I would have had a very indifferent opinion on Product Management or worse I would have never even cared for what it means. Until I joined an internet start Up and realized there is a lot that goes behind building an ‘awesome’ product than what just meets the eye!
Disclaimer – The thoughts published here may not be applicable universally. With the little experience I have gathered working with a few internet companies (B2C, SaaS model) I am writing this blog post. Please do not hold me responsible for any action you take after reading this 🙂 Being a sales person, my thoughts on product management may sound one sided but you can be very sure that my side is your side [no arrogance intended].
My idea has always been to give the users what they want [not everything though, believe me users can be very demanding] NOT what your team always wanted to try their hands on. Make sure your engineering team is not here for sheer adrenaline rush, taking up ONLY challenging work and at any point in time is IN TUNE with the mission of your organisation. There cannot be exciting things to work on everyday, there will be days/weeks/months where the engineering team would have to take up boring job as well (the outcome, by the way, might be very exciting for the user).
If your mission is to get maximum users on board then stick on to all the activities which directly contributes to this goal! If a particular feature makes the maneuverability within the app easier, just go for it. If a small User Interface change makes your App less cluttered, go for it. Competition has it and the customers are loving it and you don’t have it? That’s a priority no. 1 item for you, do not leave office until you get it up on your App! Only problem comes up when you go with your team’s instincts on how WELL something can be done, not really affecting the user out there (well, not really) but it’s challenging for your team to do it! Now – this is the warning signal for you, STOP right here, there would be times when you would feel like saying NO to something, say it NOW. This is not the time for experimentation. Make sure you take up things on priority as in…
Number 1 being the item that affects/ impacts the maximum number of users OR it has the maximum marketing/ Public Relations value!
Number 2 – Anything that makes the user experience smooth. anything. Just go for it (goes without saying, the work item you pick up should impact the majority of your users).
Number 3 – All that an user would expect your App to perform (a reasonable assumption depending on the industry you belong to, your company promises and/ or you have always spoken about it but was never able to deliver).
Your argument/ fight (not literally) with the engineering team should never end. The day you give up, you are destined to reach the spot (you originally thought of reaching) a tad late, may be many years late. The point am trying to make is that you need to consistently provide the business/ marketable angle to the already beautiful technology angle that your service posses.
If given a choice what will you pick –
A few features in your app that may not be really necessary (or may be not now) OR a very tiny little tweak in the UI that can make a lot of PR impact?
Some may say – a tough call, I say you might be having a beautiful technologically advanced product but if its not used or talked about by anyone then it’s as good as non-existent.
Do share your thoughts on what your experience have been.