Product school think like a product manager

Think like a Product Manager

/Productschool @ProdSchool /ProductmanagementSF

Ken Sandy- Product Consultant & Executive

coach- Industry Fellow at the Center for

Entrepreneurship and Technology at UC Berkeley

- Previously VP, Product at

Lynda.com

www.productschool.com

Think like a Product Manager

THINK LIKE APRODUCT MANAGER

Product School San FranciscoMay 25th, 2016

Ken SandyInstructor, SCET, UC Berkeley

© Ken Sandy Consulting

To start…

1. Take out your phone

2. Pick your second favorite application

3. Turn to a neighbor (next, in-front or behind you)

4. Take in turns to tell your neighbor the following (be creative)

Convince them they should be using the application themselves

Identify a business or user metric you’d be curious to measure

Imagine what more you wish the app could do for you

Critique something you don’t like about the existing app


The Four PM Mindsets

Critique Imagine

Focus & Strengthen

Broaden & Investigate


Explorer Mindset Drives Innovation

EXPLORER

Expand the solution space

with some creative thinking


Explorer Mindset Behaviors

ü Define and communicate a VISION

ü Canvas for UNSOLVED PROBLEMSand POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

ü BRAINSTORM with friends and colleagues

ü BORROW from any relevant products in market

ü PROTOTYPE multiple ideas

The Dreamer


Analyst Mindset Drives Understanding

ANALYST

Understand your customer

behavior and unmet needs


Analyst Mindset Behaviors

The Detectiveü Set clear KPI’S for your product

ü Constantly observe and interview CUSTOMERS (qualitative)

ü MEASURE how your product performs (quantitative)

ü Develop NEW HYPOTHESES and EXPLORE data to look for trends

ü Track COMPETITORS and other industry players to gain perspective


Challenger Mindset Identifies Risks

CHALLENGER

Make good ideas stronger – kill the

bad ideas


Challenger Mindset Behaviors

The Nay-sayerü Define your ASSUMPTIONS, conduct a RISK ASSESSMENT, and model WORSE-CASE SCENARIOS

ü LISTEN to the party-pooper – ask “why-not”

ü Test EARLY, test OFTEN

üCOMMUNICATE negative outcomes and concerns internally

ü FOCUS, PRIORITIZE, CUT


Evangelist Mindset Builds Momentum

EVANGELIST

Motivate a team and build support


Evangelist Mindset Behaviors

The Cheer-leaderü Build relationships with INTERNALand EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS

ü PITCH – hone and practice your message and selling points (30sec)

ü Provide CONTEXT and ACCESS TOCUSTOMERS for your team

ü LOSE OWNERSHIP to others

ü Listen for DISSENTING VOICES –incorporate feedback and address gaps



ANALYST EXPLORER

CHALLENGER EVANGELIST

Critique Imagine

Focus & Strengthen

Broaden & Investigate


Exercise

1. Take out a piece of paper

2. Draw the four quadrants

3. Check-mark your strength – your “go-to”

• Write down one behavior or skill you think you do well

4. Circle which one your team members or manager is most strong

• Write down one behavior or skill you might utilize more to balance their tendencies

5. Put a cross in the area where you’d like to personally develop more

• Write down one behavior or skill you want to practice more



ANALYST EXPLORER

CHALLENGER EVANGELIST


Pitfalls

1. Losing Objectivity: through confirmation bias, inflexibility, defensiveness, or too much personal investment

2. Halo Effect: falling in love too quickly with your own ideas3. Hypothesis in Hindsight: rewriting history to fit current data4. Reactiveness: paying too much attention to competitor moves5. No Re-evaluation: failure to revisit your assumptions6. Group-think: listening to conjecture over gathering independent data 7. Eagerness: optimizing given short-term goals or to please

stakeholders, deciding on one path too quickly8. Drinking the Cool-aid: mistaking your pitch for objective analysis9. Sugar-coating: avoidance of delivering bad news, often in concern

that they’ll shoot the messenger10. Lacking Persistence: even in the face of challenge and doubt, keep

on believing


Developing Product Best Practices

Example – 1981 Kodak report on the future of digital

• The quality of prints from electronic images will not be generally acceptable to consumers as replacement for prints based on the science of photography.

• The consumer’s desire to handle, display, and distribute prints cannot be replaced by electronic display devices.

• Electronic systems (camera and viewing input device for TV) will not be low enough in price to have widespread appeal.


Questions?

[email protected]


Upcoming Courses


[email protected]

APPLY AT

SAN FRANCISCO

Weekdays: July 5th

Weekends: July 9th

MOUNTAIN VIEW

Weekdays: August 16th

Weekends: June 18th

Josh Merill, Head of Product @ eShares

on June 1st

UPCOMING WORKSHOP


RSVP ON EVENTBRITE

Developing Product Best Practices

Appendix

What makes a great Product Manager?

CUSTOMER FOCUSED

RESULTS ORIENTEDINSPIRES & MOTIVATESEXCELLENT COMMUNICATOR

PROBLEM SOLVER

BUSINESS SAVY RESILIENT

ANALYTIC & DATA DRIVEN

STRATEGIC AND TACTICALHIGHLY COLLABORATIVE

TECHNICALLY SAVY

TAKES OWNERSHIP


Prioritizing Development

• Will this incrementally improve a key driver for the business – cost, revenue per user, conversion?

• Will this improve usability?• Will this improve engagement & customer

satisfaction?

Improving existing capabilities is driven through EXPERIMENTATION and ITERATION

• Will this delight customers with new value or desirability?

• Will this generate sustainable, new revenues?

• Will this help us scale?• Is this helping us to realize our vision?

Adding new capabilities is encapsulated in a BACKLOG or ROADMAP


The Product Manager’s Worry ListTOTAL PRODUCT SUCCESS: You are the mini-CEO or GM of your product

1. Is this valuable to customers? Who is adopting it and why? Is adoption rate sufficient? (Desirability)2. Is my churn rate too high to sustain & grow this business? Do I know why users stop using my

product? (Retention)3. Can I make this easier to use or adopt? Where are they dropping out? (Usability)4. Are costs of getting new customers in line with the value we can derive out of them in the future?

(Cost of acquisition)5. Is the product worth money – now or in the future? How much and why? (ARPU)6. Who in my organization is charged with selling, marketing and distributing this? Do they have

everything they need? Do they know how to sell it? Do they feel accountable? (Discoverability)7. Am I making the appropriate investment in ongoing Development and other internal resources

commensurate with a viable business? Would they be better deployed elsewhere? (ROI)8. What risks have I underestimated? What is my mitigation plan? (Risk Profile)9. Does the organization and team support this? Have I evangelized enough? (Alignment)10. Are we learning and responding fast enough – with tests that either succeed or fail? Does my team

plan-build-ship-measure on a frequent basis? (Sense of Urgency)

What does the data REALLY say? What does my heart REALLY say?


Product school think like a product manager

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