sean.horgan.net

Attributes of a Product Manager

Product & Design Fundamentals

Sean Horgan

Summary

1. Keeper of the Vision

2. Strong product intuition that adds value to user research & design

3. Holistic understanding of user-centered design, e.g. user pain points, prototyping, validation

4. Instruments and iterates product based on quantitative and qualitative measures of success

5. Executes plans toward desired product outcomes (not simply outputs)

Attributes

1. Keeper of the vision

Articulates why a product needs to exist, e.g. compelling product-market-fit

On vision setting - ability to set a vision that clearly states the who, what, and how of a product.

Joel’s approach⁠

For (target customer)

Who (statement of the need or opportunity)

The (product name) is a (product category)

That (key benefit, compelling reason to buy)

Unlike (primary competitive alternative)

Our product (statement of primary differentiation)

2. Strong product intuition that adds value to user research & design

“Intuition is compressed experience”

— Thomas Davenport (

Working Knowledge⁠

)

Understanding users

⁠

What I Learned From Developing Branding for Airbnb, Dropbox and Thumbtack⁠

⁠

The Intuitive and the Unlearnable | by Christina Wodtke | Medium⁠

⁠

https://www.easyagile.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-user-story-maps/⁠

⁠

https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics⁠

poster⁠

⁠

Visual Vocabulary for Product Building⁠

, Dan Schmidt

⁠

Book Summary: When Coffee and Kale Compete by Alan Klement⁠

⁠

3. Holistic understanding of user-centered design, e.g. user pain points, prototyping, validation

Design

⁠

Framework for Innovation: Design Council's evolved Double Diamond⁠

⁠

The 4-hour design sprint. How we did it, what we learned, and… | by Laura Moldovan | Shopify UX⁠

⁠

Design Thinking: Divergence and Convergence Cycles | by Shubhangi Choudhary ⁠

⁠

Design is not a formula, it’s an odyssey: replacing the Double Diamond | by Ryan Ford | UX Collective⁠

4. Instruments and iterates product based on quantitative and qualitative measures of success

⁠

EE204 Business Management for Engineers and Computer Scientists⁠

- PMF

⁠

Rahul Vohra Shares Superhuman's Product Market Fit Framework _ First Round Review.pdf⁠

⁠

How to Pick Winning Product Features _ by Ameet Ranadive _ PM Insights _ Medium.pdf⁠

5. Executes plans toward desired product outcomes (not simply outputs)

Execution

⁠

The Art of the OKR⁠

⁠

Cascading OKRs at scale - Christina Wodtke⁠

⁠

Working Backwards Press Release Template and Example | by Ian McAllister⁠

Frameworks

⁠

Working Backwards | How write-ups help launch successful products like AWS, the Kindle & Prime Video⁠

⁠

Mission command - Wikipedia⁠

⁠

Prioritization - RICE Model, MoAR method and other scoring systems⁠

⁠

Michael Skok's 4 Steps To Building A Compelling Value Proposition⁠

(Blatant, Latent, Aspirational, Critical)

⁠

MoSCoW method⁠

- avoid

⁠

Kano model⁠

GIST:

Why you should stop using product roadmaps and try the GIST Framework⁠

Prioritizing the work - check out

On Prioritization⁠

⁠

Overlap with

Leadership (drafting)⁠

⁠

References

Frameworks

⁠

Mission command - Wikipedia⁠

⁠

Prioritization - RICE Model, MoAR method and other scoring systems⁠

⁠

Michael Skok's 4 Steps To Building A Compelling Value Proposition⁠

(Blatant, Latent, Aspirational, Critical)

⁠

MoSCoW method⁠

⁠

Kano model⁠

GIST:

Why you should stop using product roadmaps and try the GIST Framework⁠

Summary

Attributes

1. Keeper of the vision

2. Strong product intuition that adds value to user research & design

3. Holistic understanding of user-centered design, e.g. user pain points, prototyping, validation

4. Instruments and iterates product based on quantitative and qualitative measures of success

5. Executes plans toward desired product outcomes (not simply outputs)

References

Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.

Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (

CtrlP

) instead.