but must pay more attention to features that offer the most value to both the company
Read More ⟶B2C vs. B2B Product Management
B2B Product Management is largely similar to B2C Product management – what differs is the product strategy for determining what to build, and the techniques behind gaining those insights.
Read More ⟶Product Working With Sales Teams
Effective product planning should ideally involve representatives from different teams in the organization, sales especially.
Read More ⟶KPI-Driven Reporting
Key performance indicators, also referred to as KPIs, offer a useful means for companies to assess how well they are doing concerning set goals. Investopedia defines it as “a set of quantifiable measures that a
Read More ⟶What is a Digital Product?
What is a Digital Product? A digital product refers to a product or service that is primarily based on digital technology, existing in a non-physical or intangible form. Unlike traditional physical products, which are tangible
Read More ⟶Customer Interviews
Customer Interviews for Product Managers The likelihood of your product being considered a success is a function of its ability to address the customer’s pain point. Customer interviews can help you to make out what
Read More ⟶Customer Surveys
Customer Surveys for Product Managers Your company is in business principally because of customers. And how long it exists depends on your ability to continue to please those who buy what you offer. Customer surveys
Read More ⟶Eisenhower Matrix (Urgent vs Important)
The Eisenhower Matrix is a framework for prioritizing tasks based on their urgency and importance. It helps correct issues relating to poor time and task management.
Read More ⟶MoSCoW Prioritization
MoSCoW – A Simple Technique for Prioritizing Prioritization is crucial when looking to make the most out of your time and other resources. It can be hard to get right as well. Thankfully, there are
Read More ⟶Scrum vs. Kanban
What is the Difference Between Scrum and Kanban? The Agile methodology de facto now in software development. It offers an effective means of managing projects and products. It promotes continuous iteration and fast response to
Read More ⟶Efficient Sprint Planning
Sprint planning offers a means of ensuring product development runs smoothly in many companies, especially those using the Scrum framework. It assists in making everyone be on the same page, thereby increasing the chances for
Read More ⟶Great Product Teams
What Makes a Great Product Team? Behind every winning product is a great team. What makes a good product team? What are some of those attributes that are necessary to ensure success? We’ll cover these
Read More ⟶Product Leadership
What is Product Leadership and How Do You Get it Right? When it comes to bringing winning products to market repeatedly, a lot depends on product leadership. It is to a large extent what determines
Read More ⟶Why Lean Methodology Is So Popular
Tracing its origin to the industrial manufacturing industry, Lean is a popular methodology among companies that provide not only goods and services these days. It is revered for helping to create more values from available
Read More ⟶Assumptions Mapping for Product Discovery
It might not be correct to assume your market is excited as excited about your product as you are. Products that their originators thought would be great don’t always end up as winners. This is
Read More ⟶Continuous Discovery
What is Continuous Discovery? The traditional approach to product discovery involves devoting time to discovery before beginning development. A period, which may be several weeks or even months, is set aside to determine the needs
Read More ⟶Product/Market Fit
What is Product/Market Fit? Product-market fit is a popular concept and a quick search will provide you numerous pages discussing it. However, many people still do not have a good enough understanding of it, especially
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Problem Space vs. Solution Space
Good requirements are essential ingredients for producing winning solutions. However, Product Managers often struggle producing them, giving the engineering team something less valuable to work with. The issues in many cases are misplaced attention and
Read More ⟶Product Mgmt vs Other Roles
Product Managers have the unique opportunity to patriciate in every aspect of product development so it is important to understand the roles that we interact with, their primary function, and where the role of Product Management begins and those other roles begin.
Read More ⟶Porter’s 5 Forces
Using Porter’s 5 Forces Created by Harvard professor and economist Michael Porter, Porter’s 5 Forces model is a simple yet powerful business strategy tool. It helps to assess the viability of the market and the
Read More ⟶Features, Capabilities, & Enablers
When working with the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), features, capabilities, and enablers are terms that you need to be familiar with. A good grasp of these is critical for an efficient development process.
Read More ⟶Product Lifecycle Management
The Product life cycle is a concept that most companies, especially marketing teams, are well aware of. However, experience has shown that knowledge is not equal to effective application. Organizations often fail to make the
Read More ⟶Acceptance Criteria
Acceptance criteria (AC) are “conditions that a software product must satisfy to be accepted by a user, customer, or other stakeholders.” They may be described, in a broader sense, as specifications that a product must meet to satisfy users or stakeholders.
Read More ⟶User Personas
A persona is an imaginary portrayal of what you know about your customers. It is reflects the attitude, needs, and behaviors…
Read More ⟶Boulders, Stones, and Pebbles
Boulders, Stones, and Pebbles for Planning There are different levels of planning which is easily understood by applying the metaphor of boulders, pebbles, and stones. Boulders are are the largest themes that are often at
Read More ⟶Product-Market Matrix
What is the Product-Market Matrix? The Ansoff Product-Market Matrix is a map that helps Product Managers to map strategic market growth. The Ansoff Matrix was named after Igor Ansoff, a mathematician and business manager who
Read More ⟶Kano Model
The Kano Model is a simple four-point chart that is often used in Product development to help determine user satisfaction. The Model was created by Noriaki Kano and his team in 1984 to help categorize
Read More ⟶Objectives & Key Results (OKRs)
OKR’s are an example of outcome-oriented management. The OKR system suggests that leaders task their team with an objective, allowing the team to determine their approach by defining the key results, to achieve the objective.
Read More ⟶ICE Scoring Method
What is the ICE Scoring Model? Prioritizing features, initiatives, and rollouts are at the very heart of Product Management. Choosing the right framework at the right stage of the process is the key to being
Read More ⟶TAM/SAM/SOM
What Are TAM, SAM, SOM? TAM / SAM / SOM is a model for market sizing and can quickly provide a sense of the opportunity before making deep investments in pursuit of it. The model
Read More ⟶Jobs to be Done (JTBD)
What are Jobs to Be Done? Customers don’t just buy a product, they “hire” a product to do a job. When you think about it from this perspective, you begin to understand the “why” behind
Read More ⟶DACI Roles
What is DACI? DACI is a responsibility assignment model for determining the roles a team will play, while making decisions or working on a project. It’s an acronym that stands for Driver, Approver, Contributor, Informed.
Read More ⟶Business Model Canvas
What is the Business Model Canvas? The Business Model Canvas has risen to popularity as a simple “lean” way to define a business model. The business model is an expression of business strategy, not product
Read More ⟶User Stories
What is a User Story? A User Story is a short description of a small piece of desired functionality within your product that is written from a user’s perspective. They are the modern form of
Read More ⟶Product Manager vs Project Manager
Product Manager vs Project Manager It’s very common for the role of a Product Manager to be confused with that of a Project Manager, and understandably so since there are only two letters that differentiate
Read More ⟶Impact Mapping
What is Impact Mapping? Impact mapping is a graphic strategy plan that aligns initiatives and delivery activities with overall organizational goals. Gojko Adzic introduced impact mapping with the publication of his book, Impact Mapping, in
Read More ⟶SWOT Analysis
What is SWOT Analysis? SWOT analysis is considered a tried and true method for strategic analysis. The acronym stands for strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats. SWOT analysis can be applied to any organization, Product, or
Read More ⟶Hooked Method
What is the Hooked Method? The “Hooked” method came about from a book written by Nir Eyal in 2014 called “Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products”. He spent years researching how Products and more specifically
Read More ⟶Smart Objectives
What are SMART Objectives? Have you ever felt like you’re running in place like a hamster on a wheel? Setting objectives means that you can clarify your goals and focus your efforts on achievable milestones.
Read More ⟶Innovation Ambition Matrix
What is the Innovation Ambition Matrix? Everything in our economy and with our technology is changing faster than ever. What was once innovative and differentiating becomes commonplace in time and the saying “the only constant
Read More ⟶Marketing Mix 4P’s
What are the 4P’s of Marketing? The successful marketing mix of the 4 P’s can be summed up as having the right product, in the right place, at the right price with the right promotion.
Read More ⟶Innovation Adoption Curve
What is the Innovation Adoption Curve? The Diffusion of Innovations theory illustrates how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technologies spread throughout a social group or community. The theory introduces the Innovation Adoption
Read More ⟶Google’s Heart Metrics
Google’s Heart Framework is a metric that helps you to monitor the quality of the user experience. Heart is an acronym that stands for Happiness, Engagements, Adoption, Retention and Task Success. It’s referred to as
Read More ⟶Generic Competitive Strategies
Harvard Professor Michael Porter spent years contemplating market strategy, eventually writing a book Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance in which he coined the phrase “Generic Competitive Strategy”. After much research, he eventually determined
Read More ⟶Double Diamond Product Planning
What is the Double Diamond? If you haven’t heard of the Double Diamond approach to planning and creation than it may help to start with its origins. Double Diamond is a process model that was
Read More ⟶Design Thinking
What is Design Thinking? Design thinking is a high-level framework that has become popular recently for people to apply design principles to solving other types of problems. The principal concept is that you identify the
Read More ⟶Customer Journey Map
What is a Customer Journey Map? A customer’s Journey is what a customer experiences from the beginning to the end of their time spent engaging with your product. The journey is a complete sum of
Read More ⟶Agile Product Development
What is Agile Development? Agile development is an approach to Product development that encourages adaptive planning, evolutionary development, early delivery, and continual improvement. As it sounds, Agile Product Development requires that everyone on the team
Read More ⟶Customer Personas
Product Personas are a technique for capturing insights from your users that help you to identify and understand the different types of customers that will be using your product. The persona is a fictional creation
Read More ⟶Five Whys
What Are the 5 Whys? The 5 Whys is an iterative interrogative approach to solving a problem, that explores cause and effect. Using the 5 Whys is like peeling an onion, every “Why” gets you
Read More ⟶Minimal Viable Product (MVP)
What is an MVP? A Minimal Viable Product (MVP) is a product that is introduced into the market in the early stages of development, in order to elicit feedback and find product-market as quickly as
Read More ⟶Dual Track Agile
What is Dual-Track Agile? The Dual Track Agile Process (aka Dual-Track Agile) was popularized by Marty Cagan, founder of SVPG, who often gives credit to Jeff Patton for coining the term. Dual Track Scrum has
Read More ⟶Product Owner
What is a Product Owner? The role of Product Owner comes from Scrum, a popular Agile planning methodology. It is a role that a Product Manager often plays while doing Product Development with a development
Read More ⟶Waterfall Methodology
What is Waterfall Methodology? The Waterfall methodology is a “stage gated” process that requires you to complete the first activity before going onto the second activity and so on in sequential order until all of
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