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Bridging Real-Life vs. Interview Frameworks

Welcome to our Product Newsletter, a biweekly email highlighting top discussions, and learning resources for product managers.

What We Will Cover In This Edition:-

Top Discussions: 

1)  What would you change in your job as a product manager, if you could make one particular task 100 times more effective?

2) How much time as product managers spend testing the features before shipping?

3) In real life v/s interviews, which framework do you actually employ.

Top Learning Resources:

1. 80 articles and books that will make you a great product manager

2. Product owner v/s product managers: one key difference remains

3. How ChatGPT is changing the game for product managers

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Top Discussions

Question 1What would you change in your job as a product manager if you could make one particular task 100 times more effective?

Well, here’s my take on the question I posted.

If I could make one thing 100 times more effective, it would be to have a better understanding of the customer. We need to be better at understanding our customers and their needs, so that we can help them better.

I’m curious to know what particular task y’all think you would do to make it 100 times more effective.

– Alana Martin

Discussion

A] I can offer some general insights into common tasks that product managers might prioritize. One key task that a product manager might focus on is developing a product roadmap, which outlines the vision and direction for the product over time.

This task could be made more effective by finding ways to gather and incorporate input from multiple stakeholders, including customers, sales teams, and engineering teams. This might involve using tools or techniques such as customer interviews, surveys, or focus groups to gather feedback, and working closely with cross-functional teams to ensure that the roadmap aligns with the company’s overall strategy.

– Matthew Shun

B] I think of the one task that might be a high priority for a product manager is market research and gathering customer feedback. This can often be a time-consuming process, but it is also crucial for understanding the needs and preferences of the target market and for informing product strategy. Improving the efficiency of this process could involve finding ways to streamline data collection and analysis or using automated tools to help with the process.

– Karan Trivedi

C]  In my opinion, the one thing that I would do to increase the effectiveness is to ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty, businesses need to understand their customers’ needs and wants better. Understanding the customer journey and what they are looking for can provide valuable insight into how to best serve them. This can be done through improved customer service, using data analytics to gain insights into customer behavior or using AI writing assistants to generate content tailored specifically for each customer. By understanding our customers better, we can provide them with tailored services that will make them feel valued, increasing their satisfaction and creating a deeper connection between the business and the customer.

– Fergus Xavier

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Question 2) How much time do you as product managers spend testing the features before shipping?

Since I work on several products, managing my time is a struggle. Do you test the features yourself, before they are released? How much time do you as product managers spend testing your features? Where do you find the time, if so?

– Juan Allo

Discussion

A] Since I work on several products, managing my time is a struggle. Do you test the features yourself, before they are released? How much time do you as product managers spend testing your features? Where do you find the time, if so?

– Flavia Bergstein

B] As product managers, we are constantly striving to improve our products and features. Testing is an integral part of this process, but it can be time consuming and tedious. Fortunately, AI writing assistants are now available to help reduce the amount of time spent testing features. These assistants can quickly run tests, analyze results and offer insights that would usually take hours or days to complete manually.

– Whitney Chard

C] Yes! And it consumes a lot of time and effort.

In a 1,000-person firm without QA, I worked as a product manager for four years. When changes were made, we tested them on staging before sending them for final release, making PM the de-facto QA for the organization.

I’ve actually observed folks devoting a great deal of time and effort to QA. I then started doing some R&D, and I found this awesome tool for PMs to conduct QA considerably faster. I hope Jam will be able to help you save a ton of time and effort on QA!

– Pankaj Jain

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Question 3) In real life v/s interviews, which frameworks do you actually employ?

Not simply for interviews, it might also be for getting buy-in. In any case, I discover that I use several frameworks more performatively than functionally.

But which conceptual frameworks do you actually find helpful? For instance, I actually adore and frequently use RICE for prioritization.

I’m the founder of a small firm and wish to streamline our procedures, however the majority of available advice seems more thrilled with its acronym than its usefulness.

– Bobby Duncan

Discussion

A] Welcome to the Prowess community @BobbyDuncan.

In real life, product managers use a variety of frameworks to help them understand their customers, define and prioritize product features, and make data-informed decisions. Some common frameworks that product managers use include:

  1. Customer Development: This framework, developed by Steve Blank, helps product managers understand their customers by conducting customer interviews and other market research.
  2. Lean Startup: This framework, developed by Eric Ries, emphasizes rapid experimentation and iteration to validate product assumptions and minimize risk.
  3. Design Thinking: This framework, developed by the Stanford d.school, helps product managers understand their users and design solutions that meet their needs.
  4. Agile Development: This framework, which originated in the software development industry, emphasizes iterative, incremental delivery of products and a focus on collaboration and flexibility.
  5. Jobs-to-be-Done: This framework, developed by Clayton Christensen, helps product managers understand the “job” that a customer is trying to do and how a product can help them do it better.

In interviews, product managers may be asked about these frameworks and how they have applied them in the past. It’s important for product managers to be familiar with these frameworks and to be able to discuss how they have used them in past projects.

– Eva Richardson

B] Quite agree to @EvaRichardson. She’s very systematically explained the concept. However, I often use the Eisenhower matrix, as well as percentage analysis (which essentially introduces spectrums on 0–1 scenarios), and I regularly question clients and teams how confident they are using the spectrum. comparisons to a car, a house, or other everyday objects to describe more complex situations.

– Dan Coelho

C] For the purpose of identifying and comprehending real prospects for innovation, efficiency, and table stakes, jobs maps and statements/scoring are used.

Opportunity solution trees are used to ensure that the why is stated clearly and that opportunities are given for people to offer potential solutions.

To explain how we’re going to meet needs and agree on the principles of how we’re going to make money, we’ll use value proposition canvas and business model canvas.

Not all of them find the above to be useful for every issue, but when applied appropriately, they do.

– Luis Nelson

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Top Learning Resources

80 articles and books that will make you a great product manager

From Horowitz to Christensen to Zhuo to Spolsky and more, a collection of the best articles and books from the best product leaders.

Product owner v/s product managers

Product owners and product managers are two roles that oversee different aspects of a product. Product owners are responsible for understanding user needs, deciding what products to build, and leading the product development process. Product managers are a part of those responsibilities, not necessarily taking over after the product achieves a certain milestone, and responsible for driving distinct results (e.g., reducing user churn) and the overall success of their products.

How ChatGPT is changing the game for product managers

As product managers, we are always looking for ways to improve our processes and make our teams more efficient. With the advent of ChatGPT, a new natural language processing tool developed by OpenAI, we may have found a game-changing solution.

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Who’s Prowess? We are optimist product managers, engineers, and educators working on creating a world where merit meets opportunity. On Prowess, aspiring and experienced product managers showcase skills, learn from the community, and connect with employers to advance their careers.

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    1. Learn from curated learning resources and community
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