This month was full of incredibly fascinating articles in the world of product management. There was a huge focus on the importance of utilizing roadmaps, along with an exciting new feature you can now add to your usage. In addition, a “products politics panel” took place this month where a range of important product management issues were discussed and debated. I think you’ll enjoy this collection I’ve put together consisting of various tips and interesting articles. Enjoy!
1. New Feature: Who Changed My Roadmap? Find Out Now
Tired of events being changed in your calendar? Your color scheme changing on your desktop without your knowledge? Well, Maddy Kirsch is here to tell us about a new history feature that tracks changes made to bars and containers on your roadmap. In her article, Kirsh discusses the various features that come with this new and exciting product. One of the most useful new features is that it allows your colleges to collaborate and make changes to your product roadmap, but now you’ll know who changed what so you can discuss the changes and improve your product.
Have Faster Speed-to-Market, By Making Your Product Simple to Use and Understand
2. 5 Easy Ways to Improve your Product Development Process
It’s always nice to finish that project that’s been hanging over your head for weeks, or to finish everything on your to-do list for the day. Sami Linnanvuo brings us five suggestions that can definitely benefit each one of us if we implement them into our every-day lives. In addition, these suggestions can help advance the efficiency of your product development process, and inspire your co-workers to get the ball rolling. In order to get all the tasks done through a collaborative effort, it takes motivation and leadership among your peers. Take a look at these tips, I’m sure you’ll benefit just as much as I did!
3. How Do You Manage A Product That Is A Massive Hit?
When your product becomes a huge success there are a couple ways you can handle it. Dr. Jim Anderson uses King Digital’s “Candy Crush Soda Saga” as an example in order to show how to keep advancing your product once it’s become a hit. From releasing new levels every couple weeks, and other creative ideas to keep customers interested once they’ve beat all the levels, the King Digital producers really knew how to handle their success. I think we can all learn from this company that there is always more success out there, you just need to tap into those innovative ideas.
4. Top PdM Podcasts- and Other Innovation Insights for Product Managers
Chad McAllister brings us the best articles containing the top recent insights in order to help product managers like ourselves gain as much knowledge about the new developments in the field. McAllister starts with the top 5 podcasts, which I think podcast are very informative and useful, and allow the learning of new information through an alternative method, rather than just skimming an article. He goes on to list some key new innovation labs we should all be aware of, and finishes with some helpful tips to get ahead.
5. Recap: Future of Product Management// Product Politics Panel
Take a look at this fascinating recap of this thought-provoking panel discussion on product politics that convened on Tuesday, March 22. The panel discussion focused mainly on maintaining the delicate balance of creating the ideal user experience, along with the stakeholder priorities. Anuraag Verma, Head of Business Development at Aplha UX, moderated the discussion and brought up some important challenges many UX designers face, with the goal to eliminate the ineffective approaches, and decide which approach is most effective.
6. Three Example Roadmaps for Product Managers
As product managers we all utilize roadmaps in order to add to our strategy conversions. Andre Theus discusses the importance of making sure roadmaps are used correctly. According to Theus many companies are still in the dark about the fact that the product manager’s work should be reflected within the roadmap. Give this fascinating article a read to find out if your company is getting the most out of your roadmaps.
7. Managing Interruptions= Better Digital Product Design
Chris Massey brings us a fascinating article that discusses the interesting findings that lead researchers to believe that the way people react to and use digital products in the real world is far from how they behave in a controlled environment. Anna Cox, Read in Human-Computer Action at UCL Interaction Center, discusses how important a basic understanding of the human psyche is to designing and producing popular and successful products. Cox is one of the experts investigating how to best design technologies to make them usable in the real world. As product managers, we oversee a similar process, and it’s always important to be aware of various methods in the field.
8. The Voice of the Product (Infographic)
This helpful infographic by Marketistics breaks down the job description of the product manager in order to present just how far the product manager’s influence reaches in a company. From customer service, to product design, the product manager is the glue that holds the process together. I think you’ll enjoy this recent multimedia post; it’s short, sweet, and the point, yet possess a world of insight that applies to every product manager out there.